An Eight Legged Pumpkin

Spider, Cornelia, Georgia, USA

This orange marbled orb-weaver spider was walking on the side of the road likely heading for a pile of leaves in the nearby woodlands.  It is totally harmless to humans and usually isn't seen after the first hard freeze of winter.

To take this picture, I simply put the camera on the road very close to the spider.  There was no need to use my zoom lens as these spiders have poor vision and it didn't seem afraid of me.