Anyone that knows me, knows that if there’s one thing I despise in nature it’s a spider. I know, I know, they are usually relatively harmless, do a lot of good, and kill and eat more harmful insects blah, blah, blah. But they are creepy, have way too many legs, poop web out of their butt, and have those little tiny hairs everywhere. Eww!
That being said, the picture came out pretty good. When I walked up to him, by accident, I guess I startled him and he ran back under the leaves and kind of curled up in little ball. I was losing light already, and now he was under a leaf, and it was a spider, but I took the challenge and managed to capture a good shot. You can see all those nasty little hairs, the color bands on his legs, and the web trails everywhere.
On the lighter side, was the cool little frog I found. As far as I can tell it is a Northern Cricket Frog. I guess it is on the endangered species list, so it is even more of a thrill to happen to see him out in the backyard. His colors are a pretty unique combination: gray, black, and the green patches. I guess it is a member of the tree frog family, but actually prefers to live near the edge of shallow water areas and not in trees. And they too eat mosquitos and other irritating insects…without being all spider creepy I might add.
Lastly, the mushroom or toadstool. I’m really not sure. I know it’s not a good ole morel from up north, and I haven’t had the desire to eat them (for a myriad of reasons), but there have been a lot of them popping up in the last 2 or 3 weeks.
All of this just on a quick walk in the backyard, after a long day at work. So very relaxing and therapeutic. I hope reading my blog and viewing my photos does somewhat the same for you: helping you to relax, or maybe you’ll remember a creepy spider that startled you or that you had as a pet (shutter!) or a cool little frog that you got to hold in your hand just before he jumped away.
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RM Goldsmith Photography 