Amazing Animals: Bolas Spiders - The One Year Mother-Daughter Devo
Amazing Animals: Bolas Spiders
Bible Blast: Read Genesis 1:20-25
God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. Genesis 1:24
Imagine a cowgirl up on her horse chasing after a calf. She lifts up her lasso, swings it around and around, releases it, and—bam! She catches a calf! It’s an amazing skill that is a lot harder than it looks. Professional cattle ropers practice using lassos for years to perfect the art.
But there’s one tiny creation that’s born knowing how to use a lasso. It’s called a bolas spider. They’re named after a weapon called a “bolas”—a rope with heavy balls on the ends of it. When a hunter or cowboy throws it at an animal, it wraps around the animal’s legs to force it to stop running.
Bolas spiders have a favorite meal: moths. (Yuck, right?) Instead of weaving a web for the moth to fly into and get caught, the bolas spider makes a long string with a sticky ball on the end of it. The ball has a special scent that moths totally love. When the moth comes flying near, the bolas spider carefully swings the sticky ball and sticks its prey.
It is truly one of the most unbelievable things I’ve ever seen an animal do. When I think about the bolas spider, I wonder, Why didn’t God just make all spiders do the same thing, with the same kinds of webs? Why did he make a spider that catches moths like that? I guess the answer is, Why not?
God isn’t just a creator; he’s the Creator. The One who creates. I absolutely believe he found perfect joy in creating each animal—from the ginormous blue whale to the tiny bolas spider. If you had the opportunity to create anything and everything, wouldn’t you have fun with it? Wouldn’t you want to create a spider that throws a rope to catch moths? Or an elephant that uses an extremely long nose to grab food? Or a dog that can learn how to shake hands and roll over?
God loves his creation. The little bolas spider makes me say, “Thank you, God, for your creativity! I totally enjoy it!”
Girl Gab: You probably know what I want you to do, don’t you? That’s right! Grab your mom and head to the computer. You can find short videos of the bolas spider in action. You won’t believe your eyes! Thank God for his creativity!
