Lee's Photoblog
I Got You Now
Posted by Lee (Fort Frances Ontario, Canada) on 24 June 2009 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.
Yesterday morning I witnessed this episode of Nature at it finest.
I was taking a picture of this spider in it web all curled and bunched up resting. I noticed a dragonfly a little beside and took a shot of it. The dragonfly flew into the web. Thats when all hell broke loose. The spider raced and wrestled with the dragonfly briefly. Then left it alone for about 5 minutes. The spider tediously checked and mended its web. The dragonfly would flutter every now and then. Then the spider came back and finished the dragonfly.
In a period of about fifteen minutes, I manged to get about 200 shots of these two. There are shots that are blurred because of the struggling.
I thinks it's a conspiracy, I didn't know the mosquitos have sided with spiders to help with their battle against the dragonflies.
Thank you for visiting my site. I consider myself to be lucky living where I do. Everyday I wake up to a wealth of interesting visual scenarios. Most of my pictures are Wildlife and Nature taken from around the area. The area specifically being Fort Frances Ontario on beautiful Rainy Lake. Feel free to comment on what you see. I look forward to hearing from you. If you like what you see, please rate it. Better yet, bookmark the site and drop back often. I will be posting daily.
All images are copyrighted by Lee Oelke Photography. They cannot be reproduced, electronically, or by printing without my written consent. Should you be interested in any of my images, please contact me.
@Didier DE ZAN: Thank you
Claude B from MONT DE MARSAN, France
quand la petite bête mange la grosse...
bonne journée
24 Jun 2009 5:27am
@Claude B: Merci Beaucoup
Christel from Köln, Germany
Good morning Lee,
a very exciting story and a very nice recording. This is something you do not see every day. The title live and survive would also fit. Have a nice day. Greetings Christel
24 Jun 2009 6:40am
@Christel: Thank you Christel. Have a great day.
Hidalgo from Herunen, Finland
Struggle from life continues. A lot of photos You took!!! Cool macro.
24 Jun 2009 7:25am
@Hidalgo: Thank you
JanW from Netherlands
A good follow up from yesterday's story Lee. A great shot it is!
I went back up to the flying bumblebee, that's a great shot too.
24 Jun 2009 7:46am
@JanW: Thank you very much. Take care and have a great day.
zOOm from Paris, France
Wild life is the eternal combat of hunters and preys. A great image.
24 Jun 2009 8:28am
@zOOm: Thank you Florence. Yes in nature there is always a fight and struggle happening. Kill and eat before killed and eaten.
Anthony Lambert from Bielefeld, Germany
I´m not one for "the Bugs life" but this is a great shot !!
24 Jun 2009 8:51am
@Anthony Lambert: Thank you very much Antony.
Baby Sis from Canada
Great shot....I am not a big fan of spiders. Thank God they are not bigger than me. ugh!!!
24 Jun 2009 9:43am
@Baby Sis: Thanks Shelley. I should show the picture of the big one I took this same day.
grouser from Ludlow, United Kingdom
Nature red in tooth and claw. Looks almost metallic. Well seen and shot
24 Jun 2009 10:13am
@grouser: Thank you Grouser. I was in the right place at the right time.
@Elena Kotrotsou: Thank you
Sarah from Suisse, Switzerland
Amazing... and sad for the dragonfly! I like it better when they die of old age!
24 Jun 2009 10:26am
@Sarah: I agree. However, It is nature. I was just lucky enough to witness this event and have my camera at the ready.
@Beat: Thank you.
jamesy from christchurch, New Zealand
Definately a conspiracy. Yuk the spiders and the mosquitoes what an army. Oh the poor dragonfly
Fine shot Lee
24 Jun 2009 11:41am
@jamesy: Thank you Debbie. I am not looking forward to combat with this army.
Eric Cousineau from Sherwood Park, Canada
An extraordinary capture Lee! I am always impressed with the efficiency of Nature. In this case the ringer on the mosquito team earned his keep as a free safety...... ;-))
24 Jun 2009 12:05pm
@Eric Cousineau: Thank you Eric. Yes nature is very efficient. This ringer lucked into a smorgasboard.
mohkum from Muscat, Oman
Great observation and presentation of a rare shot, well captured.
24 Jun 2009 12:40pm
@mohkum: Thank you Very much
Susan from Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
Such a beautiful and helpless creature, the dragonfly!! Great shot, and how wonderful that you caught the action while it was happening!!!
24 Jun 2009 12:58pm
@Susan: Thank you Susan. It happened just as I took a shot of the spider. It was perfect timing. Morbid perhaps, but perfect for me.
Tracy from La Selva Beach, United States
Simply amazing capture Lee! What a feast for a small spider!
24 Jun 2009 1:14pm
@Tracy: Thank you Tracy. Yes it was a feast I imagine.
@Kerri: Thank you Kerri.
MARIANA from waterloo, Canada
Super capture of these two guys ! macro is perfect plus these colors !
24 Jun 2009 2:57pm
@MARIANA: Thank you very much.
Denise from Duncannon, United States
Great shot, I struggle when I see insects stuck in webs, sometimes I will free them. My family laughs at me. Hey, if I am caught in a web ( of some sort) I hope they would come and yank me out:)
24 Jun 2009 3:06pm
@Denise: Very good reasoning Denise. I like it. And I am sure if you ever get trapped, snared or threatened in any way your family would be there for you. That is what family is all about.
Soe from Bangkok, Thailand
Great Macro Work !
Your capture make me want to get new macro lens...
24 Jun 2009 3:24pm
@Soe: Thank you Soe. A photographer can never have enough lenses. Ha Ha. We alll need just one more.
Viewfinder from Bradenton, FL, United States
Super capture - the spider's catch, and your photo. Heh.
24 Jun 2009 3:58pm
@Viewfinder: Thank you Glenn. I thought I was lucky to winess this event happening. I was even more fortunate to have the camera firing as it happened.
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
Poor Dragonfly caught in the web, eaten alive, I get chills although I have to admit it's a super photo!
24 Jun 2009 4:29pm
@Lorraine: Thank you very much. I know the feeling. I hate spiders. The spider bit the dragonfly and injected its venom first.
@Loner: Thank you Sonja. Such is the law of Nature.
@vu@granby - Wolfgang: Thank you very much Wolfgang.
@Kathe: Every now and then after the spider had bit the dragonfoly, it would flutter a bit, then flutter again. I can only imagine if it could think what it was saying.
@john4jack: Thank you Jack. Yes nature does seem cruel to us humans.
B. Thomas from Arlington, Texas, United States
Yuck. I would have been cheering for the dragonfly! Nice shot anyway. Are we going to see all 200? ;-)))
25 Jun 2009 1:44am
@B. Thomas: I was cheering for the dragonfly. After it was bit there was no use to cheer. The outcome was decided at that point. No you will not be seeing the remaining shots. However, I am trying to put together a before, during and after combination of shots. It'll be a while for that one.
@eva: And it's not a safety net.
Veronique from Sarrouilles, France
what an extraordinary moment you captured there !
25 Jun 2009 8:53am
@Veronique: Thank you very much.
@Linda: Thank you Very much
@Zing: Many Thanks
mats from Texas, United States
Nasty spider! Those wings got him. For real, I thought the dragonfly could have known better.. :-)
This is a wonderful documentation of how smaller creatures get their prey.
27 Jun 2009 5:35am
@mats: Thank you Mats. It shows how quickly things can change in nature. Eat or be eaten.
