Wolf Spider
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Written by Jim on June 15th, 2006 with
188 comments.
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We have had some very large spiders around our pool (we live in Ariz). They will sometimes lay on the bottom of the pool. The first time I thought it was a rock and tried to scoop with the net when it quickly swam to the top and ran across the on top the water into a hole under to cool deck. Another time there was one laying on top of the water I went to scoop it with the net and the larger spider disintegrated and hundreds of baby spiders ran all over the top of the water. Apparently the babies live off the female while carrying them. After looking through this web sight I’m quite sure they are wolf spiders. They can be very annoying.
I live in Utah and me and my children kept waking up with bites on our bodies. At first I thought it was mosquitos, but it was December – WAY too cold for mosquitos. So I called an exterminator to check for bed bugs. He came and inspected all of our beds and said we do not have bed bugs. I told him that we must have spiders because of the bites, but he said generally spiders do not bite. So he inspected the entire house and found a bunch of wolf spiders. Still, he was treating me like I was a crazy lady, saying that wolf spiders are not agressive and do not bite. I showed him all the bites on my body and my 2 daughters (4 & 6 yrs). He finally agreed that yes, if a wolf spider is in the bed and you roll over on it, they WILL bite! So he sprayed and laid down some glue boards, but 2 months later we still have them. The glue boards are totally full of the wolf spiders and babies, though.
number #84 your not experiencing any kind of bite your getting over being shocked from seeing a spider in your class. nothing is wrong physical just wait a while and get it out of your head you’ll feel better in bout a week
Although I know they aren’t that dangerous my wife and I have a 15 month old. What are some precautions we should take. We do have Wolf Spiders and there are some yellow sac spiders which could also be the cause of a lot of bites.
We live in upstate New York
Is this a wolf spider? If not, what type is it? This is the second one I found in my house this past month.
I live in Northern California and i feel stupid because i get scared of the daddy long legs in my room. Seeing all these posts makes me glad to live here. I usually see mice in my home from time to time.But just the other day i saw my kitty chasing something that looked like a mouse, but he cornered it under my bed and i shone a light and saw its multiple legs and freaked out. Thankfully my cat (binx) chased it out of the house when i opened the door. I haven’t seen one since and i think it was because of my cat. YAY!
I was planting flowers the other day in my small yard and a spider ran out from where I was planting in the grass. I saw it again today when I was on my way back to my porch after planting another flower. It looks like a wolf spider. I have two small dogs (maltese) only about 5-8 lbs in size and I am worried that the spider might hurt them. They go to the bathroom there and the yard is tiny, closed in on all sides. I know most spiders only bite when they feel threatened but dogs are sometimes curious or unaware of their surroundings.Would it bite them?? If they are bitten how bad could it hurt them???
If you can find a timid wolf spider, they actually make good pets, but like all spiders and some snakes they are venomous , so handle with care. I was at work one day this week and came across a large , male wolf spider . I reallized that he was just trying to get warm so I let him crawl onto the back of my hand and took him to a place where he wouldn’t find the bottom of a work boot. I know that spiders have a bad rep, mostly because of Hpllywierd , but we have very few dangerous spiders in the south east, and they are very benificial. They eat insects and other spiders. I do not recomend handling any species of spiders unless you know exactly what you are doing and aware of the species. My friend has Terrantulas and I haven’t worked my nerve up to handle them yet, not because I have a true fear of them, Im just more comfortable with the spiders that I have been around all my life
Spiders aren’t evil and they aren’t out to get anyone. If you think an animal is out to get you…you may want to seek the help of a psychiatrist because you are delusional.
That being said…I don’t want Wolf Spiders living in my house. I’m afraid they may bite my Chihuahua. She’s so tiny. I’m afraid a spider bite to her little leg or foot might be quite serious.
Any reasonable ideas on how to get rid of the Wolf Spiders? Anyone know of any natural deterrents?
Hi, I was wondering if you were able to tell me, what physiological adaptations a wolf spider has…It is urgent, i have a project due in a day!! I would appreciate it very much!!
