> Sometimes they will sit there in the middle of the web and shake it back and forth like they are getting ready to jump, but they never do.

Many times I've tried using a straw or some similar thing to poke webs to try and fool the spider into thinking it's caught something, but I think they know very well how the vibrations of a real insect feels like.

About seven years ago, I was out on the porch, having a cigarette (a bad habit I quit a quarter of a decade ago), and studying a spider's web on the railing. The spider was at home, just sitting there in the middle. So I tap my cigarette at the web, so a pretty big piece of ash gets caught there. The spider rushes over to it, obviously thinking it's made a catch. Now here's the cool part: When it realizes the ash is not an edible thing, it picks it up with it's forelegs and *throws* it away from the web!

Trav"often fascinated by nature"holt.