Spineybacked Orbweaver

This is the female Spineybacked Orbweaver. We recently spotted her at Poinsette State Park near Wedgefield SC. She likes to make her 12 to 15 inch web every evening about face height and this one was strung across the trail...of course! We was able to see her strange crab like shape and her mincing dangerous looking spines and of course that white back that looks like a skull to me! Everything that looks like that MUST be dangerous and poisonous and could kill you in a flash, so we left her alone found the nearby Geocache and slipped by her one more time. When we returned to our campsite we whipped out our insect Field Guide and found that in fact she causes very little or no reaction if you come in contact with her.     

Solomon's Seal

While out on a recent caching jaunt we found a beautiful hidden treasure in Tryon North Carolina. I have been in this area my entire life and have never seen or heard of this park.Woodland Park is a 10 acre natural area. There are wonderful natural surface trails for short hikes and benches so you can sit next to a meandering stream basically in the middle of  town. There were numerous wild flowers in bloom such as Toadstool Trillium,  and multiple types of  fern. We had not brought our camera but Laura had her iPod so were able to photo this very LARGE  Solomon's Seal . This was the largest that we had seen, it was about 3 feet tall with a graceful arch. Soloman's Seal is edible when dried and it has medicinal properties, although the berries should not be consumed.