Each week, Atlas Obscura is providing a new short excerpt from our upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders (September 17, 2024). At the end of Charlotte’s Web, Wilbur the pig is excited to befriend the offspring of his recently deceased spider friend. But before he really gets the chance, the just-hatched spiderlings climb up a fence post, stick their butts in the air, spin balloons out of silk, and float away. Unlike, say, pro-pig messages written in webs, this plot point is pretty realistic….
