Not for the arachnophobic.
Not for those prone to heebie-jeebies (I am, when confronted with an exceptionally large spider.)
I'm pretty brave when it comes to bugs, spiders, reptiles, whatever. I can squash a spider -- or grab it with a wadded paper towel -- with the best of them.
Unless it's too big.
Then I call in reinforcements.
But I can appreciate these creatures from a safe distance and through the lens of a camera.
If you haven't guessed already, that's the subject of today's photograph: an exceptionally large spider.
I'm purposefully adding plenty of vertical space between the title of this post and the photo so that you have the chance to prepare yourself and not scroll down, should you choose to do so.
It's a Black and Yellow Argiope, also called a common garden spider. I don't know where the name originated, but we've always called them Golden Ladies at home. We found this one suspended above our irises on the south side of the screened porch. She's been hanging out there for a couple days, poised, waiting for prey, in the same position -- face down.
I do think she's a female, judging by my research, because her body was about an inch long. Apparently they're harmless to humans, though that still doesn't encourage me to reach out and pet her.
Okay, here comes the photo.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
There, that wasn't so bad, was it? She's very striking, in an interesting, I'll-stay-back-here-thank-you-very-much way.
Camera: Canon 40D 1/250s, f/5.6 at ISO 100 in direct sunlight at about 6:30 p.m.
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