Spider Minibeast Adventure with Jess

Hello, adventurers. I'm Jess. It's time for a minibeast adventure!

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Creeping, sleeping under stones here and there

# Nesting, resting, minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere, a minibeast adventure

# Feelers out, what about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare.

# Many worlds for us to share A minibeast adventure...

# ..with Jess. #

I'm very lucky in my tree house

that lots of spiders have decided to make their homes here.

And this is my special spider friend, Sophie.

Sophie is so happy here that she's even decided to lay some eggs.

I can't wait till they hatch

and there's lots of tiny spiderlings around.

I know that lots of people think spiders are scary,

but Sophie and I are here to tell you they're not.

They're amazing.

And actually they're quite shy, and tend to hide away from people.

In some countries, spiders are considered good luck.

So let's take a closer look at how brilliant Sophie really is.

Like all spiders, she has eight legs.

Spiders can also have up to eight eyes.

Can you see Sophie's eyes?

She has six.

And look at the hairs on her legs.

She uses those hairs to sense movements in her web.

But not all spiders make webs.

Some catch insects by chasing them, like wolves.

Come and have a look.

Here's another special spider friend of mine. This is Nancy.

Isn't she beautiful?

Some people think she looks a bit scary

but there is really no reason to be scared of her.

So let's take a closer look.

Wolf spiders and house spiders don't have webs,

so they have to chase insects to catch and eat them.

Look how fast Nancy is.

And she has really good eyesight too.

I wonder if there is a Sophie or a Nancy living near you.

Shall we go and see?

Come on.

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a minibeast adventure!

-Hi, Noaz, hi, Katima.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

I'm so happy you're here

because today we're going on a spider adventure!

-Have you ever seen a spider before?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-Where do you think we might find them?

-Over there.

-Down there?

Come on, then. Get your feelers ready.

-ALL:

-Feelers out, what's about?

We're off on a minibeast adventure! Let's go.

Where do spiders live?

-Um, in...

-Spider webs.

Yeah, spider webs.

In spider webs?

-Can you see any spider's webs anywhere?

-There.

-Where?

-Right there.

-Are there any spiders in it?

-Um, just take it.

Oh, I can see it, look. Sssh.

-SHE WHISPERS:

-It's right there at the back.

-It's at the back. Can you see?

-I can't see.

-Did you see it move?

-Yeah!

-Wow. What do you think she's doing?

Trying to catch flies.

Find them right over there.

That's pretty, isn't it?

I think it looks striped like a tiger.

-What about that one up there?

-Yes!

-I think it looks like a monster.

-Like a monster?

Yeah, like a monster.

-There's another one here!

-Oh, wow. What's her web like?

-Like a trampoline.

-It does look a bit like a trampoline!

-Why have they made so many webs?

-So they can catch flies.

So they can catch flies to eat, yeah.

There are some spiders called wolf spiders that live under logs.

Should we have a look under this log to see if we can find any?

I'm going to lift this up and I need you to look really carefully

and tell me if you spot any spiders, OK?

-Go!

-I saw one.

-Where?

-There.

Wow.

-What is that white thing? Have you got any idea?

-A bum.

It does look like a bum, doesn't it?

That's actually her eggs!

Her baby spiders are going to come out of there.

-Why is the spider not putting it down?

-The eggs?

-Yeah.

-That's so they hatch safely so she protects them until they hatch.

Is that a bag in there?

We call it an egg sac and it's like a bag full of baby spiders.

One day the bag opens and there's lots of tiny, tiny,

little spiders and they run everywhere.

-and make their own...

-Spider webs?

This type of spider doesn't make a spider web.

That's why it hides under logs. Let's put her back.

-ALL:

-Bye-bye, spider.

A spider builds a web in about an hour.

Imagine if you could build a home that quickly.

Wow!

So now we thought we'd make our own web.

I've started us off here with some bits of the web,

-but what should we add on next?

-I don't know.

-Should we go around here like this?

-Yes.

Do you think you can do that, Katima?

Put that through there

and around like that,

and then you've got the next bit.

Do you think you can do that here? Go on, here you go.

Brilliant! Pass it to Noaz.

Katima.

It's really starting to look like a spider web now, isn't it?

How long do you think it takes a spider to make a spider web?

-30 minutes?

-30 minutes? Some of them probably could do it in 30 minutes.

They're quite quick at it.

Katima, where are you going to put it next?

-OK.

-I want to climb on it.

-Do you think it would be strong enough?

-Yes.

-Oh, I don't know.

Spider silk is very, very, very strong, but wool...

I'm not sure you could climb up wool.

That's why spiders are so amazing.

-Their webs are so strong they can climb up them.

-They're beautiful.

Oh, spiders are beautiful. What do you think of our spider web?

-It's very cool.

-It is cool, isn't it?

Wow, we really discovered how difficult it is to make

a spider's web, didn't we?

Sophie is such a clever minibeast.

Maybe you could have a spider adventure too.

Have a look for a web and see if you can see a spider hiding nearby.

Feelers out, what's about? Happy hunting, adventurers!