Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Before we lose our Winter Scenes, it might be an idea to get up at sunset and look around your garden (or a nearby forest, if you like). Spiders are in many places, despite the cold, icy conditions. The best time to see their “websites” is on dew-laden mornings – the owners are nearby and await the rising of that wintry sun.  Spider silk glands have liquid proteins called spidroins. They're actually kind of gooey and are pressed out gently to form silk. It’s strong, yet light and flexible – a fabulous building material that serves many purposes. Those webs have sticky and non-sticky strands of silk, so the spider can walk on them without getting stuck themselves.  Websites can be incredibly fascinating in the way the spider builds them – this sheetweb is extremely strong and contains silken supports above and below the sheetweb’s “trampoline”. If a moth or beetle flies over the web and accidentally hits the guy-ropes, the poor insect loses its balance and ends up on the silken trampoline.   In