Large and athletic, with long legs and a sleek, brownish body often marked with a creamy stripe down the side. A spider that is a devoted mother. This spider is a hunter that does not rely on a web to catch prey. Instead, it roams the flax and foliage, using keen eyesight and speed to ambush insects. Its true claim to fame is its maternal instinct. When the female is ready to lay eggs, she constructs a silken egg sac and carries it everywhere, clamped firmly under her jaws. A spider that never puts her eggs down. Just before the spiderlings are due to hatch, she builds a special nursery. That tent-like structure of silk spun among the leaves becomes the nursery. She places the sac inside and stands guard over it, fierce and unyielding, chasing away any intruder including other spiders and potential predators. Once the babies emerge, they stay within the nursery for a few days, safe under her watch, before dispersing into the world. This level of parental care is rare in the spider kingdom, where eating your young is often the norm. A spider that protects, not eats. Despite their size, with a leg span reaching up to ten centimetres, they are gentle giants. They possess venom to subdue prey, but it is not dangerous to humans. A bite is unlikely unless they are severely provoked, and even then, it is no worse than a bee sting. The flax bush is green. The nursery web sits among the leaves, a silken tent. The mother stands guard, fierce and still. The spiderlings will emerge soon. She will protect them. She does not know she is a gentle giant. She just wants her babies to survive.