Today, while my daughter and son were playing outside, I saw a natural phenomena which puzzled me. We have a gazebo in the back yard where a spider made a tight web in one of the corners that join the roof of it. It was a pretty hot spring day out here so I went to get the kids some water.
When my son came into the gazebo to drink, I heard a rapid buzzing up in the roof that sounded like a bee. So a sought it out and found a pretty big bumble bee trapped in the web. It was struggling to get out so I figured, I would set it free by cutting the web from around it a letting it fly. However, when I looked closer, I noticed two baby size spiders trying to secure a kill and feed on the bee, then I saw the bigger parent spider watching from behind the hinge which joined the post to the roof, where the web was built. The parent spider, at one point, even crawled out to poke its head in the business, as if to suggest help, or encourage the baby spiders, then it went back around the hinge.
In all honesty I wanted to free the bee, then I also thought about the parent spider feeding it young, teaching them how to hunt, kill and feed, etc. I tried my best to not put either of them above one another, and keep the perspective of letting nature be nature. However I remain puzzled as to what choice was better, save the bee, or let the spiders eat?
Amituofo
