(2 photos) Victim: unknown. Prime suspect: jewel spider, member of the orb-weaver gang. Bugguide.net describes the jewel spider is “harmless”, but Wikipedia mentions sexual cannibalism, construction of a silky web with a sticky center, and spiderlings who hatch & eat their brethren. I guess harmless depends on who you ask.
MK pix 
Just when we thought it safe to be in nature!! Great pictures MK 🕷🕷
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Thanks Karen!
I venture out after a long summer hiding from the heat, and there’s a monstrously huge spider. If she were to jump on me, I would not be “harmless” either!
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I was wondering what to have for dinner…..
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Noooooo, not your spouse!!!!!
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Love your take on the neighborhood gang! It’s a wonder anyone survives! 🙂
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Exactly! Fascinating creatures, but I don’t want to get to know them up close & personal.
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Love it, M! I find most spiders fascinating. Orb spiders have huge abdomens and jumping spiders have all those cool eyes. Like you, I don’t want to get too close, however!
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Thanks Eliza. I like their webs a lot, but I confess that I enjoy reading about spiders more than I like getting close to them.
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Today I was in the raspberry patch and there was a yellow garden spider, which pleased me greatly. The make those zig-zag ‘zippers’ on their webs. Do you have them out there?
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen zig-zag zippers in a spider web. I’d love to see them & the spider that makes them.
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Check it out – for scale the female is about 2″, the male is about 1″ (I brushed one off a flower I had cut and only realized its species once I saw this article. ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia
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Oh, wow, I have never seen such a spider web! And the spider itself is extremely scary looking — very spiky like the stereotypical Halloween spooky spiders. The abdomen of the spider in this post was so big that you can easily see it from 10′ away. Just huge.
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We had an orb spider with a 1″ abdomen on the deck last year (I posted her on Halloween 😉 ). Thankfully, she was a gentle soul and gave us no trouble, but one does a double take to see one close by that is so huge! Overall, they really are a great gardener’s friend.
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A happy birthday greeting to the gardener
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🙂 A fun day – I’m impressed you remembered. I’m not so good in that department.
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These pics are amazing, yet disturbing. I dont like spiders, Im not afraid, I just dont like the creepy crawlers. However, theyre durable, remarkable, resourceful creatures.
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I’m on the same page as you, Vinny. It’s not so much that I’m afraid, they just creep me out. I have admiration for their webs, but the details of their dining preferences are best unseen.
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Lol. You stole the words out of my head, and fingers.
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😉
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What an amazing capture MK. Pun intended!!
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Good pun Val! Thanks.
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