Huge Spider in the Compost Bin

Our compost bins support quite the little ecosystem.  Mice, birds, rabbits and all kinds of bugs feed on the veggie scraps we dump in the bins.  We even had a spaghetti squash plant grow out of one bin from the squash guts we dumped in there.  The shade from the squash plant attracted even more critters.  Naturally, all those animals attract predators.

Dumping the compost bucket in the kitchen is Eli's chore.  Yesterday, the bucket was much fuller and heavier than normal, so I helped him with it.  When we dumped it in the compost bin, we found this.

Click to enlarge.

Female

I had to look it up to figure out what it is.  According to spiders.us, they're black and yellow garden spiders - a female (the huge one) and a male (the tiny one).  The following quote and the photos on the right are from the website.

Mature females are enormous, their bold black-and-yellow pattern adding to their intimidating appearance. Common in gardens, orchards, forest edges, old fields, and farms, they spin a classic round orb web which is usually decorated with a bold, zigzag band of silk called a stabilimentum.

Eli was very excited about the big spider.  He insisted on showing her off to Aimee (who is terrified of spiders) and everyone else.  He even named her Eight Legs, because - as he said - "Arachnids have eight legs".

Male

Today, Eli just had to go see Eight Legs again.  We watched one of the many flies feeding on veggie scraps get stuck in the web, and Eight Legs quickly pounce on it and eat it.  Eli was elated!  He just had to show Aimee, who was even more creeped out.  As we walked away from the compost bin, Eli looked back toward the bin and said, "Goodbye, Eight Legs.  I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"   

I took another photo with my hand behind Eight Legs to provide some perspective about her size.  The male was nowhere to be seen, which I think means they mated and she ate him.

Eli asked to go check on her again before it got dark.  Aimee wants to get rid of the big, creepy spider, but Eli told her that he likes Eight Legs, and lectured her about how spiders help people by eating bugs like flies.

We'll see if Aimee can tolerate Eight Legs for Eli's sake!