Why did the
female marble orb weaver
cross the road?
Because the grass is always greener on the other side…or something.
This little spider was crawling across my driveway as I came back from the studio. You know, the studio is really not that far away from the house and yet the amount of interesting nature I see between here and there is quite remarkable. Today mama marbled orb weaver was taking a little jaunt. Chances are that she has laid her eggs, or possibly she is looking for a good place to do just that. October is the month that they choose to do this although she’ll be around until frost.
All I know is that she is difficult to photograph well, she is constantly moving and I didn’t have time to really set the camera up correctly. But I think you’ll agree that she is beautiful. And the orange/yellow is very striking against the green of the grass.
I had to look her up and if you want to know more about her you can check out this website or this one.
Muse-ings 
What a beautiful creature!
I know! And the fact that it walked right in front of me was really awesome. Fortunately, despite the fact that I was on a mission (to find out what the exact dimensions of a grey kangaroo is) I took time to grab my camera and photograph the little beast.
Gorgeous little spider 🙂 does this site help ? http://australianmuseum.net.au/Eastern-Grey-Kangaroo loves Bev xx
I’m confused because there is a difference in sizes depending on where you look. Some places say that Eastern grays can reach seven feet (= 2.13 meters…the males) so I was going to make my momma four feet (=1.22 meters) without ears and tail…maybe that’s too big???
It is confusing and depends I think on their grazing and the environment that they have to live in..more feed igger healthier roos..most mums I see here when standing are about 5 foot tall..quite healthy sizes…and then add ears that appear about maybe 8 inches ? their tails are quite thick and heavy as they use them for balance and usually are slightly larger in proportion to their body..the females are not as muscular in the legs or arms and not as defined..much like younger males..the difference between the alpha male is very obvious..the joeys of curse are all feet and tail 🙂 ..some of the big boys here are easily close to about 6 and half feet when standing..the females have a very definite fineness to their face in comparison to the more squared of appearance of the boys..i will try and find some nitty gritty pics as my fave thing is to zoom on features 🙂 hugs Bev xx
awesome…I’m about to make the life-sized drawing that will be my model for the armature. Maybe I will make the momma a bit bigger.The joey of course will have at least one leg sticking out. I want to have that feeling of the ninth month of pregnancy for humans where the common phrase is “It’s time to get out NOW.” You know, the time that the child has stuck it’s foot in your bladder one too many times…
Hahaah yep and I always empathise with the mums here 🙂 the mum who is always around here looks so tired of Tippy’s shenanigans hahaha ..always a foot or feet sicking out..looks totally uncomfortable…she just goes about grazing…waiting as all mums do!! 🙂 have you enough feet out pics as I have a lot of good ones 🙂
I think I do. Let me get to the point where I am working on the baby (might be a couple of moths away) and I’ll let you know.
Fab 🙂
She’s gorgeous. I am always impressed by the number of little critters you capture on camera. You are a keen observer of your surroundings…something to do with your sculptor’s eye, perhaps? 😉
Good question…I have been trained in observation both as an artist and, previously, as a dance/movement therapist. It comes in good stead when I want to observe life around me.
And yes, she is gorgeous.
Ah, so no doubt both the movement and the shape caught your keen eye!
No doubt!!!
What a good photo! She really is beautiful and it’s interesting to wonder where she was headed to. I like this time of year when we can see so many different spiders. I love getting close and seeing the details on their bodies. Your post makes me wonder if I shouldn’t use the camera zoom to better see them with.
That’s not a bad Idea. My vision is aging and it’s amazing how much more I see when I use the camera zoom. I do wonder where she was going, I hope she made it there safely.