Our New Neighbor

**Warning: Violent Content! There are pictures of dead things in this post.**

(Okay, it's really not that bad, but in case you think it's that bad, you can't say I didn't warn you.)

There's nothing like living in California when it comes to neighborly closeness. We were thrilled to finally live in a house rather than an apartment, only to learn that the houses here are built so close together that we can still hear our neighbors' phone ringing, and, unfortunately for them, they can hear our kids crying. Another indicator of how close the houses are is that several times this summer I've noticed clever spiders bridging the gap between our houses with their webs (yep, that close). This morning as I was rinsing dishes in the sink, I glanced out the window and saw that we have a new neighbor. A big, fat, leggy neighbor.





Check out the size of that spider! Now, this guy didn't try to build his web between our houses--his web is securely fastened to our neighbor's house alone (and it is a beautiful web!). Perhaps that's why when I looked out there again tonight, his web was still there, but this time, with a new addition:


Make sure to click on the photo and look at the detail. (I'm surprised that I got a much more detailed photo at night than in the day--I would've totally missed the severed leg if I hadn't taken a picture.) I must say, I have never seen an insect even close to the size of this grasshopper get caught in a spider web! I thought that bugs that size would destroy a spider web long before they got caught. Apparently if you are as big as that spider, your web has the strength of steel.

This picture has enough gory detail to make my skin crawl, so I can only imagine what it's doing to Jamie, our arachnophobe friend. I couldn't resist, but I hope you'll forgive me!