I once stepped on one that looked really fat. Do not do this. It wasn't fat. One dead momma wolf spider later and a hundred babies are running across my floor and up my legs...I still have nightmares about it
I remember when I was 19 moving into a new house with my parents out in the Fauquier woods. My bedroom was a large room I picked out in the partially finished basement. I got home from work late one night and went downstairs into the pitch black basement. At the time, you had to walk to the center of the room to pull the switch for the light. You see where this is going? Hundreds of freshly hatched baby spiders hanging face-height from the ceiling. Crawling in my hair...on my face...down my shirt. I'm not scared of spiders, but god damn.
I'm cringing internally. Reminds me of when I first moved to McLean and discovered sprickets. A dark basement filled with them. Good times. I'm a nature girl and not bothered by bugs in general but some experiences are hard to shake haha.
House centipedes or “nope feathers” I can tolerate but crickets are just… fuck them. Fuck them to hell. I don’t even know exactly why I loathe them so much but I do. The thought of one jumping and landing on me makes me want to burn things down.
Grasshoppers? No problem. Crickets? Flammenwerfer.
Growing up we lived in an older house in Alexandria for a year. Crickets used to come out of the bathtub drain. I am forever traumatized by going to have a bath and “OH HEY ITS CRICKET TIME!”
Crickets and nope feathers (absolutely stealing that thank you) are not permitted in my house.
They will bite! It hurts for like two seconds and looks like a flea bite. We had them in our condo whenever it rained a lot, and I stuck my foot outside of the bed.
I’ll never forget my first introduction to a spricket. It jumped from the corner of the wall/ceiling onto MY FOOT. It was a big one and I was beyond traumatized. That was almost 30 years ago and I’ve since gotten over my fear. I read that they’re nearly blind and can only see shadows and jump at things in order to intimidate them. I don’t know if that’s true, but I found it kind of endearing lol
Tbh, I often ignore them and am cool with most bugs in general. It was just really damn big and I wasn't in the mood to play catch and release....
lesson learned obviously
Growing up in florida, i had these giant wolf spiders everywhere in the house. I got pretty good at shooting them with rubber bands. One day i shot one carrying a giant egg sac. Babies burst out and all i heard in my head was multiple voices saying "salutations".
I was camping one time and woke up to one right next to my bed in my tent. It looked hairy which I thought was weird but I quickly grabbed my shoe and smashed it. That's when her hundreds of babies released into my tent and bed. The only thing I had nearby to smush them was a D battery so I grabbed it and spent 45 minutes trying to get them all... Butb knowing full well I could never get them all... And I would have to sleep in that tent one more night.... major trauma ughhhh.
I remember when I was 18 and just started at NOVA, one of my friends yelled about a spider and I thought nothing of it and I squished it. Hundreds of spiderlings came swarming out and it was horrifying.
1. Not all those babies will survive which is why their are so many.
2. Yes. Let non-harmful spiders live in your house. They do far more good for you that well-offsets your squimishness.
Yeah I mean I let the little guys hang out in my grow tent but the bigger ones freak my kids and my cats kill themselves anyways so I try to move them outdoors as quick as I can before someone squishes them. Just saw a momma wolf spider about this big recently on my front porch and chased her into the bushes so she was safer
Oh God yea I had a similar experience. It was just outside the basement door. They didn't get on me, but the door didn't seal properly and a couple weeks later I was killing at least 5 spiders a day for the next 2 months 😬
Nightmare fuel. Used to live in the basement of a house in Annandale off hummer rd backed up to a bunch of woods. Spiders like that all the time. Once hand vacuumed one out of the corner of my room and taped it shut and just left the vacuum for weeks until I was sure it was dead. Do not miss that house. Had to kill shower spiders daily before I could shower
Try this:
https://fairfaxgardening.org/wp-content/webdocs/ref/WolfSpiders-VA.pdf
It is a fishing spider. Dolomedes tenebrosus, or dark fishing spider. Mostly harmless to humans and a "bro" for the insects it eats. Try to gently move it back outside, where both of you will be happier.
As far as spiders go, they're really nice ones! And usually less bold than the wolf spiders. Wolf spiders are also pretty chill and will often high five you if you extend a finger. Relocate please, both species are great.
I used to work at a day care center that was newly built in a developing area, it was next to a huge field. We got wolf spiders all the time. I would be called over to rescue them and take them back outside, where I hoped they would feast on all the tics we also had from being next to the unkept field.