My family and I live in Winslow, AZ and this afternoon we found this very large spider on the outside window. Do not know what kind of spider it is but my husband who grew up here said that he has never seen one like it around here before. It was very large and up on the screen. It didn’t exhibit any aggressive behavior.
Any ideas?
do these things live in Indiana??? i am just curious because the description doesn’t even say where they live, except for in Australia. i remember being on vacation in Florida once when i was a kid. there was this huge spider floating in the pool (i have no idea why it was in there). me and my cousin were trying to get out and we poked it with a stick and in a slit second hundreds of tiny spiders dispersed from off of this things back. it was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen.
as you can imagine, we did not go swimming in the pool after that. now i think it must of been a wolf spider after reading this description about how the mother carries the babies on her back for a while. this incident seriously traumatized me. i wasn’t that afraid of spiders until after that and now whenever i see a spider i think that there’s a million little spiders living on top of it that will jump off of it, cover my whole body and attack me.
I live in the California High Desert. Believe it or not I found many brown, fewer black, and some red widows around my house shortly after moving in a few years ago. I have kept up with the poison and now only see brown very rarely and black even rarer. I noticed a definite increase in other arachnids as the widows decreased. The big almost black one in my pictures I thought was a black widow at first glance. Then after a longer look I thought tarantula.
Then I had to wonder if it was just a very dark wolf spider. He has made meals of two rather large (2-3 inch though he/she him/herself is easily at least three inches from leg to leg) sopulgids, several moths, and one wolf spider. Its web is very eratic looking more on the lines of a burrow type web, though with the small habitat I have given him, it may have thrown off his natural inclinations in lieu of whatever seems to work. His web material is very thick and strong, though it seems nothing like a normal widow web at all. He does not bear an hourglass of any type either and is quite hairy. If you could shed some light on what exactly this thing is I would be very grateful. Thanks.
I walked in the kitchen last week and about dropped to the floor in a faint. My two-year old sheltie, Newt, was pouncing on a wolf spider. All of a sudden it reared up on its rear legs and ran right toward her, so fast I almost couldn’t see it! She squealed suddenly and ran. I killed it and brought it to our neighbor, an exterminator.
He said it’s a wolf spider and they are VERY hard to kill. Most repellant sprays DO NOT work on spiders. Spiders walk up on the tips of their legs so the poison does not contact them. He gave me a professional spray which does kill them, but you have to saturate the stupid things. This morning I rolled over and felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder and when I rolled over, there was a very large spider, identical to the first!
The bite itches and if I scratch it, it sends a glassy bolt of pain but isn’t as bad as some of these poor folks have been describing. My neighbor said it’s fortunate-the spider had probably exhausted its venom killing a bug in the house the night before. So I just got a small dose. (small dose still sucks) But he also gave me a great tip! He said Frontline (stuff you use on dogs and cats) is the best thing to repel spiders, and almost the only thing that will turn them away! But it has to be Top Spot and not Frontline Plus.
I got some today and with the tip of my finger applied a thin film to the floor by our front door and another by the back door and a LARGE amount outside our bedroom door. Maybe this will help get rid of the little (large) freaks and maybe help some other people too! I’ve always hated spiders of any sort-they look so darn ALIEN!!!!
i think i found one of these in my house and it scared the living crap outta me i amm sooo afraid of spiders i just wanna know if they can hurt you bad
My son’s friend brought him a wolf spider from Kansas and it’s huge. It’s at least 5 1/2 inches across. It only identifying characteristic is that it has a reddish patch on the back of it’s abdomen. At first it seemed like a bald spot, but it turned reddish. I put it in a 10 gal aquarium, laid down some dirt with small bark and made it a home out of small sticks and dead leaves. It’s been eating meal worms and I think the meal worm beetles. The beetles that meal worms turn into. It’s a very nice looking spider and just hangs out in his home or goes to his water dish.
