# warning (spider photos enclosed)



## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

I'll start off by saying this is probably the grossest thing to occur in my garage shop yet (and hopefully ever). I was taking out the trash and saw what looked like a HUGE spider. I actually was thinking it might be a shaving from one of my planes so I edged up for a close look and it was definitely a spider. Now, most of the time I say live and let live, but I've gotten a couple spider bites over the past couple of years and they have been somewhat painful. I don't think they were the most dangerous spider types though (brown recluse/black widow) but I'd say that the pain was in line with a bad bee sting but lasted for much longer. Probably about 2 weeks.

Also, this spider was HUGE (about 2 inches long, no exaggeration) so I thought I might be mistaking it for a cave cricket, a less harmful but somewhat scary creature as well. Because those bad boys can jump 6ft easily, I got a nice long 3 ft piece of scrap wood to kill it. Thsi way, if it was a spider, it wouldn't get into my lumber and bite me in the future if it turned out to be a poisonous type. I took a couple pictures first.





Well, i got closer and gave him a good whack when I got quite a surprise. right after I hit it, it looked like 30-40 little black BB's (like from a bb gun, only black) were poured out on the ground and scattering everywhere. OMG, babies!!!! Think of the Scarab Beetles in the movie "The Mummy".

Anyway, I got my ortho home defense spray and I hope I got most of them so they don't grow into more bugs that will bite me in the future, but afterwards, I did some research to find out what happened. Turns out it was a wolf spider. The females hatch their babies that then cling to their abdomen for a while. Apparently LOTS of them can cling. Here is a better picture.

IF you look closely at the pictures I originally took, you can see a few reflective lights on her back. Those are some of the eyes. Looking back, I feel a little guilty. I probably could have shoo'd it away and it would have just left, but I really can't afford these spider bites. they make my hand ache for weeks. I mostly wanted to post this so you guys know that you should be careful before just squishing a big spider in the shop. You may release more problems.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Wolf spiders are good spiders. They don't make webs and hunt other insects.

As far as spiders go they have personality. Great vision and jump to attack their prey.


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

Awesome pictures…


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

links are fixed. I had the photos in the wrong foler.

Gary,
You are right. They are only mildly poisonous from what I've read and quite shy, but still a bit poisonous. If I had known earlier, I'd have probably tried to shoo her away, but I didn't know. I'd still prefer they don't live in my house though.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

They are the only spiders I tolerate, but you are right, not in the house. I would welcome them in the shop though.

I have never heard of anyone getting bit by one, but I just don't pick them up. Can't be worse than a fire ant though.

The best thing about them, as I said, is they don't make webs, messing things up.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

the real kicker is that with my tunnel vision focused on him, I kinda jumped back in a bit of surprise when I saw all the little ones scatter and stepped right into another spiders web that WAS hanging down. He's the one I should have been getting rid of.


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## mattg (May 6, 2008)

Man that is a handicapped spider, only 7 legs! Pick on someone your own size buster!! I love spiders! Very cool creatures, only they are like hand guns, handle with much respect!! I still feel sorry for her demise. : (


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

In our garage, it's not unusual to find a Black Widow now & then…

No big deal… They are more scared of you than You are of them!

We just DO NOT pick them up! 

If we can get a good shot at them, we just step on'em…
... if not, we get a stick, get'em out in the open THEN step on'em.

We ALWAYS wear gloves when handling firewood, where they could also live…

We have learned what to do & not do to live with them.

Years ago, I found one in the washing machine! I got a stick and a large mayonaise jar… got the spider into the jar. Poked holes in the lid, put a twig in it to go diagonally but not go to the top.
Every once in awhile, I would get another black widow and put it into the jar.
They would prance a little for position then the First one, I call Mama, would get it and eat it.
She would win every battle that I set-up for her.