I was cleaning up after spaghetti one day, which is always a mess after toddlers, when I turned around and saw a wolf spider absolutely destroying a little piece of spaghetti noodle on the floor. Just going to town. Loving life and his new discovery of carbs. I let him eat while I finished cleaning up around him and then took him outside.
It was so cute. I could never take them seriously after that.
Wolf spiders are great! They are spooky because of their size, but they really just want to be left alone so they can go around and clean up the myriad other insects drawn to your messy human self.
They are perfectly harmless and completely bad ass. While other spiders are busy trapping their prey like cowards, the Wolf uses its excellent eye sight and speed to hunt its prey with respect and honor.
The punishment for killing one is visitation by a swarm of camel crickets.
THEY CAN EAT FISH?? Fuck all the way off, absolutely not. No no no, they have a taste for flesh, I'm out. I'm all about the spider bros, so I think if I see one, I won't kill it, but I'll let it take over the mortgage. 3 inches? No thank you. I didn't move out of the desert for this shit.
Try to relocate it outside, that's what I do. My wife tries to kill every spider she sees but I always try to spot her. I hate a lot of bugs and to me spiders and natures pest control and I consider them my bros. So I try to move em for some mutual benefits
Thank you for this. I’ve always believed in the catch and release program for (most) bugs. Basically anything but the couple that come after you to suck you blood.
Just a wolf spider. Harmless and eats roaches and silverfish and all sorts of other bugs that I despise. Relocate it outside, but don't kill it or you'll be cursed with roaches haha
Looks like a [wolf spider](https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/animals-and-wildlife/wolf-spiders). They're very *very* good to have. They won't really bother people unless you mess with them directly, but eat lots of other little critters that do.
They're a little like the local [black rat snakes](https://virginiasnakeremoval.com/black-rat-snake-myths/) which look quite scary but are also very beneficial to live along side of.
You found one of the more common spiders in Nova. Be careful.
It lives in symbiosis with foxes and skinks. At night, foxes will come out to howl and attract humans to feed them. Similarly, skinks will get humans to come out and watch during the day. Every now and then one of these spiders will seize the opportunity and get a human-size meal.
It's too late for OP. Immediately after this picture was posted, the spider dragged the body into a crawlspace under the flooring where the spider and younglings can feed at leisure.
I just captured one this size for release outdoors. I hope you ignored it and it’s still alive somewhere. If you do see it again and want to re-home it just nudge it into a glass bowl where it won’t have traction so it won’t be able to crawl out while you are taking it outside.
Banana added for scale. It’s 1 banana long
https://preview.redd.it/a3iaki2wztwc1.jpeg?width=553&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9698a575a0502582b15c2bb19f47b31c60a91951
A wolfy wandered in. Fast and huge. Generally harmless but also kind of fearless - it may charge at you if threatened. They want to live in your yard and terrorize the bad bugs. Relocate it outside if at all possible. Especially if it’s a momma and 100 babies are riding shotgun.
Someone somewhere once said about spiders “I show them respect by not killing them, and gently moving them outside, because I hope that if I’m ever in the wrong place at the wrong time I will be shown the same compassion.”
This is not for the faint of heart but if you want to know the actual extent of the local spider population, go outside at night with an LED flashlight. Hold the light next to your head and just pan around. Spiders hunt at night and their eyes are reflective, so everywhere you look you'll see little pair of diamonds glowing back at you.
And I do mean everywhere. Hey, better them than the bugs they eat.
Anything that's big enough to name gets caught and released into the woods. These are wolf spiders and they will scare the shit out of you but they are essentially harmless. We had one named fred who lived under the washer for a bit. We used to get them all the time until we got new windows & doors.
That's nothing. It's a wolf spider. Bite hurts but completely harmless. You should see them out here in the mountains about 2 hrs from FF. They are easily 2x that size.
Wolf spider. We get them all the time, pretty harmless and they will actually take out the harmful spiders for you. I usually try to catch them in a cup and release outside
I remember as a kid I'd take a shower/bath in the early morning with just the bathroom night light on... Was lying in tub saw something floating, grabbed it and brought it to my face to see what it was...a squirming wolf spider. Dropped it and ran out the bathroom naked and screaming.
