Each day when I went to the mailbox, a Daring Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) would be waiting to greet me as I reached in to grab the mail.
It had become routine. I would carefully open the metal door of the mailbox a pinch. The spider would be sitting just inside - usually at one of the corners where the door, walls and floor met. As the light from the opening door crossed over its many eyes, it would jump across the stack of mail and disappear into a crevice.
One day, I opened the door. No spider. That is, until I got into the house and found it sitting between two pieces of junk mail.
Under the indoor light, I had an opportunity to see the intricate "tree" or "face" pattern on its back and the beautiful iridescent blue-green of its mouth parts.
While some people actually keep Daring Jumping Spiders as pets, I felt we were both better off with it guarding the mailbox.
