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John McGaw wrote:

I had a small jumping spider which took up residence in/on/around the
exterior keypad for my garage door. And we got to know each other pretty
well and (s)he got to the point where I was trusted to put a small
stunned fly on the top of the keypad and occasionally the spider would
grab it before it recovered and flew or fell off. The spider could also
be counted upon to put up its front legs in a boxing stance if I waved
my finger in front of its face. Jumping spiders are supposed to have
very good vision and I'm convinced that this one eventually came to
recognize me on sight.

I've always had a fondness for what is commonly called 'garden spiders'
around these parts. They have a colorful black and yellow pattern and
can grow rather large (a couple of inches in diameter). There was a
bridge near the college I attended that was covered with their webs.
Creeped some people out but I was fascinated. Also had one living in
my porch railing... almost considered her a pet after a while.

Thad


My daughter and I watched a small garden spider building it's web this
evening. Quite fascinating. Around here the only poisonous spiders are black
widow (rare, easy to find and avoid) and hobo (rare, fairly easy to avoid).
The garden spiders are niether, so they don't bother me. The house spiders
are of the same family as the hobo, but I've learned how to tell the
difference, so they don't bother me either. They also eat the hobo when they
find them. Things that leave me alone, I leave alone. However, a mud dauber
build a nest above my front door. I hated to kill it, but I can't have it's
nest there so I killed the poor thing. Otherwise I would have left it alone
as they are not agressive and are beneficial wasps.