Mail

I didn't plan to do a bug walk today because I didn't have time, and it was cold, so I didn't expect to find anything. Then I went outside to get the mail, and a spider ran across the path in front of me! That was really unexpected! In the summer I almost never go outside, even to just get the mail, without my camera, but not so much these days. So, I went back inside to get my camera (after getting the mail, including a package from the package bin, that I am happy to report did not squish the woolly bear caterpillar).

I couldn't find the spider when I went back outside with my camera, but I did see quite a few ants crawling around on the ground, with great rapidity:

 Of course, I couldn't get close shots with them moving so fast...

I had to zoom this one in because of the awesome color!

Since I was down there, I went over to the bedrock to look around, and found either the same spider or one like it (Picture down below), and I actually heard a cricket! So much for crickets being creatures of summer nights! I did a walk around the rest of the yard after that - a fast one - and didn't find anything else.

Arachnid Appreciation:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

 Here's the spider from this afternoon.

 This itsy bitsy spider is a Christmas tree hitchhiker. I found it crawling around on my checkbook last night.

 It's really, really tiny - that's dust next to it. (I don't use my checkbook a lot. Or dust).