I know it’s a wolf spider because it doesn’t make a web. Just a small line that it leaves around the tank. I’m going to post a picture as soon as I can. For people who hate spiders, you know that the world would be over run with worst pests than spiders. From the smallest spiders to the biggest, they keep the population of malaria carrying mosquitoes and other much worse critters. Be thankful for spiders. They won’t bug you if you don’t bug them. Next time you’re eating crab, you’re eating a relative of the spider… Yuummmeeee
I live in san jose Cali and I saw this thing running on my ceiling that was big so I thought it was a mosquito eater, then later I saw it running down some plywood and got up to see what it was and it froze still.
I tried to catch it thinking it was a mosquito eater but I missed and it took off FAST under some clutter and I haven’t seen it since.
It was because I took in some bags that were under the house… Learned. I have arachnophobia ever since I was 8 and something left bites the size of quarters all up my leg
I think my 2 year old has been bitten by a wolf spider about 2 days ago because I have found them inside and the bite is the size of a quarter. it’s red and very inflamed, can someone please advise on what to do? im very holistic and don’t like to run to the doctor if not necessary…. Please help
When I got up yesterday morning, I noticed my 3 year old cat was breathing very rapidly. By the time I got her to the vet, her breathing was not only fast, but ragged. The vet put her on oxygen for 3 hours, antibiotics, prednisone, and a diuretic, and told me it was probably either an infection or asthma. When I took her home, she continued to deteriorate to the point where the “third eyelid” was almost halfway across each eye, and she was wheezing.
Late last night, I found and killed a wolf spider. A spider bite would explain why a previously healthy cat is exhibiting symptoms of being “poisoned.” An online vet recommended I increase her prednisone, which I did and the cat was still alive by this morning. The cat is still wheezing and I don’t know whether I will have her when it’s over. Circumstantial evidence would suggest it is not wise to let cats play with wolf spiders.
Hi, I have read all the comments here about wolf spiders and I want to know if it’s normal for them to get this big or if we have some mutant population. The average ones I see are about 3.5-5″ and I have seen bigger. Here is a picture of one from earlier today I found when I opened the doors to my cellar (thankfully not connected to the rest of the house). This one is about 4.5-5″.
I see that the lady in comment #45 has also reported huge wolf spiders in the Vancouver area. I live in the woods in the foothills of the Berkshires in New England.
Cut a ‘nest’ wolf spiders out of vines in the spring, TEN years ago. Have found Micro-dermabrasion Facial Treatment can correct lots of the scarring those little suckers leave behind. It’s expensive, but worth not having the recurring acne. They are masters at repairing scars! Got it at American Laser!
Sorry I wasn’t able to send a photo, but I smashed it pretty good and my efforts to use my scanner got no picture at all. I live in Southeastern PA (Philadelphia area). The spider appeared uniformly brown (darkish) in color, furry, and comparatively huge. The body now looks at least 1 inch long, maybe 1-1/2 to 2, and the legs about 1/2 inch each. I did not see any marks like a wolf or a brown recluse – it doesn’t seem to match pictures of either – but the thing kept showing up when I’m not wearing my glasses, and now it’s all crumpled and I can’t tell back from underside.
I first saw it last night coming downstairs – it saw me and crept back under the edge of the front door. This afternoon or evening I glanced at a heat/a-c register on another wall (same room) and saw three legs protruding from a gap between vanes. As soon as I moved closer, it darted back inside. Then just 30 minutes ago (about 11:30 pm), I saw it on the floor next to my desk. It darted away fast when I went for it and I only got it because the back of the desk is a solid face down to the floor and it could only run back and forth and not go under anything. It took more pressure than usual to crush it to make sure it was dead. Does this sound like a wolf spider to anyone? Or anything that would have been venomous?
Ken,
The spider you have described is most likely a Wolf Spider. They can be very shy and fast. They are also furry as you had mentioned above. If you were to have a picture i could be completely sure but it is understanable why you do not. Hopefully more these spiders don’t bother you but if they happen to try to get a picture of it. If you have any more questions, just post them and I’ll do my best to post a response as soon as possible.
-Loki
Yes, there are Wolf Spiders in Ohio to answer one question I seen.
We seem to get them every other year and it started about 10 years ago. I haven’t been bitten by one which is surprising since I sit on the floor with the remote in my hand waiting for what seems like an attack.
