Two Nephila clavipes (Golden Web Spider or banana spider), one male and one female. The small one is the male, it is almost an inch wide, the female is a monster about 5 to 6 times bigger. In the background, a tree.
And I almost ran into it as I was too busy looking at alligators, cypress and lilly ponds around me. Anyways, Banana spiders are kind of jokers, not even poisonous (pfff....). They kill their preys the old-fashioned way, without using any chemical stuff!
This is an example of little nice animals we spotted last week-end in the Okefenokee swamp in southern Georgia. I am still sorting my pictures, more details on the swamp soon...