My sister and I watched a large spider kill a firefly on my back deck tonight. As the spider wrapped the firefly up, it started blinking frantically. Blink blink blink blink. As the spider got it all squared away and prepared to finish it off, the firefly got tired but continued to blink sadly through the cocoon. Blink. Blink. Blink. ...Blink. It was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen.
We couldn't watch anymore, so we went inside to make drinks. When we came out, there was nothing left but a little firefly-sized husk. Snf.
A few minutes later, another bug stumbled into the web. I think it was a click beetle. Whatever it was, it was the most tenacious little bastard I've ever seen. The spider went to wrap it up, but the beetle went crazy on it and put a serious hurting on the spider, battering it for several mintues until the spider was still. We thought it had died for sure, but it finally got its bearings and retreated.
The beetle was left alone, but it was still stuck to the web. After thrashing around for about five agonizing minutes, it finally freed itself, jumped down, and ran under the deck. My sister said it would have been the greatest ironic fun ever if I'd stepped on it as soon as it hit the ground, and she was totally right, it would have been, but I didn't have the heart.
When we went inside, the spider was running around, assessing the damage to its tattered web. The whole thing was better than pro wrestling if you ask me.