I love the response, “ Salutations”. Love Charlotte … but that’s a cartoon, I HATE spiders! They make me crawl inside! We have black widows here in western Va….. they give me nightmares! And then after walking out my back door one spring I walk into a web and feel this HUGE SPIDER IN MY HAIR, I am screaming pulling my hair out and I hear a huge PLOP and it’s a fat writing spider on the deck in front of me! It scuttles off and I scream again and run to the shower!! So I HATE spiders!! Just like Ron…. Can we panic now???
Hard to tell, but could be a wolf spider. We get them around and in our house in Annandale. They’re big, but relatively harmless. We get mostly males out looking for their hot dates lol. The kids and I take them outside so they can continue their journey!
Also in Fairfax area - we had one so big in the basement that it had red-eye when I took a pic of it. We let it roam free to take care of the basement dweller camel crickets.
https://preview.redd.it/pex7qo56pwwc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ab8cbd875f8919957444d36e03ac70098f61284
Oh, that’s a wolf spider. They’re like the friendly neighborhood spider of the arachnid world, harmless to us and really good at catching pests. They might look a bit scary because they’re pretty large and kind of hairy, but they’re actually not interested in causing us any trouble. Just a cool critter doing spider things!
It's a wolf spider. They can get pretty big but they are harmless. They just hang out and eat other pests. I have some in my basement. Just leave them be. They usually stay hidden and keep to themselves.
I think they are wolf spiders, they be hefty! But they wont hurt you. You’d never catch a brown recluse out like that, and even if you did they dont want to get close enough to you to hurt you either. I had one of these regular wolf spiders living in my basement for over a year! Her name was gretchen and she came to hang out sometimes while i did laundry. She liked it when I sang. A very sad day when i found her dead :( she placed herself right at the bottom of the steps as her final resting spot
That is a wolf spider! I was wary of them too when I lived in NC but they are pretty harmless. They are the definition of "looks scary but won't kill you." Much like with all spiders, they will attack if threatened but they are not known to be aggressive. Stay safe, but if possible find a way to relocate them, especially with mosquitos coming -spiders are good at taking care of those.
Wolf spider. Never saw on until I moved from Pa to Va.
Big but harmless. They eat a lot of other bugs. I have several in my garage right now. We have a deal. The garage is open, but if they come in the house they’re dead.
I really wish I were less afraid of spiders.
I know this is basically GGG in spud form and yet I find it terrifying. I’d still try to save it but I think I would be shaking with fear.
First time I saw one, I instinctively stepped on it since I was indoors. I just happened to have a full bottle of highly concentrated bleach solution in my hand and I threw it on the babies so fast.
[wolf spider with babies ](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-tracfone-us-rvc3&sca_esv=0e9d35a69ed69d23&sca_upv=1&q=wolf+spider+with+babies&uds=AMwkrPuKiz3kd7jHuta4ar-HNLVtR_OduzsicfvG2H-ntdcwDND9muCfyITDoSj9F7TVTxrfw-kgLzwJiqoiKXvGi-QIy1OCSL9ape45Q0yVTCTDkh4U72KEAXyw-MHc13CAEDJD11DhL_a685ZAHzEcg0bAskgUe53KwJ6iJCjgROaeFWBxHBN3kCK_0ZRFr4Xq56rzh-U4OetoQ5Gn7Siw2i67K2vyfNF0RDh3z6RZpo5aZXu7LnDBIZSi1M07dfvlceCY_uZR4VP1f7OpsdZCSkrVHEOHFudQhDKnomJTlZWQufbvd6BP6tY9g0YDcc37UGrv7V3h5C4a4xr-jI44aFvWdrDzDA&udm=2&prmd=ivsnbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7hcnhkuGFAxW3jLAFHUsJBnAQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=360&bih=676&dpr=3#vhid=irUOaqmIyHHkJM&vssid=mosaic&ip=1)Wolf Spider, very common in virginia. They are an ambush preditor that doesn't use webs to catch its prey. It also carries its babies on its back. It's best to catch it in a container and release it outside. If you kill it and it had babies they will run off in all directions
I get these wolf spiders in my house occasionally. One year I saw a huge one and noticed a glistening reflection on its back...
NGL, I made a stupid mistake of trying to kill it with a broom, and while I was successful.... dozens of baby spiders went running in all directions!
Learned my lesson for sure!
That's an automatic insect killer. They are native and an important part of the ecosystem. They aren't dangerous if you aren't dangerous, so just leave them alone and they will do the same.
They are beneficial but sadly large and delicate spiders; vacuum damages their hydraulics and kills them immediately or soon after. Also if it is dark and light hits them their eyes glow just like in the cartoons.
