He was 20 at most, one of my husband's former students, a gem of a boy, charming, polite, well behaved (well relatively) he of the dark dark hair and darker eyes, the ready smile, and the cheeky sense of humor. He was a joy to behold, and his mother was so proud of him, so proud of his achievements. He was an incredibly talented saxaphone player, who enjoyed his music more than anything else. So, he was killed today in a car accident. I have no idea as to the details but the threads of his death are spider webbing around the West Columbus band community as we speak. The arrangements are being made, plans are at hand for the community to attend the funeral, should we name the scholarship fund as a memorial to him? I have no children of my own, but each of my husband's students are like a surrogate child to us, and we feel for each of them. So Channing died today, and the sun is a little less bright due to his passing. There is a new star in the sky tonight, goodnight sweet prince, may you make beautiful music in heaven.

I have often said that one of the most important parts of nature and wildlife photography is the ability to notice things going on around you. Something that doesn't look quite right out of the corner of your eye can turn out to be something interesting. The majority of people move about their world so fast that they almost suffer from tunnel vision. Some people say to me of a butterfly photograph for instance "ooooh I've never seen one of those before" to which I replied "you probably have but never stopped to look." Granted, as my hobby and my passion is nature photography I tend to pay closer attention to small things than do other people and so it was that I came upon this. It is a Carolina Wolf Spider carrying her egg sac around. I spotted it (as is often the case) as I was passing by the "accidental" flower bed on my way to hang my laundry out to dry (environmentally friendly.) After the laundry was hung I went back into the house and got my camera. Apparently these creatures are very secretive and spend most of their time on the ground, so I was curious to discover her on the lantana in full view. She holds the egg sac with her spinneretes until the egg hatches. If you look very closely you will see that the sac is almost ready to hatch, as you can see the spiderlings inside the sac(when it is first laid the sac is pure white)



Today I was again walking back from hanging out laundry and noticed a brown blob on the lantana out of the corner of my eye that did not seem to belong. On closer inspection I found this.



As you can see the spiderlings have hatched and will now ride on their mother's back (or in fact all over her body) until they are able to fend for themselves. Here is another angle



It is hard to calculate how many babies she is carrying, it almost looks like she is wearing a fur coat there are so many. It is interesting to contemplate how many of the babies will survive, if all of them do I am going to be overrun with wolf spiders but I imagine that the baby lizards that have recently hatched will find that a baby wolf spider makes a perfect meal, and so turns the circle of life. I should imagine that it is somewhat of a privilege to witness this event in a wolf spider's life, or even if it is not, I personally feel privileged to have witnessed it. Mother nature just loves me sometimes.

It has taken me a while to absorb the news of Steve Erwin's death, not least because he was one of our greatest warriors when it came to the preservation of wildlife. He was so dedicated and so passionate in his quest that it is hard to believe that there is anyone out there that could replace him. It is unfortunate that he was called "Crocodile Hunter" when in fact his true monica should have been "Crocodile Rescuer" the small consolation is that his children, particularly Bindi, has inherited his passion for saving animals "it is our responsibility to save the universe" she said, at all of 7 years of age. I shall never forget the show when Bindi came home from the hospital for the first time, and Steve, his words just dripping with joy said "and here she is, beautiful Bindi, home for the first time" he was beside himself with glee that his perfect daughter was coming home. Let us all hope that Bindi takes up the mantle of her father and becomes such a warrior for wildlife. Sleep tight Steve, the world will miss you almost immeasurably, I should imagine that as you crossed the Rainbow bridge St. Francis was there to give you a huge welcome and a tame croc to keep you company. The world needs more Steve Erwins and unfortunately we have just lost the only one. At least he died doing what he loved, interacting with wildlife and championing their cause. Who is next to take up the sword?