I didn’t actually see the Vaudevillian face as I shot the spider image (below). Hugh and I were wandering through Wunderlich Park in Woodside (California), impressed by the miles of spider silk, strung like hammocks over the forest. Some were laid in sheets, some were funnel webs. (I’ll write a bit more on the landscape we saw, in my next post.)

Spider webs at Wunderlich Park

Spider Silk at Wunderlich Park - ©ingridtaylar

We didn’t notice any spiders . . . at first. Then one by one, as we trained our eyes for the colors and variations, we started to see what Hugh called “arachnid city”: web after web housing spiders of different patterns and sizes.

It would have been an impossible dilemma for an arachnophobe . . . navigating that tent city of webs. I suppose an arachnophobe would, technically, be just as afraid of ticks and mites, being that they’re also arachnids. So, if it’s just spiders you fear or loathe, it’s probably more accurate to say Araneaeophobe . . . even though I doubt I’ll hear anyone ever again say that in my lifetime.

This photo was shot from below a sheet web and shows the spider’s back. It was only when I looked at the image on my Mac screen that the character in tophat became apparent. I rotated the image to better showcase the face. If anyone knows the identity of this particular arachnid, please comment. I’m still looking …

Tophat and Face on Spider Back

Tophat in a Web - ©ingridtaylar