Page 41 - The Miracle in the Spider

Spiders' Methods of Hunting 41

The water spider's bubble in the picture is planned in the most ideal way for living
under water. It is impossible for a spider to have found a way of living under water
by chance. It is God Who created the spider with these characteristics.

By day the spider waits in its nest. Should any small animal pass by,

especially an insect or a larva, it rushes out, grabs it, and drags it back to
the nest to consume. An insect falling on to the surface of the water sets
off vibrations. The spider senses these, goes up to the surface, seizes the
insect and drags it beneath the water. The spider even uses a web on the
surface of the water. It makes no distinction between an insect which falls
into this and any other victim.
As winter approaches, the spider has to take precautions if it is not
to freeze. For this reason, as winter draws near, the water-spider goes
down deeper. This time it builds a winter bell and fills the inside of it with
air. Some other spiders move into empty sea-snail shells. It never moves
inside the bell, and expends hardly any energy throughout the whole
winter. This is to conserve energy and so reduce its need for oxygen.
These precautions mean that the air bubbles it carries to the bell can last
it for the 4-5 winter months. 11
As we have seen, the spider's air bubble and hunting methods are