My Foul Weather Friend

  The spate of bad weather that has been ravaging the area, continued for most of the day.  High winds pushed the tide high into the yard and water added from flooding rivers made things even worse.  We are fortunate to live on a high hill above the Bayou.  Others are not fairing so well.  But, that said, the high winds do make for many trips down the board path to check the little skiff.  I am glad it is moored well up in the tide pool alongside of the pier.  The outer marsh provides a fine windbreak for the boat.  

  On one of those boat-checking trips, I found that I was not alone. Skipping across the water came a large spider.  To be more specific, it was a Six-spotted Fishing Spider.  While I knew this spider meant me no harm, I was glad that it was on the water and I was on the pier!  That thing was huge! She was close to three inches across!  Once it saw me, the spider froze.  I suppose it was having just as many heebie-jeebies about me as I was it.  I stayed watching the spider as long as the weather permitted but the wind was nigh on knocking me into the water with my friend, Spider.  As I eased myself back up the hillside, I thought about how fun it must be to just pad right across the water as if it were high ground.  It sure would make life easier when I wanted to check some wildflower blooming in the back of the Bayou!

  The Six-spotted Fishing Spider is a member of the Wolf Spider Family. It lives mostly in areas of fresh or brackish water and eats mainly insects.  Occasionally, if the spider is quite large, it can indeed catch small minnows or tadpoles.  You see, this spider not only has the ability to walk on water, it also can dive under water!  The spider can swim down nearly eight inches to catch prey.  It has no problem seeing under water as it has eight eyes!  Wow!  This critter is even more amazing than I first thought!

  While I did not fear the Fishing Spider, I knew not to grab it.  Like any Wolf Spider, it can and will bite if threatened.  Fortunately, the bite is more a nuisance than a major injury.  Still, I did not need to take any chances.  I figured that the spider was already on edge with having its home totally flooded by the high tides.  Friend Spider, you may live in peace as long as you remain in the marsh!