Kip’s Comments - July 15, 2025
A Pee Shooter? (Do Not Click or Scroll Away - Even if you do not like spiders. This was interesting.)
While out loosening my arm today, as I was shooting pictures of a prothonotary warbler, I noticed a large spider crawling on my GoPro camera. Of course my attention promptly switched from the bird to the spider that was so close. I quickly transitioned from shooting “farther away” wildlife to macro photography so I could document the elongated stilt spider.
Elongated Stilt Spider - Image 996178
As I moved the GoPro around for a better view of the spider I watched the spider stiffen to push its back end into the air. At first I thought the spider was forcefully urinating or spraying something stinky/defensive out. Then I realized the spider was shooting silk strands. Within a minute or two there were multiple strands of silk floating in the air, all connected on one end to the spider or where it was when it shot them.
Elongated Stilt Spider - Image 996192 (notice the strand)
Had I known what I was going to be watching I would have tried to record video of the strand-shooting action. It was something I had not seen before and was really quite interesting.
Elongated Stilt Spider - Image 996209
For those wondering, I did photograph the prothonotary warbler too, along with a canoeing scene.
Prothonotary Warbler - Image 996276
Prothonotary Warbler - Image 996285
Canoeing the Wapsipinicon River - Image 996147