It's the stuff of nightmares.

I was on my back porch minding my own business. I have no idea what possessed me to look up at the exposed beams except for a wasp that, thankfully was flying above and not bothering me at all.

The spider and the wasp - a life and death battle photograph by Meredith Loughran

Suddenly, as quick as a lightning strike, what I think is a wolf spider, jumped out of a dark nook in the beams and snatched the wasp!

The fight was ON

The wasp poked and stung the spider.
The spider clung to it and bit back.
Every now and again it receded into the dark corner.
As I watched in horrified fascination, I wondered which would survive, which would succumb, or would they both die from mortal wounds?

The only thing I could say was, "That's fucking gnarly!

I'd never before witnessed such a battle in person.
Like watching prized fighters giving everything they got, they both became weaker as time passed.

The ending was clear

The wasp was getting sluggish, it's stinger losing it's speed.
And ever so slowly - meticulously - the spider grabbed the wasp and began it's methodical process of wrapping it in its web.
With a newly acquired bundle of food, the spider inched back into its web, dragging the twitching wasp deeper into the dark.

This post is dedicated to @poeticsnake because she's weird like me. We like stuff of nightmares, don't we?

Wall of #Steemit love:

This awesome name in peppers was created by @papa-pepper: @papa-pepper made my name in peppers! Meredith Loughran @merej99

Bibi Rillmann @poeticsnake art, doodle, @merej99 Meredith Loughran And @poeticsnake graced me with her beautiful artwork!

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The Spider and the Wasp - photograph of a life and death battle