Missy the Cat Face Spider - Give Her a Hand

Missy is a Cat Face Orb Weaver. According to wikipedia, Araneus gemmoides, commonly known as the jewel spider and cat-faced spider, is a common outdoor orb-weaver spider found in the USA and Canada. They are considered harmless and have low-toxicity venom. A. gemmoides are useful natural predators for insects. Spiders bute far less often thatn dogs, and Ive found them to be far more predicatble. It has been a journey to get to a point where I could allow her to climb on me. We instinctively have a revulsion to such creatures. But in working with Jumping Spiders over several years, I have come to understand all spiders better, and learned to interact in way I would never have thought possible. My mind has evolved as a result. Creatures I once feared, some with good reason, and others without foundation, have become important relationships that have caused me to revisit my beliefs - my illusions of certainty - about all other beings, including people. All original content. Copyright: Kyle Burdash, aka Bug Attraction The Phidippus Project