Are wolves territorial?

[Pacmaster]

So at my work, there are a ton of sprinkler control boxes.
I been finding all kindsa goodies in them since it warmed up . . .
One set of 3 boxes in particular has a huge wolf spider roaming around.
I saw it about 4/7 days in one week, looking for it once I saw it.
Anyways, I been off for a few days , and when I looked today there was no sign of her.

ARE they territorial, is it safe to assume she is still there?
Is she gone into the great wide open, or what?

I really dont even know if it IS a wolf, it reminds me of a "mini" tarantula . . .
Same kinda features/movements as a T.
It is definately NOT a calisoga, or I would be digging up that whole dang field looking for it.
Couldnt say if it is a T, but I dont think they are found here, close, but not here.
It also looked like something that would be full grown, yet is only 2, mmaaaaaybe 2.25" in full leg circumference.

The sprinkler boxes in question are in the middle of a huge playing field/lawn, and I can only assume that if she got into the boxes she can leave them as well(such a monumental journey for such a small creature).

 

[Widowman10]

many wolves (females) have burrows they reside in. males will definitely wander, but not at this time of the year (around my parts anyway). i don't know about how "territorial" they are, but they will eat each other if stupidly kept in the same cage. when we went out looking for hognas, we would find a female burrow about every 2-3 feet.

 

[Pacmaster]

Looked again today when I was down at work, and no sign of it.
I wish Ida caught the 1st day, but it slipped under the sprinkler valves and I couldnt reach it.
For the record, when I did see it it was always towards the end of the day, maybe it just wants to keep out of the heat?
The sprinkler box is damp and cool and dark . . .

 

[Pacmaster]

So, I finally caught this beast!
Its been a battle for well over a month now, but I finally prevailed!
Oh, we had our ups and downs, and she been doggin me everytime . . .
It is not 2.25" or even 2", its about 1.5" maybe . . .
This time, it practically walked right into the collection cup!

Anyways, I know really not too much about them, tho Im pretty sure I can keep this one alive.

Im going to design a small terrarium that mimicks the sprinkler box I found it in, damp and dark.
And it was caught in the same set of sprinkler boxes, same place I always see it.

Lemme see if I can get a pic or 2, its still in the collection cup as I dont want to put it into something thats not the right cage.
This thing is very fast and very active, and I dont want to give it too many oppurtunities to escape.

She does seem to be settling down, and here she enjoys one of the better aspects of her new captivity, steady meals of delicious crix and roaches . . .
Shes been in the cup for about 13hrs now . . .
I say "she", but I have no idea . . .

 

[burmish101]

Cool looking wolf, I caught a baby that was walking on my arm when I was trying to sleep the other night. Maybe its 1/4in., either a wolf or grasspider its neat though living in its vial.

Update! It died. Which is completely strange. I went to check on it and thought it was molting, I really had to squint to see its legs curled under poor guy. I had it for a whole two days too, hopefully its no omen to the rest of the summer lol.

 

[jsloan]

Update! It died. Which is completely strange. I went to check on it and thought it was molting, I really had to squint to see its legs curled under poor guy. I had it for a whole two days too, hopefully its no omen to the rest of the summer lol.

It could have died from dehydration. Many spiders, wolf spiders especially, die relatively quickly if they don't have water. That's been my experience, anyway.

 

[burmish101]

That makes perfect sence, it was in a dry vial I had a baby widow in, and it didnt eat its cricket but killed it(yes I took the widow out, incase someone asks lol).

 

[jsloan]

it didnt eat its cricket but killed it

This is a sign to watch out for. When one of my captive spiders does this, I give it a drop of water right away; after drinking its fill, the spider usually starts or resumes eating.

 

[Widowman10]

This is a sign to watch out for. When one of my captive spiders does this, I give it a drop of water right away; after drinking its fill, the spider usually starts or resumes eating.

good call. very true, i have observed this also.

 

[cacoseraph]

i read a paper about ion balancing that could explain the -kill, wait, water, eat- thing


basically when you eat other bugs you sort of gain all their ions and can become too "salty". you don't have enough water to "dilute" out the new ions you gained (i guess maybe your prey can be more salty than you are (i.e. have a higher normal ion concentration or situationally have a higher concentration cuz it is dehydrated or whatever )). i could see a spider that is danger of becoming too salty not eating until you give it water to restore it's ion balance to the green zone for feeding



i would expect predators from drier regions can more efficiently ion balance and thus would need less water and can possibly/probably hydrate only off of prey

 

[jsloan]

i read a paper about ion balancing that could explain the -kill, wait, water, eat- thing

Sounds interesting. Is the paper available online?

 

[cacoseraph]

Sounds interesting. Is the paper available online?

ya
found it googling

it was specifically about Na and K ions, i remember


http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/125/1/85.pdf

 

[jsloan]

Thanks!

 

[cacoseraph]

n p

 

[Spider-Spazz]

She does seem to be settling down, and here she enjoys one of the better aspects of her new captivity, steady meals of delicious crix and roaches . . .
Shes been in the cup for about 13hrs now . . .
I say "she", but I have no idea . . .

If you could get a picture of underneath her abdomen, I could probably tell you whether its a male or female.
I had a female, Her name was Sheila. She even made an egg sac (it was an awesome experience to see her spin it!). She was about.. 2-2 in a half inches big. The egg was a dud though, Only one baby lived.
She died, I'm guessing from age. She was the biggest wolf I've ever seen, and she had plenty of water and crickets to eat. She keep curling her legs up one night, then would walk around a little then curl her legs again. She passed the next morning.
I let her baby go too.
Heres a picture of that wonderful wolf!

 

[Spider-Spazz]

Oh, also have a video of me holding her.
She was pretty good seeing as she was a full grown wc!

http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x314/MookiexLover/?action=view&current=SS850525.flv

Dang I miss her!

 

[ZergFront]

Neat

Wolf spiders are soooo entertaining. They just run so fast! One I caught to put in my garden got out of the plastic food container 3 times straight before I could ge the lid on in just 15 seconds.