As it happens, Charlotte, my nightly spider-visitor about whom I've been commenting here on Carol's blog is a Barn Spider. She is, in fact, the very spider made famous in the children's book by American writer E. B. White. You can read more about the real-life Charlotte on wiki. I've been observing Charlotte behaving just as documented in the wiki article. Except for one thing: she didn't read the part about taking her spiderweb down every night. This morning she crept away and left it in place. As I write, tonight's hunting has begun, and she saved herself some extra work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn%20spider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn%20spider
