Bear River MBR is ripe with ballooning spiders this time of year. Ballooning occurs when spiderlings shoot out silk from a high point and
are airlifted to Heaven knows where. As I drove slowly down the dirt road in the refuge I noticed every three feet there would be a tiny spider at
at the top of a tall, seeded grass stem. So far I have only found two species, the ground spider and the wolf spider (all of these shots are
wolf spiders). They are so fun to watch. When approached too quickly on grass stems, they either hide on the other side in a stretch pose, run
down the grass or shoot off into the wind. Just before take-off they stand on their tip toes with their little butts in the air and, in the blink of an eye,
they are gone. Here are just a few of the poses of these tiny, camera-shy spiderlings. There are five pages of photos:
"The Hide and Stretch"
Next - Part II
Home - Spiders of Utah
Other Home - Amazing Nature