Cottage Life

[Staiduk]

'Lo!

I just got finished posting some pics about my cottage; here are the rest - some of the local fauna.

Hope you like.

This is a newcomer to the lake; he's been hanging around about 5 years now. It's a Great Blue Heron; fairly young, with a wingspan of about 5 feet. Gorgeous, gorgeous bird. He nests about 2 miles down the lake on the other side; and likes walking down the shore looking for frogs. I saw him from the window, grabbed the camera and tried to close for a shot. Here, we see him keeping a close eye on me as we both tiptoe towards the south end of my property. The wood housing in the foreground protects the well pump.

I couldn't get any closer than about 20 feet to him; unlike some herons I've stalked to touching distance in Tobermory. (If they're doing their bush act, you can get a lot closer. This guy was having none of it. Tobermory's remote with limited Human contact but out here with all the boats, he knew very well not to let the weird 2-legged things get too close.)

Off he goes, past my neigbor's 90-mph. Panther. Few things are as impressive as a really big water-bird taking off. Of course; Dave's racing boat with the bloody HUGE engine (pictured) is pretty impressive too - his retirement toy.


I really should have set up to take some wildlife shots. While heading down to shoot the heron; I spied this little chippie yomping on a peanut right near my feet. A quick shot; but still cute.

Not nearly so cute; but fascinating nevertheless. We saw THIS great big bugger dash out from under Dad's bed and up the doorjamb. I don't know what kind of spider it is, and it seems my bugophobia has eased in the past few years because I grabbed the camera, took a few quick shots then let her settle onto my hand and relocated her to the woodpile. Why? Don't ask - save that I'm pretty certain there aren't very many poisonous spiders with a 4-inch spread in the area. This monster's an order of magnitude larger than any other spider I've ever seen here - for reference; that gap in the doorjamb is 1.5" across.

She's big, she's UUUUUUGLY!

[Omag 2.0]

You're my hero Staiduk! Most people would squash them under their shoe, but I don't.... I don't touch them, but I do take them out... after all, it's life and the do lots of good things...

Splendid shots!

[Mike..]

I believe that to be a wolf spider. We get them here all the time in NC. They get quite large but are vertualy harmless. The only time I ever catch them in the house is if its either really hot or really cold looking for a place to hide. A few years back my wife got home late from work one night. Se turned the bedroom light on while I was sleeping and told me to be very still. I glanced over my shoulder and on the pillow next to me was a giant wolf spider. About the size of the palm of my hand. I don't no who was more surprised me or him. After renovating the entire bedroom trying to catch him I managed to get him back outside . Nice shots. Looks peaceful.

Mike

[Ecko]

Spider, Arrrgggghhhh...  :o

[arky23]

Im not sure about it being a wolf spider because the ones over here in England are about 30 times smaller but the abdoman looks a little fat to be a wolfy either way You are a brave guy I have a great fear of spiders and that would make me run in fear lol well done

ARGGHH just looked at the pic again and from the pic it looks like the fang caseings are pretty big might have a nasty bite  :o

[beaky]

Wolf spiders in the northeast US get pretty damn big; that thing looks familiar. They weave tunnels of silk inside crevices- most of the ones I've seen were living in stone walls or woodpiles. But they can be found lurking almost anywhere, waiting for something small and stupid to get close enough to grab.
They're voracious hunters (nice ally in a house in the woods), and are shy around anything bigger than they are, but will bite if you get stupid with them. The venom is not known to be lethal to humans, but I hear the bite hurts ( I wouldn't know; I leave them alone).

Keep an eye out for a mama wolf spider carrying her hatchlings on her back while on patrol... a bit odd the first time you see it.

Oh, BTW, I'm pretty sure that is a wolf spider...

[arky23]

The good thing about the North east of england is the spiders dont grow to big which I appreciate everyday lol. Even though I hate them I find them interesting glad though I didnt come across one of your size wolf spiders when I worked over in the states  ;)

[Staiduk]

Lol - it seems the spider is the star of the show!

I've been informed its a Giant house spider - Tegenaria gigantea. Harmless and shy, but very useful; preying on a wide variety of pests from insects to - judging by the size of it - bears.  ::)

I'm going to have to spend a weekend up there specifically on wildlife shooting soon - with the vast array of fauna in the Kawarthas, it could be tond of fun.