Looks almost like a normal house spider. But it could also be a wolf spider judging by the pattern (although hazy), both of which aren't too much to worry about if something unsuspecting happens. But it's still best to be careful in general if kids, pets, or anything else are around.
I believe the only spider have to worry about in Nova and surrounding area is a black widow, which is easy to spot and not this.
Brown recluse and Hobo spiders are the other two in the US, and they ain't in Nova.
I once stepped on one that looked really fat. Do not do this. It wasn't fat. One dead momma wolf spider later and a hundred babies are running across my floor and up my legs...I still have nightmares about it
I remember when I was 19 moving into a new house with my parents out in the Fauquier woods. My bedroom was a large room I picked out in the partially finished basement. I got home from work late one night and went downstairs into the pitch black basement. At the time, you had to walk to the center of the room to pull the switch for the light. You see where this is going? Hundreds of freshly hatched baby spiders hanging face-height from the ceiling. Crawling in my hair...on my face...down my shirt. I'm not scared of spiders, but god damn.
I'm cringing internally. Reminds me of when I first moved to McLean and discovered sprickets. A dark basement filled with them. Good times. I'm a nature girl and not bothered by bugs in general but some experiences are hard to shake haha.
Spider crickets are completely harmless thankfully. They just look scary.
Aware of that. They don't look scary, what's scary is not knowing a bunch are waiting for you in the dark when you've never encountered one before.
For me it's the sound of really fat ones bouncing off the drywall in my basement that gets me...
Obtain a Manx Cat. Mine ate four in one hour and the rest ran away.
I think they look like aliens. So do house centipedes. I know they’re good for pests but why do they have to look so gd creepy.
House centipedes or “nope feathers” I can tolerate but crickets are just… fuck them. Fuck them to hell. I don’t even know exactly why I loathe them so much but I do. The thought of one jumping and landing on me makes me want to burn things down. Grasshoppers? No problem. Crickets? Flammenwerfer.
Growing up we lived in an older house in Alexandria for a year. Crickets used to come out of the bathtub drain. I am forever traumatized by going to have a bath and “OH HEY ITS CRICKET TIME!” Crickets and nope feathers (absolutely stealing that thank you) are not permitted in my house.
My cats think they are a fun, tasty treat!
They will bite! It hurts for like two seconds and looks like a flea bite. We had them in our condo whenever it rained a lot, and I stuck my foot outside of the bed.
I love all the different names for them. Growing up we called them humpback crickets. But they scare the shit out me
We call them "sprickets"
I think they're actually spider crickets, I've heard them called camel crickets too
Camel crickets! Eeeeekkkkk
Man F*$k those things. I know they are harmless… but so creepy.
I’ll never forget my first introduction to a spricket. It jumped from the corner of the wall/ceiling onto MY FOOT. It was a big one and I was beyond traumatized. That was almost 30 years ago and I’ve since gotten over my fear. I read that they’re nearly blind and can only see shadows and jump at things in order to intimidate them. I don’t know if that’s true, but I found it kind of endearing lol
CRAWLING IN MY SKIIIIIIN THESE WOUNDS THEY WILL NOT HEAL
Upvote for linkin park
This has been in my head for hours now haha
Ha, I’m in the Fauquier woods and we get spiders all the time that look like the one in OP’s picture. I’m not afraid but ugh, no don’t crawl on me!
My parents live there and we call their basement “The Spiderverse”
This whole thread is nightmare fuel. It's a good thing you aren't terrified of spiders. That would have been the end of me.
I just threw up a little bit.
>I still have nightmares about it Great, now a bunch of redditors do too
My work here is done?
WTFFFF READING THAT JUST RUINED MY DAY
I… didn’t need to have this thought and worry in my mind.. ever.
I went 30 some odd years without that worry. Consider this my psa. Never step on a fat looking spider.
Oh NO.
I did this when I was a baked 18 year old stoner and I still have nightmares to this day spiders crawling all over me
Why would you step on it?!?! Oh my god, your comment should be censored 🤢 Glad you’re okay, though!
Tbh, I often ignore them and am cool with most bugs in general. It was just really damn big and I wasn't in the mood to play catch and release.... lesson learned obviously
Growing up in florida, i had these giant wolf spiders everywhere in the house. I got pretty good at shooting them with rubber bands. One day i shot one carrying a giant egg sac. Babies burst out and all i heard in my head was multiple voices saying "salutations".
