“Nothing to see here, just us sticks….”

In what is clearly an ongoing series I might have to call “The Spiders in our Garden” here is another one of…. ummmm…. the spiders in our garden…. 😉

This one was noticed hanging in the lavender by Number 1 while we were bringing the shopping in and is called a Whip Spider.

A spider or a gravity resistant stick?

Yes, I know it looks like a stick. It hasn’t thought its hiding spot out too well has it?

If it is really wanted us to believe the whole stick thing it wouldn’t be floating in the air. A much better disguise would be if it clung to whatever plant it had attached its web to wouldn’t it?

Busted!

I got Number 1 to tickle it with a piece of grass so it would turn from stick to spider otherwise you would be perfectly justified in thinking I made this entire post up.

These spiders are only a few centimeters long so when they move it is amazing to see all these legs suddenly spring out. Their long curved back end looks quite strange on a spider too.

At home we just call these guys ‘the spider that looks like a stick’ so I though I had better look up their proper name for you. I was surprised that they were called Whip Spiders as I have seen Whip Spiders and their scary fighting legs on documentaries and they look WAY more formidable than this guy. I’m not complaining, mind you, spiders who just want me to think they are a stick, then run away when they are caught out are far more welcome in our garden!