Butt-Face & the Pest

If this spider was found at home, it would be a pest. But when it was found in its natural habitat at Fort Canning Park, it’s a very welcomed guest for my camera!

Not sure if this is a species of the orb-weaver spiders but it sure is beautiful. To get this shot, well, I gave nature a little help… Okay, let’s say nudge… Alright, it’s a push!

Not something I’m proud of and definitely against the ethics of nature photography, but I ensured that the spider was not hurt in any way and its web remained unbroken.

Since I got a new tripod and haven’t returned my friend his macro lens, I thought I’d squeeze in a few more macro nature shoots last week. I was so glad I wasn’t lazy and got my butt out to shoot! And I got this bug with an almost human-faced butt!

I didn’t get many shots at Fort Canning that day because I went in the late afternoon and after about 2 hours of shooting nothing, I decided to pack up and go. As I was leaving, I saw a thin veil of web whispering between two leaves. A spider must be nearby.

Next to the web was a leaf held slightly curved with a thick mesh of webbing. The spider was in its leaf ‘burrow’ underneath the web. I tried blowing at it. It didn’t move. I took a leaf and gently tap the thick web. I was ignored.

So I picked up a twig and pushed it through one opening of the burrow to get the spider out. It fought me for a while but finally scurried out. And I was like, ‘Wow!’ After a few failed shots, I decided to set up my tripod. That was the first time my new tripod opened its legs. I’m glad its virginity wasn’t wasted!

I thought the spider’s back looked like a Japanese kabuki mask. I wanted to reset my tripod to get a more face-on shot of its back but it ran back into its home. I must be a pest to it. I’m sure it wished it had human Baygon.