The last few days I have been working on a fairly large proposal for a project that I am involved with. This is a project that I have been turning around in my head for a few months now, and I am now at the point where I am trying to collect my thoughts and put them into the form of a proposal. When I am working on a highly detailed project like this that one of my favorite places to work is on my screened in porch which overlooks the woods behind my home. I take my laptop out, turn on some quiet music, and try to organize my thoughts, while listening to the birds, and enjoying the nature that surrounds me.
OK, at this point you’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with jumping spiders? Well, being a screened in porch there are not a lot of insects on the porch. But the few who do manage to find their way in, very soon fall prey to one of the jumping spiders that has decided the porch is their own personal hunting grounds. Each of the spiders has his (or her) own little territory that they hunt. One of the amazing things about this is, the spiders seem to have ‘learned’ that the insects will exhaust themselves futilely buzzing against the screen, and will eventually fall to the bottom where the spiders wait for their easy prey.
Here is a picture of one of my little distractions. This tiny guy is about the size of your pinky fingernail. I really love the iridescence in the fly’s eye.
