I started my Spidulon Journey with Orion. A fine friend she was, it was a great time, an amazing time. It was a vertiable laugh-a-minute, really. The hilarity never ended. Until it did, one fateful summer day. I will get to that in a bit. But first let's take a trip down memory lane.
So for a long time, she was my SUPER FRIEND... but then one day. I made the stupid mistake, of leaving her enclosure out in the sun. Well, that wasn't so much the stupid mistake, as much as leaving it within reach of... THE 🐔 BEASTS.
You maybe think you know where this is headed, but in reality, I can't say she was eaten by a Chicken. Even though the chickens would have eaten her in a split second if they had the chance. One little tasty snack, the cycle of life continued. Alas, that's not likely what happened. At least, I like to think she didn't become just a momentary chicken snack, for sure the chickens had enough insects running around to keep them happy. But the chickens did indeed seem to help her escape. At least, that's the only logical conclusion. See, chickens like to walk around, pecking at whatever they think might be food. And there was a little plug for putting food in Orions enclosure. I came back, to find that plug on the ground. And no spider inside. I was quite devastated. I wasn't sure what had happened, but in the end I think I pieced it together. I surely don't just yank the plug out, and leave it on the ground before leaving her. I thought I was doing her a favour, I know they like to bask in the sun. And maybe, just maybe she truly wanted to be free. Who knows, to me it was a good life for the little spider creature.
One thing I remember quite well was the time I put a dead horsefly in her enclosure. You can tell when they go into 'hunting mode' and immediately she did. It was amazing to me because as far as I know, she had never seen a horsefly, which was probably two times her size. But she pounced on the fly within seconds. I know she had eaten tiny, wingless fruit flies. But I wasn't expecting her to immediately recognize this dead fly as something of prey. I could understand if it was alive and moving around, she would recognize it from the movement. But she somehow instinctively knew right away, just by the shape of this dead fly. Anyways, I was pretty impressed and left her to do her thing. I came back a few hours later and this dead horsefly no longer had a head, just the body and wings remained and she seemed to have had enough so I removed the remains. I don't think I would want to put a live horsefly for her to try and battle with, I know those horsefly bites aren't fun!
Anyways, that's the most of the pictures that I have of my first Phidipus Audax (AKA Bold, Curious) Jumping Spider... she was a good one... It was pretty amazing how large she was getting. I was pretty upset with the outcome but knew I had to continue on her legacy with another spider. Eventually I got a second one, which I still have, and will share some more about at some point in the future.