One day, I saw some white egg sacks they make… maybe 3-4 of them… (about 1/2" round)

I kept on feeding her… she kept on eating the losers…

Then, one day, I noticed a FOG in the jar… never saw anything like it before…
After getting closer and getting a good look at it, there were hundreds of baby black widow spiders! Very tiny ones… I didn't dare take the lid off (yet). (smaller than pin heads)

Baby black widows are WHITE… all white!

I guess Mama, when she got a little hungry, would just eat some… and the babies would fight among themselves and eat one another… The population dropped as they got bigger… and bigger…

As they get larger, gray lines start to form on top of their abdomen; from the tail to the front… they still are predominently white starting to look gray, then darker gray, the lines get larger & larger eventually filling-in the white spaces until they are finally Black!

By this time, you can watch the fighting much easier… Really fun to watch how they attack and defend themselves…

I did not take the lid off… I did NOT want to chance it having some of them coming out of the jar.

One day, I had had enough… I took the top off, poured water in it, maybe half full, swished around very quickly, and dumped it in the toilet… quickly rinsed out the jar and made sure it was empty… One flush & it was OVER…

That was the first & last time I ever had a pet black widow!

I learned alot about them… I had no idea how small they would be… and be all WHITE… Found it very interesting.

I do not recommend doing it… One has to have a small screw loose to do it… I finally tightened my screw!


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

Poor Momma spider. I keep "critter jars" handy to evict them from the house. I do have to admit that the ones I find in the shower may get washed down the drain if I'm also IN the shower.

We used to have a large garden spider spin her web every evening in the basement. We named her Matilda and threw her a bug once in a while. Now that I'm using the woodshop, there aren't too many webs as the shop vac gets used regularly. The neighbor's son came by one day and went home and told his mom about Matilda. She said she'd never set foot in our house. That's one way to keep unwanted neighbors at bay. Spiderize!

I bought a Brown Recluse Kit just in case of a spider or other venomous insect bite. You can also you a dab of wet clay or baking soda to help draw out the poison. I had a small bite that I thought was from a mosquito, but it behaved differently, it swelled up and wouldn't go away and it kept seeping, so I put some baking soda on it and it went down in a couple days without further problems. I don't know if the baking soda pulled out the venom or nuetralized it, but it healed much faster than if I ignored it.


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## elin (Jun 13, 2009)

I get so many spiders in my pool skimmer. I can't believe how long they can hold their breath under water. I think they are grabbing a bubble of air and using it for oxygen for up to an hour or more at a time under water.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

elin, ditto the pool skimmer remarks.

Hokie, I had the same experience many years ago in a warehouse I was managing. Man, when I smashed that thing and those babies scattered, I was freaked out of my mind!


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

I hate spiders and snakes. I would have slammed it too. Is it raining there yet


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## gfixler (Feb 21, 2009)

Argh! What a creepy mess.


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

YIKES! I hate spiders…especially big ones carrying babies on her back! Thats why I will never live in a warm weather climate..too many gross bugs! That spider looks as scary as the one Blake found in his workshop renovation..only the one he found was dead..this one was very alive….(running from the room, stubby t-rex arms flailing around, screaming like a girl)


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## MikeGager (Jun 15, 2009)

it does look like a wolf spider, BTW they are venomous!

Wolf Spiders …venomous - non-aggressive

Venom toxicity - the bite of the Wolf Spider is poisonous but not lethal. Although non-aggressive, they bite freely if provoked and should be considered dangerous to humans. The bite may be very painful. First aid and medical attention should be sought as soon as possible, particularly as to children or the elderly. 
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Spider Identification - an adult is 1/2 inch to more than 1 inch in body length - mottled gray to brown in color, with a distinct Union Jack impression on its back. The female carries it's young on its back. 
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Habitat - this spider is a ground dweller, with a burrow retreat. It has a roving nocturnal lifestyle to hunt their prey and can move very rapidly when disturbed. Commonly found around the home, in garden areas with a silk lined burrow, sometimes with a lid or covered by leaf litter or grass woven with silk as a little fence around the rim of the burrow.


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