This is a Carolina Wolf Spider, which if you didn't know, is my state's official spider. Really. They voted on it and picked a state spider. Does your state have a spider? If not, you're deprived. Now our children have to learn about the wolf spider at school. You can click on this picture to enlarge, if you dare.
Did you know that if you look at the word "spider" long enough it looks spelled wrong?
We have wolf spiders and other spiders in our house. Since Lily has studied the wolf spider at school, I know that the wolf spider is my friend, in spite of the fact that it is a huge, hairy and fearsome looking spider, however you spell it. Really big. When I Googled "wolf spider" I found a site devoted to keeping them as pets. No thank you. I'd completely lose my ability to spell.
If a wolf spider is crossing the road at night, their eyes shine in your headlights. Really. You can see them shining on the road at night. That's a big spider.
Or you can see them in my laundry and elsewhere in my house. Sometimes I put them out. Sometimes I let them stay in to eat whatever bugs they find. I don't like spiders and I don't like bugs. Whichever one eats the other is my friend, so spiders get to stay unless I'm in a mood.
But what about the other spiders? One good thing about the wolf spider is that it doesn't make a web. While I sleep, it's stalking its prey. (How do I sleep, you ask? With medication.) What about the spiders with webs? I've long thought about it. First off, what are they eating? If they're eating bugs, they are my friends, though I don't like what they've done to my decor. It's Halloween every day around here.
What if they're venomous? Guess what. Almost all spiders are venomous. You'll find that out if you Google them. I'm not happy about this, though the Spider Myth Site says that few spiders carry the kind of venom that hurts people.
We do have black widows in the yard. Used to have one living under the well cover. She had babies. They weren't cute. Why didn't I kill them? I have no idea.
So far, I haven't found any black widows in the house. I do check my shoes before I put them on. But I haven't answered my question. What are the other spiders doing?
Apparently, they are spiders specially adapted to living indoors (they won't survive outside) and what they're doing in my house is eating bugs.
I don't see any bugs, so they must be doing a good job.
They get to stay. Except for the hairy black tarantula-looking thing that wasn't a wolf spider that was by my bed this morning. Don't know what he was, but he's been flushed. If you're a good spider, and you're pretty safe either way because the only spiders I know are the wolf spider and the black widow, you can stay in the house, so long as you stay away from the people and our beds.
Oh gosh... that reminds me of a (now hilarious) encounter with a wolf (?) spider... we had just moved to a wonderful farm in VA and were cleaning and clearing, getting ready for horses. I was mowing outside of the run in shed, with a push mower mind you, and a HUGE (we had spiders there bigger than my husbands hands) spider came running out of the run in at me- little front legs raised in the air, looking very fierce.... I started to run away from it as spiders (in particualr the ones bigger than my husbands hands!) are NOT in ANY way on my list of Favorite Critters. Then, as I was scooting away, dragging the still running push mower, it dawned on me- I had a suitable weapon to defend myself... and I did!
I really didnt want to go into that shed for a LONG time after with out having a running push mower at hand for self defense...
I just could not figure out HOW to get it in the HOUSE though. We knew it was bad when we could hear them running across the floor at night chasing our dogs (both over 70#s...).....
Posted by: Mrs Mom | February 13, 2008 at 03:49 PM
I feel obligated to point out that being venomous is not always a bad thing. For instance, those wolf spiders couldn't kill bugs without their venom, in which case the venom is really a good thing, right? Perhaps the only good thing about those freakishly huge spiders, in fact.
That said, we get them in our house, too, and they scare me to death every time. After finding one in my coffee cup one spring morning when I'd stepped away from my desk for just a few minutes, I started having our house sprayed regularly (please don't tell Al Gore) to reduce their population.
Posted by: Venomous Kate | February 15, 2008 at 10:22 AM
No spider is safe in my home.
None.
Squash.
A cat spider, now there is a fun spider. When you approach it, it stands on it's back legs and hisses at you.
That darn spider cost me my toaster, cause I threw the toaster at it.
I liked that toaster.
Posted by: RaeJane | February 15, 2008 at 09:46 PM