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🕷️ Get Your Spider On: The NC Spider Search Is Here! October means one thing in North Carolina: it's officially spider season, and we're inviting you to get a little spooky with science. The 2026 NC Spider Search runs October 3 through 11. The mission is simple: find and photograph seven spiders anywhere in the state. Your backyard counts. So does the neighborhood park, the schoolyard, or that web you've been walking through every morning on the porch. You don't need to know a single spider name going in. Snap your photos, upload them to iNaturalist (app or website), and let the app handle identification while your sighting becomes part of a statewide scientific record. All observations are due by October 31. Along the way you might meet a Rabid Wolf Spider (not rabid, not a wolf, just dramatically named), a Spiny backed Orb weaver, or a Funnel Weaver. North Carolina spiders clearly did not come to play. 
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When I lived in the Concord area, I loved taking my two dogs to the Monroe Carolina Thread Trail in the early mornings. We loved that the trails provided more of a challenge than the groomed trails at parks. You may find yourself climbing over a newly fallen tree or wading through some mud. As a plant lover, I found new plants to photograph or some wildlife to see with every visit. There are places where you can get close to the river, and if you like canoeing, use one of the launches. Keep reading for a little history of the river and things to enjoy.  Photos courtesy of Catawba Lands Conservancy” When I moved into my home four years ago, I inherited something truly special. The house itself is a charming log cabin built from a kit while the previous owners lived in a smaller home at the front of the property. But what really captured my imagination was the garden they left behind. It was wonderfully tangled—a landscape filled with mature trees, hidden surprises, and decades of thoughtful planting. They even left me a hand-drawn map identifying many of the plants scattered throughout the property.  Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron) I have to confess something: in my nearly 60 years of life, I’ve never really seen a truly spectacular moth in the wild. Butterflies? Sure. Bees? Every day. But moths have somehow remained mysterious little nighttime creatures fluttering just beyond my attention. That is about to change.  Luna Moth- Photo ©Victoria Martin dreamstime.com |