Episode 4: Spider Sniffing (ft Deb Williams)
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Deb Williams delights in finding sparkling, shining eyes at night, and it's not just the deer, raccoon, and rabbit eyes that get her excited. This favorite pastime (and Halloween party activity!) of Deb's has led to countless rabbit holes on nightvision and even got her digging into real cow eyeballs! Let's geek out about eyeshine.
How to go Spider Sniffing
Best age range: 3-year-olds and up
Location: anywhere short grass meets the woods is ideal
Best time: night
Season: summer, fall
Special materials: lightweight flashlight
What to do: Find a lawn or grassy area near hedges or some woods. Hold a flashlight on the side of your head, next to your eye. Shine the flashlight on the ground and look for tiny sparkles of blue or green light. When you see a sparkle of light, keep the light fixed on the sparkle and carefully walk closer. This should lead you to a small, harmless ground-hunting spider, most often a wolf spider. The sparkle you see is the light reflecting off the spider’s eyes (spider eyeshine). See how many spiders you can spot. What’s the smallest spider you can find?
Inside Deb's Light Box
Wildlife Eyeshine by Bob Gress
American Badger's blue-green eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
Walleye's eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
Black-footed Ferret's emerald-green eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
American Bullfrog's eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
Virginia Opossum's white eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
Black-tailed Jackrabbit's pink eyeshine (photo by Bob Gress)
