The Jumping Spider At The Water Bucket

Apple blossoms and reflections in the water bucket

It was a jumping spider, a big black one,  probably half an inch square, with a small yellow triangle on her abdomen.

And I mean square because that’s the shape she was, her legs pulled in tight against her body.  She looked like a tank all solid bulk and moved like one too.  When she turned her whole body moved abruptly as if she was on wheels instead of legs.

I watched her as she came over the lip of the big blue water bucket I was about to fill for the sheep and donkeys.

She walked down the inside of the bucket and stopped at the edge of the water. I was getting ready to rescue her, looking around for a leaf to use to pull her out of the water when she fell in.  As much as I like watching spiders, I don’t like them crawling on me.

But this spider didn’t need my help, she knew just what she was doing.

She drank some water then pivoted her body and a tiny white dot fell from her rear end. The poop floated for a moment on the water then dissolved.

The spider walked up the inside of the bucket, over the rim, and disappeared.

It was the first time I ever saw a spider drink or defecate.

Unlike the spiders I find in the bathtub who can’t get back up the enamel wall,  she seemed to have no trouble navigating the inside of the bucket.   Jumping spiders don’t make webs, so maybe she hunts other insects who come to the water to drink.

It made me wonder if the spider is living under the rim of the water bucket and if I’ll see her again.

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