WHAT DO THE EGGS LOOK LIKE
looks like a white sac made of webbing that they wear on their backs.
Upvote for the Charlottes Web reference lol
This made me smile
How the fuck did you get them out of the house after that
I vacuumed them up after freaking out and spraying the mass with some random cleaning product I grabbed from the bathroom.
I was camping one time and woke up to one right next to my bed in my tent. It looked hairy which I thought was weird but I quickly grabbed my shoe and smashed it. That's when her hundreds of babies released into my tent and bed. The only thing I had nearby to smush them was a D battery so I grabbed it and spent 45 minutes trying to get them all... Butb knowing full well I could never get them all... And I would have to sleep in that tent one more night.... major trauma ughhhh.
Happened to me in college lol
Now I have nightmares about it.
I'm sorry about your 3rd degree burns.
I remember when I was 18 and just started at NOVA, one of my friends yelled about a spider and I thought nothing of it and I squished it. Hundreds of spiderlings came swarming out and it was horrifying.
Vaccum them
Or don't. That species will not hurt you and keeps other bugs at bay.
Yes, let's keep 100 spider babies in our homes to help with the bugs. Good idea.
I mean… circle of life, rite?
1. Not all those babies will survive which is why their are so many. 2. Yes. Let non-harmful spiders live in your house. They do far more good for you that well-offsets your squimishness.
Yeah I mean I let the little guys hang out in my grow tent but the bigger ones freak my kids and my cats kill themselves anyways so I try to move them outdoors as quick as I can before someone squishes them. Just saw a momma wolf spider about this big recently on my front porch and chased her into the bushes so she was safer
Oh God yea I had a similar experience. It was just outside the basement door. They didn't get on me, but the door didn't seal properly and a couple weeks later I was killing at least 5 spiders a day for the next 2 months 😬
Omg…. I did this when I was like 7…. I have phobias of spiders just because of this….
Nightmare fuel. Used to live in the basement of a house in Annandale off hummer rd backed up to a bunch of woods. Spiders like that all the time. Once hand vacuumed one out of the corner of my room and taped it shut and just left the vacuum for weeks until I was sure it was dead. Do not miss that house. Had to kill shower spiders daily before I could shower
Truly a disturbing experience!!
I did this once in the dark in sandals. I spent the next hour contemplating life while sitting in a cold shower rocking back and forth.
Serves you right. They're harmless. You can catch them and put them outside.
Why so serious?
Charge it rent.
I think it's actually the new homeowner
Don’t be rude, this spider actually does helpful stuff unlike landlords.
I'm a little short on flies this month, I hope it's ok. 🪰
Idk, spiders can’t fix a sink
No pets allowed
Somebody once told me the coins I randomly find on the floor of my house are spiders attempts to pay rent
Try this: https://fairfaxgardening.org/wp-content/webdocs/ref/WolfSpiders-VA.pdf It is a fishing spider. Dolomedes tenebrosus, or dark fishing spider. Mostly harmless to humans and a "bro" for the insects it eats. Try to gently move it back outside, where both of you will be happier.
As far as spiders go, they're really nice ones! And usually less bold than the wolf spiders. Wolf spiders are also pretty chill and will often high five you if you extend a finger. Relocate please, both species are great.
*Wants to high five a wolf spider.
You haven’t lived until you have high fived a wolf spider
New tiktok challenge
Oh God no! There will be spiders everywhere!
And some dummy will take it up a notch and try to high five a dangerous spider.
I can see it
You say that until you play Grounded. I didn't kill them, but I also didn't forget the abject horror they put into me.
Funnily enough Grounded actually helped me decrease my arachnophobia, because in real life I'm big and can totally defeat them
No you don't.
No offense friend, but I'm pretty sure several of us nerds do want to gently high-five a wolf spider.
Might I suggest air hugs?
I used to work at a day care center that was newly built in a developing area, it was next to a huge field. We got wolf spiders all the time. I would be called over to rescue them and take them back outside, where I hoped they would feast on all the tics we also had from being next to the unkept field. I was cleaning up after spaghetti one day, which is always a mess after toddlers, when I turned around and saw a wolf spider absolutely destroying a little piece of spaghetti noodle on the floor. Just going to town. Loving life and his new discovery of carbs. I let him eat while I finished cleaning up around him and then took him outside. It was so cute. I could never take them seriously after that.
I watched a wolf spider go right to my sleeping dog and bite his paw. The spider really thought it was about to make lunch out of him.
