Evil looking spider found in my garage..*pics*

[S1L1C0N]

First of all Hello! Any Ideas what this is gang? Is there any medical danger from this type of spider? I'm located in the Northern VA area.
And yes, do you see the little baby one in the photo, how about me poking around looking close at the ground and finding FOUR more babies within a 6' range...the wife is really freaked out!

 

[becca81]

Where are you from?

Probably not a big deal. Just leave it alone - it does more good than harm.

 

[edesign]

looks like some kind of wolf spider...hard to say what it is if we don't know where you live :?

if you get a chance before a mod sees this, you might want to edit the cursing out...it's in the Terms of Service that you agreed to when you registered on this forum welcome aboard!

 

[S1L1C0N]

Whew, thanks for the warning there, I honestly didn't even know I had typed that ! LOL I'm located in Northern Virginia, Springfield to be exact.

 

[Black Hawk]

ya, looks like a wolf spider, they can bite hard i think but i don't think there venom is anything worth sweating. i have a whole load of them in my shed. u should keep it ;P

 

[S1L1C0N]

Hahhaaa, definately not , I'm wondering how i'm going to kindly kill this guy, and how soon the exterminator can get here to rid the crawlspace of any babies :?

 

[edesign]

why? they're helping keep the bug population down around there if yuo don't want them around get rid of their food source...other bugs. no buckets of water, no food, etc...if you can't do that it's understandable.

but don't kill it if you want to get rid of it...catch it in a cup and let it go outside somewhere. They'll do ya more good alive than dead.

 

[Black Hawk]

if u must! y would u want to get rid of a spider living in your crawl space tho, i think that is probably the LEAST advisable thing to do, spiders kill pest insects and the particular species u've shown doesn't like it inside houses that i know of, they eat other pest out of shed and garages, besides if it's not gonna hurt ne one i can't see a reason for killing it and all the cute little spiderlings. a widow MIGHT be a different story, if it was in a large traffic area.
p.s.-yet agian, if u MUST , i think a blast of RAID will be sufficient ...i'm gonna go cry now...

 

[S1L1C0N]

OK just as I started to feel a lil sorry for the lil guy livin in my garage that experienced a RAID storm, I come back tonight after a movie to catch 2 more of these INSIDE my house near my home theater, I saw one make a run for it towards our laundry bin. Why today? There is a full moon out, it rained most of the day and humidity is building. I really dont feel comfy with one this large in the house. Last thing I want is to reach for something and to be bitten...I had just picked up a box where the first guy was chillin.

 

[critterz]

"whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"

 

[Snipes]

I sympathize with you. I will let a tarantula walk across my arm and even my face, but if i see a wolf spider i am outta there! But remember that your fears are irrational and killing them will only do bad for you. As mentioned before, they are very helpful. Put a cup over them when you see them and send them on their way outside, unharmed. Dont let your negative feelings towards them make you the smasher of creatures who have done nothing to you.

 

[Arach-attack]

"whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"

"If you wish to live and thrive let the spider walk alive."

Don't kill them.
Just capture and release them somewhere away from your house.
Although they probably wouldn't be there if the eating wasn't good.

 

[edesign]

OK just as I started to feel a lil sorry for the lil guy livin in my garage that experienced a RAID storm, I come back tonight after a movie to catch 2 more of these INSIDE my house near my home theater, I saw one make a run for it towards our laundry bin. Why today? There is a full moon out, it rained most of the day and humidity is building. I really dont feel comfy with one this large in the house. Last thing I want is to reach for something and to be bitten...I had just picked up a box where the first guy was chillin.

well...full moon, rain, high humidity...i'm guessing it's trying to escape all the moisture outside. Tomorrow or, if it's like here, in a week when it finally dries out they'll move back outdoors. They most likely will not bite you unless you grab a hold of it...they can be a bit defensive but aren't going to chase you around trying to bite. I do sympathize with your fear though...was going to bed when i lived in Oklahoma City, had my mattress on the floor (poor college student), looked down where the carpet met the wall and there was a FAT wolf spider chilling there. Was only about 1.5" long but it had some serious girth to it lol...i was scared to even kill it. We also had them all over in Alaska, the only person I know of who ever got bit was my little cousin (4 or 5 at the time) and only because he insisted on catching them in his hand lol

case in point...don't worry too much about them, they'll move back outside as soon as the ground is drier. If you want to keep them out of the house spray chemicals around the perimeter of your walls and across your door entryways. Just remember they can still climb and won't necessarily go in on the ground floor...

 

[Black Hawk]

just in case u think this little one is alone...there are actually hundreds of spiders living in the space in everyone's walls. they are one of the critters that can live without humans and humans CAN'T live without THEM. that's how important they are to ecosystems. even if u kill it there are probably hundreds hatching all over your house since it's near spring and egg cases are popping open. succumb to the power of the humble arachnid! ;P o yeah! they can fly and crawl into your ears and eat your brains!!!! ok, i think i need to get of my soap box...sorry if i made your unjustified arachinphobia even worse

 

[cacoseraph]

plus from everything i've read you are much more likely to get bitten by the spider's food than the spider itself. there are an almost countless number of insects and other arthropods that actually *want* to take a bite out of you... and spiders eat most of them
i always leave spiders alone in my houses and very rarely have problems with other bugs
plus widely dispersed poisons like aerosols are more likely to in the end cause MORE bugs than they kill... the poisons bioaccumulate in the predators and can wipe them out in a little area... and then the pestiferous bugs (which seem to be either more resistant to poison or more adaptable, generally, imo) can more easily "take over"

but i admit i am WAY biased in favor of the spiders =P

p.s. wolf spiders and tegenarian house spiders (my other guess) both eat a TON of roaches... as an added bonus

 

[mouse]

it's not that scary looking..... and you are talking to a person here that 1 1/2 years ago would jump and run when a spider popped up. i even jumped when a big spider would show up in a movie unexpected and end up with nightmares for weeks. HAH, i fixed that...i bought a g.rosea (rosehair) and set up a tank (with the understanding somebody else would feed it while i left the room) to cure myself! wich was a mistake since now i got 30 of them... darn addictive critters!
just leave the spider be, it will get rid of all those nasty bugs, roaches and such for you... wich in end saves you money you'd have to spend on RAID or terminex, since the spider will work for free...well for bugs for services rendered

dianne

 

[Tarangela]

That is the same color/type of wolf spider I mentioned in my previous post! I am in southern VA, so what you have is very common, especially in the summer/fall.

I understand your fear of them, but they wouldn't attack unless provoked I assume. I couldn't bring myself to kill the one I found. I would have just moved it outside, but now it is in the room w/ all my T's, w/ a new egg sac

I will agree w/ most here though, in that they are probably EVERYwhere in your house/garage area. They are rather humorous. They can hide in about any spot, and lay as flat as a board if they want to!

 

[Ecilious]

Wow, that looks like a giant version of the little critters I get hundreds of in my back garden (SE England). I love the little guys: they fascinated me when I was younger and spurred on my interest in *invertibrates. I still find it fun to watch them sun bathing or hunting on a warm summers day.

whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger

What, like a stroke?