Spiders creep out many people. These tiny predators are part of our ecosystem and do their work to control many insect populations. Most of us don’t like to have a lot of spider webs around or homes, but it keeps down the bugs.
The black widows in our area are shy and retiring. They often live at the entrance to underground burrow, or under logs or in other sheltered corners. They build a messy looking web which is effective at capturing their lunch. A black widow female is shiny black with a red hourglass shape on her abdomen. The males are small and nondescript. She will be more aggressive, like any Mom, if she is protecting her eggs.
As you cache throughout the prairies, keep in mind that lots of creatures might be hiding in great cache locations. Be careful and respectful and we can all get along.
This cache is one of the more challenging of the Go Wild series. Please take your own pencil, and tweezers. Be careful if you use the trail above the river bank.
Thanks to slapchop for this great cache container and location.