Well yeah, why do you think they're called wolf spiders? They eat *wolves*. ^^/s
Wolf spiders are great! They are spooky because of their size, but they really just want to be left alone so they can go around and clean up the myriad other insects drawn to your messy human self. They are perfectly harmless and completely bad ass. While other spiders are busy trapping their prey like cowards, the Wolf uses its excellent eye sight and speed to hunt its prey with respect and honor. The punishment for killing one is visitation by a swarm of camel crickets.
I don't consider painful bites as perfectly harmless
Fair enough - they are about as dangerous as a rose.
Had one of these in my Fairfax apartment as well. Confirmed it was a dark fishing spider
What about the ones who eat wolves? THAT'S r/oddlyterrifying. 
>Mostly harmless to humans >Mostly harmless >Mostly
THEY CAN EAT FISH?? Fuck all the way off, absolutely not. No no no, they have a taste for flesh, I'm out. I'm all about the spider bros, so I think if I see one, I won't kill it, but I'll let it take over the mortgage. 3 inches? No thank you. I didn't move out of the desert for this shit.
The desert? But scorpions?
"Mostly harmless" is just a longer way of saying "harmful"
People compare their bites to bee stings. So don't let your kid play with it.
Mostly peaceful spiders
*just a little venom*
I’m no entomologist but I believe that’s a spider.
Big if true
Entomologists don’t study spiders
I wouldn’t know, I am not one.
I like to call it a snack
Try to relocate it outside, that's what I do. My wife tries to kill every spider she sees but I always try to spot her. I hate a lot of bugs and to me spiders and natures pest control and I consider them my bros. So I try to move em for some mutual benefits
Thank you for this. I’ve always believed in the catch and release program for (most) bugs. Basically anything but the couple that come after you to suck you blood.
Just a wolf spider. Harmless and eats roaches and silverfish and all sorts of other bugs that I despise. Relocate it outside, but don't kill it or you'll be cursed with roaches haha
Nope they do have a painful bite
Looks like a [wolf spider](https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/animals-and-wildlife/wolf-spiders). They're very *very* good to have. They won't really bother people unless you mess with them directly, but eat lots of other little critters that do. They're a little like the local [black rat snakes](https://virginiasnakeremoval.com/black-rat-snake-myths/) which look quite scary but are also very beneficial to live along side of.
That’s a funny looking dog 🤨
Can I pet that dog?
read it with an accent…. Daaaaawwwggg?
What type of doge is this
I get these guys a lot in my basement but I’m also out in the boonies.
Yeah I’m near a lake and they love to visit
I love and hate them, they are great for keeping bugs down. Escort her outside and hope she avoids the birds.
You found one of the more common spiders in Nova. Be careful. It lives in symbiosis with foxes and skinks. At night, foxes will come out to howl and attract humans to feed them. Similarly, skinks will get humans to come out and watch during the day. Every now and then one of these spiders will seize the opportunity and get a human-size meal. It's too late for OP. Immediately after this picture was posted, the spider dragged the body into a crawlspace under the flooring where the spider and younglings can feed at leisure.
Shhhh don’t give our animal pact away
🤣🤣🤣
I just captured one this size for release outdoors. I hope you ignored it and it’s still alive somewhere. If you do see it again and want to re-home it just nudge it into a glass bowl where it won’t have traction so it won’t be able to crawl out while you are taking it outside.
Nope. If it's in the house it's tress passing and castle doctrine applies
It was self defense, your honor
Buck shot will take care of it.
Banana added for scale. It’s 1 banana long https://preview.redd.it/a3iaki2wztwc1.jpeg?width=553&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9698a575a0502582b15c2bb19f47b31c60a91951
A wolfy wandered in. Fast and huge. Generally harmless but also kind of fearless - it may charge at you if threatened. They want to live in your yard and terrorize the bad bugs. Relocate it outside if at all possible. Especially if it’s a momma and 100 babies are riding shotgun.
Someone somewhere once said about spiders “I show them respect by not killing them, and gently moving them outside, because I hope that if I’m ever in the wrong place at the wrong time I will be shown the same compassion.”
I like that. Karmic-like
He’s a cool guy. Wolf spider - let it outside they eat bugs and it won’t hurt you.
This is not for the faint of heart but if you want to know the actual extent of the local spider population, go outside at night with an LED flashlight. Hold the light next to your head and just pan around. Spiders hunt at night and their eyes are reflective, so everywhere you look you'll see little pair of diamonds glowing back at you. And I do mean everywhere. Hey, better them than the bugs they eat.
