Big Backyard Bioblitz's Boletim

Did you know we share our bubble with spiders? Some studies have indicated that on average we are never more than 3m away from a Spider! Earlier today I had a white-banded house jumping spider happily hopping across my arm. They are truly everywhere and you will find them inside and outside your house. See how many you can observe and upload to the Big Backyard Bioblitz project using iNaturalist.

They play a big role in controlling insect populations.
They perform a fantastic service for all of us, keeping the number of pest insects down. Imagine the clouds of flies we would be wading through without spiders. They eat more insects than birds eat, so they should be considered another of human's best friends.

Spiders are not only predators, they are often prey.
Many birds and animals love to feed on them. They are an important food source, the fantails that have been swooping in and out around my house have been picking off the spiders on my windows.

Keep up the observations.

“In times of crisis, the natural world is a source of both joy and solace. The natural world produces the comfort that can come from nothing else. And we are part of the natural world.” Sir David Attenborough.

Now is the time to seek some comfort and solace by finding the nature around you at home. As we can't get out and about too much, let's focus on our houses and backyards. Have a look around inside your house. Are there any spiders in webs in the corners of your rooms, flies in the living room, bees or wasps banging against your windows? Do you have any animals around inside your house? I don't mean your brothers or sisters or mums, dads or other humans. What about pets? Have you a pet cat, dog, budgie, rabbit, guinea pig, rat or goldfish? You can start to use iNaturalist to photograph and record all those living things. Get going and join this project!