I know an old lady who swallowed a spider ….

That wriggled and wiggled and tickled inside her

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly

I don’t know why she swallowed a fly

Perhaps she’ll die

Bryan Milner and Linda O’Brien have sent in some fine photos, the locally found orb weaver spiders. Arachnophobes look away now!

The first of these is the Golden Orb Weaver;

Caught in the right light, the silken web looks like golden thread. Photo courtesy of Linda O’Brien

Honestly, these are quite beautiful spiders, unless you walk blindly headfirst into their web, which is quite an unpleasant experience. The spider itself won’t harm you; it’s just that creepy feeling of sticky webs across your eyelids, nose and mouth that raises the hair on the back of your neck and brings a primeval scream to your throat.

The next is the Garden Orb Weaver; photographed by Bryan Milner

In 2003 the Garden Orb Weaver was part of an experiment by Glen Waverley College students in Melbourne sending spiders into space aboard the ill fated Space Shuttle “Columbia”

The last of the trio is the Spiny Orb Weaver; photo courtesy of Linda O’Brien