We came upon this spider on our perimeter ramble last week. I saw it sitting on the rock you see in the top of the photo. I suppose it was trying to collect whatever heat it could on that cold, sunless day. I rarely see these spiders, at least not for long. I've grouped them in the wolf spider category, but I don't know that to be the case. When I spot them, it's usually for an instant before they dart away. So it was that I told #2 Son Adam that there was no point trying to get a picture of it. The task of bending low to get close enuf would scare the spider into the leaf litter. Adam is always up for a challenge, though, especially if it means proving the old man wrong. He took the camera from me and proceeded to lean in for three really good shots before the spider sauntered away. I suppose it was too cold to make a hasty retreat. (Had I realized that, maybe I would have been the one taking the successful shots.) Wolf spiders are hunters, going after prey rather than waiting for it to come to them in a web. I don't know how much food there was out and about on that day, but I wished it luck. Missouri calendar:

• Red foxes begin mating this month; listen for their barks and squalls.

Today in Missouri history:

• Firebrand abolitionist John Brown heads a raid into Vernon County, Missouri on this date in 1858. He liberated eleven slaves by force.
• The first railroad west from Kansas City began operation on this date in 1864, even before it had arrived in Kansas City from the east.

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