I’m sure most of you are familiar with the old tale of the spider and the fly. In it, the spider entices the fly into it’s nest only to then capture and eat it. Well last week I got to experience at least part of that story in real life. Of all the unusual places to have an unusual wildlife encounter, I was at the local landfill dumping my trash. One of the things I was getting rid of was an old shirt that had too many holes in it to wear any more. It had fallen out of the bag it was in, and was lying in the bed of my truck under everything else. As I went to pick it up I noticed a small black and white jumping spider on the shirt, but it looked odd. A closer look made me realize that it had captured a house fly and was holding onto it as it raced around looking for a safe place to hide. The closer look also told me it was a canopy jumping spider (Phidippus otiosus), a close relative to the regal jumping spider (Phidippus regius).

I love spiders, but especially jumping spiders, so I wasn’t about to toss this little one in the trash. Instead, I took it back to my office grounds where I, of course, had to take some photos and then gently placed it and it’s fly prey, which it never let go of, in one of our oak trees (canopy jumping spiders like to live in oak and pine trees). It climbed onto some of the new leaves that were coming in on the branch where I put it and then paused, so I took a few shots while it was there, too. The last I saw of it, it was headed down the branch towards the tree trunk, and with its grey and white coloring the spider was already blending into the color and pattern of the bark. Hopefully, it found a nice crevice in the bark where it could settle in and enjoy the meal it had so diligently held onto.

I found the whole encounter very interesting. Never in a million years had I expected to have a wildlife experience, let alone a photo session while taking out the trash! It just goes to show, you never know what each day and each activity will bring. Especially if you pay attention.