A spider takes stock of the damage I had just unwittingly done to her web after I watered the garden.

A lot of people don’t like spiders, but I think they’re cool. In fact, it wasn’t long ago that I would pick up stunned or injured flies I’d attempted to kill in my apartment, then feel the to this spider who lived in the sunroom by the back door.

The moment the flies realized they were in a web they would wake right up and begin fighting to get free as the spider quickly made its way toward them. Usually shy, the spider didn’t mind me sitting there watching as it came out to claim this gift. It would survey it for a second or two, then pounce on it, trying to drive its fangs deep into the back of the fly’s head to stun it so it and enjoy the meal in peace.

Sometimes the housefly would escape, often after a frantic battle, and in those cases, I’d open the sunroom door and let it find its way back to freedom where I hoped it would spread the word not to fly through my open windows. But most of the time the spider would win.

Now, of course, some of you will say this is cruel and perhaps even a little sadistic, but the way I see it is that I was killing the fly anyway, so why not feed the spider? You feed your pets, and sure maybe you didn’t kill the food yourself, but so what?

I don’t like flies and don’t feel bad for them as I swat them in my apartment. At least this way the spider gets a meal.