Underwater Spiders!

   This yardwork is about to get the best of me.  I am tired.  Today besides clearing a lumber pile left from storm debris, I cleaned Frog Pond.  That was no easy task.  I am having second thoughts of even having the little pond.  Perhaps it is time to get a few loads of dirt and just fill it.  No more cleaning...but that means no more frogs.  

  While I was knee-deep in the mucky-yucky water, a light movement to my left caught my eye.  Yep, a huge fishing spider was skipping across the water's surface.  The spider made it safely to the pond edge so there was no worries.  Not that I needed to fret over the spider as it is adept at taking care of itself.  A bit later, a thought came to me as I watched the spider cling to the slippery edge.  Perhaps I should extend a helping hand.  As soon as I dipped my hand in the water to lift the spider, it dove underwater!  I was able to watch the spider actually crawl on the pond's bottom!  How neat was that? 

  This is a six spotted fishing spider.  It is known to live around ponds and marshes.  These spiders can actually stay underwater for about a half hour!  Last week when I cleaned Puddle Pond, I was literally accosted by hundreds of baby fishing spiders!  More care had to be taken with the tiny critters than this larger one.  I felt bad that some surely met their demise due to my sloshing around in that pond but, hopefully, plenty of them survived. They are neat critters and are good to have in the gardens.