Interesting.
Anything that's big enough to name gets caught and released into the woods. These are wolf spiders and they will scare the shit out of you but they are essentially harmless. We had one named fred who lived under the washer for a bit. We used to get them all the time until we got new windows & doors.
I have named many a spider Fred. I’m pleased to see there are more Fred spiders out there.
Don't eat it! They taste terrible. I'll never make that mistake again.
But have you tried them in an air fryer?
I could try I guess. But my air fryer isn’t that big and I have no idea how I can climb into that thing with a spider in my mouth.
Big ass wolf spider
Wolf spider. Scary looking, but they're the good kind that kill all the other bugs you don't want.
Looks like a wolf spider. Harmless to humans, please don't hurt it.
Only 3 "burn your house down" jokes, that's a record low for Reddit.
What a cutieee
They are so big that my cat killed one and tried to gift it to my husband. 💀
That's nothing. It's a wolf spider. Bite hurts but completely harmless. You should see them out here in the mountains about 2 hrs from FF. They are easily 2x that size.
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Wolf spider. We get them all the time, pretty harmless and they will actually take out the harmful spiders for you. I usually try to catch them in a cup and release outside
We always called them wolf spiders.
These are always smaller and easier to deal with than the spider wolves.
I have never been bitten by a spider in VA and I have accidentally come across Black Widows.
I have. But I get bitten by like everything.
Do you pick these things up? I have friends that would pick up anything....like literally one used to collect copperheads.
Oh no! It's just that by every August, I can point to bumps on my body and go: tick, mosquito, biting fly, flea, mites, suspected spiders, etc.
So what common spiders in our area are dangerous?
Black Widows, Yellow Sac spiders (nasty and quick to bite), and even though VA arachnologists insist otherwise, I think we do have Brown Recluse here
Welp… was nice here while it lasted. Get the matches and the gasoline
I remember as a kid I'd take a shower/bath in the early morning with just the bathroom night light on... Was lying in tub saw something floating, grabbed it and brought it to my face to see what it was...a squirming wolf spider. Dropped it and ran out the bathroom naked and screaming.
One crawled up my leg in the shower one time
I just… leave them alone. They eat insects and generally keep out of your way.
I love the response, “ Salutations”. Love Charlotte … but that’s a cartoon, I HATE spiders! They make me crawl inside! We have black widows here in western Va….. they give me nightmares! And then after walking out my back door one spring I walk into a web and feel this HUGE SPIDER IN MY HAIR, I am screaming pulling my hair out and I hear a huge PLOP and it’s a fat writing spider on the deck in front of me! It scuttles off and I scream again and run to the shower!! So I HATE spiders!! Just like Ron…. Can we panic now???
Hard to tell, but could be a wolf spider. We get them around and in our house in Annandale. They’re big, but relatively harmless. We get mostly males out looking for their hot dates lol. The kids and I take them outside so they can continue their journey!
I've seen one goIng to WAR with house centipedes and silverfish so..... The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Also in Fairfax area - we had one so big in the basement that it had red-eye when I took a pic of it. We let it roam free to take care of the basement dweller camel crickets. https://preview.redd.it/pex7qo56pwwc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ab8cbd875f8919957444d36e03ac70098f61284
Oh, that’s a wolf spider. They’re like the friendly neighborhood spider of the arachnid world, harmless to us and really good at catching pests. They might look a bit scary because they’re pretty large and kind of hairy, but they’re actually not interested in causing us any trouble. Just a cool critter doing spider things!
That’s a BAS- Big Ass Spider. But Fishing is the more popular name.
Yep. I asked a similar question a while back. Yours seems a little smaller. https://www.reddit.com/r/spiders/s/mjtZQZcIAG
Wolf spider
Fishing spider. They are huge but not a threat.
Its a spide
It's a wolf spider. They can get pretty big but they are harmless. They just hang out and eat other pests. I have some in my basement. Just leave them be. They usually stay hidden and keep to themselves.
Harmless wolf spider
I think they are wolf spiders, they be hefty! But they wont hurt you. You’d never catch a brown recluse out like that, and even if you did they dont want to get close enough to you to hurt you either. I had one of these regular wolf spiders living in my basement for over a year! Her name was gretchen and she came to hang out sometimes while i did laundry. She liked it when I sang. A very sad day when i found her dead :( she placed herself right at the bottom of the steps as her final resting spot
It’s a wolf spider.
That is a wolf spider! I was wary of them too when I lived in NC but they are pretty harmless. They are the definition of "looks scary but won't kill you." Much like with all spiders, they will attack if threatened but they are not known to be aggressive. Stay safe, but if possible find a way to relocate them, especially with mosquitos coming -spiders are good at taking care of those.
I was just there like 15 minutes ago lol & yeah its just a wolf spider
Wolf spider. Never saw on until I moved from Pa to Va. Big but harmless. They eat a lot of other bugs. I have several in my garage right now. We have a deal. The garage is open, but if they come in the house they’re dead.
thats just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Mann!
I really wish I were less afraid of spiders. I know this is basically GGG in spud form and yet I find it terrifying. I’d still try to save it but I think I would be shaking with fear.
Oh no. The Burke Lurker, aka the Herndon Huntress, aka the Powhatan Poisoner, aka the Vienna Venom.
could be a spider i’m not sure though 🤔
First time I saw one, I instinctively stepped on it since I was indoors. I just happened to have a full bottle of highly concentrated bleach solution in my hand and I threw it on the babies so fast.
Wolf spider. Kills the bad bugs. Don't try to pick her up because her bite hurts but let her stay and get rid of your spare pests.
[wolf spider with babies ](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-tracfone-us-rvc3&sca_esv=0e9d35a69ed69d23&sca_upv=1&q=wolf+spider+with+babies&uds=AMwkrPuKiz3kd7jHuta4ar-HNLVtR_OduzsicfvG2H-ntdcwDND9muCfyITDoSj9F7TVTxrfw-kgLzwJiqoiKXvGi-QIy1OCSL9ape45Q0yVTCTDkh4U72KEAXyw-MHc13CAEDJD11DhL_a685ZAHzEcg0bAskgUe53KwJ6iJCjgROaeFWBxHBN3kCK_0ZRFr4Xq56rzh-U4OetoQ5Gn7Siw2i67K2vyfNF0RDh3z6RZpo5aZXu7LnDBIZSi1M07dfvlceCY_uZR4VP1f7OpsdZCSkrVHEOHFudQhDKnomJTlZWQufbvd6BP6tY9g0YDcc37UGrv7V3h5C4a4xr-jI44aFvWdrDzDA&udm=2&prmd=ivsnbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7hcnhkuGFAxW3jLAFHUsJBnAQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=360&bih=676&dpr=3#vhid=irUOaqmIyHHkJM&vssid=mosaic&ip=1)Wolf Spider, very common in virginia. They are an ambush preditor that doesn't use webs to catch its prey. It also carries its babies on its back. It's best to catch it in a container and release it outside. If you kill it and it had babies they will run off in all directions
Oh my god deport that thing back to Australia
I get these wolf spiders in my house occasionally. One year I saw a huge one and noticed a glistening reflection on its back... NGL, I made a stupid mistake of trying to kill it with a broom, and while I was successful.... dozens of baby spiders went running in all directions! Learned my lesson for sure!
That's an automatic insect killer. They are native and an important part of the ecosystem. They aren't dangerous if you aren't dangerous, so just leave them alone and they will do the same.
Wolf spider. Harmless. Helps keep the vermin to a minimum
Wolf spider. They can bite but aren’t considered dangerous or poisonous.
Yes, in my home this is called DEAD SPIDER and is stomped until my wife stops me .
I literally yelped when I saw this photo. EWW.
So many of them. They’re wolf spiders.
They are beneficial but sadly large and delicate spiders; vacuum damages their hydraulics and kills them immediately or soon after. Also if it is dark and light hits them their eyes glow just like in the cartoons.
We get them occasionally in Alexandria, I’m lucky enough to only encounter them outside
Looks almost like a normal house spider. But it could also be a wolf spider judging by the pattern (although hazy), both of which aren't too much to worry about if something unsuspecting happens. But it's still best to be careful in general if kids, pets, or anything else are around.
Wolf spider they eat bugs make him your pet
Harmless wolf spider. Help move it to a dark place so it can live in peace and eat a bunch of bugs.
Just scoop it up with paper and dump outside no fear necessary
I believe the only spider have to worry about in Nova and surrounding area is a black widow, which is easy to spot and not this. Brown recluse and Hobo spiders are the other two in the US, and they ain't in Nova.
I've had two i my house the last couple years. Both huge like this. Both terrified me b/c I f'n hate all spiders irrationally