But my husband has been bitten many times.One such bite I googled and it seemed to be a Recluse bite.It must of happened where he worked. Hopefully.
But Wolf spiders are scary and will go after your dog.My son uses his hands to kill them but I just stick with beating them to death with the tv remote.
Hi, Please help me identify this spider.
Thanks!
i saw a big spider, it was way bigger than a quarter and it looks like the wolf spider accept it had a huge white sack on its back and it had little brown spots on the sack. i wish i had a picture!
This thing just scared me!!!
It was in the corner in the bathroom. Anyone know what kind it is?
It took about 3 doses of home defense spray and was still moving slightly when we put it in the bag. yuck!
Thanks!
Will send pic.
About two weeks ago, my friend slept over. When I woke up the next morning, I had an itchy, red bump just above my hip. My friend also had a similar bite on her hand, but it was bleeding. We suspect it was a spider. The bump remained red and itchy up until now, but it is still visible as a scar. I’m not sure what kind of spider it was, but i find the experience odd.
When I first moved into my 75 year old mountain home…I began getting sick all the time…. and over time came to realize it would coincide with two holed bite marks. I noticed I had spiders all over the house….and called out a bug exterminator who sprayed it but told me it was useless to spray if I couldn’t find a way to seal the house off…which I couldn’t.
I would often wake up to see spiders quickly darting across my white bedspread only to wake up with bites in the morning. One night I got up to use the rest room….and came back to find one on the foot of my bed and one near my pillow!…like a tag team!
I contacted a guy from UCRiverside who to told me SPIDERS DON’T BITE PEOPLE INTENTIONALLY… and so it must be ticks or kissing bugs.
As I got sicker ….I went to a doctor for some kind of medical relief….but was told it was not ticks ….but also told it could not be spiders cause “they don’t hunt down humans as meals”. So she said it appeared to be the flu and the bites were “coincidental”.
But one night….I nailed the sucker with my bare hand while it was leaving yet another bite.
I contacted the Dept of Health who directed me to their entomologist who reassured me that yes….spiders CAN seek out people as a meal. He was interested in my story and told me to send him some specimens. I sent him 6, including the one who didn’t get away.
By the way…I put two wolf spiders in the same container. One pulled the others innards out completely as if it was a mirror image! I could not figure out for the life of me how three spiders got in there….and it was the entomologist who figured it out and was amazed himself.
4 of the specimens he identified as wolf spiders, 1 a hobo spider and one was unclassified. He even asked me if I could find another one like the unclassified one and I said….NO….I’m foggy the house today!
And fogging would work for a short time…but the foggers made me sick too.
One day my boyfriend was using my loop magnifier, impressed with it’s magnifying power. I said…here …look at this bump on the back of my arm… and he said there were two holes and one had a fang in it and removed it with a tweezers. As he removed it….the fang still had a little clear sac-like drop attached to it. Then he looked closer and said I had over 30 of these bumps with two vampire like bites with one of the fangs still impeded in some that had grown over! No wonder I was so dang sick!
My girlfriend finally sent me a bug net for my birthday that I believed saved my life. Even though it works well….sometimes if I fall asleep with my hand on the net….they will bite through to my hand. And sometimes little baby ones will get through and bite.
Now…oddly enough…my boyfriend never had any bites….but he was a heavy cigarette smoker and I think that had something to do with it.
As to the answer of the question posted….my bites would be very painful…like deep pin prickes…even the small ones. It would start with a headache that aspirin would not relieve and a shooting pain down the side of my neck. Then there was severe pain in the back of my neck that would become sore and stiff…often one side would get a hard lump. Then the headache would get severe and that would last up to 9 hours. I would get blurry vision sometimes and feel nauseous and dizzy-ish all day. I also would get horrible pains in my jaws and ears…..and the bite area would eat the skin away in an oval shape of where the bite marks are. Whoever tries to tell you wolf spiders only bite out of defense….doesn’t know much about these creatures at all.
I have a beautiful specimen that lives in my room. Knowing what i know about wolf spiders, i leave it alone. I’ve made several attempts to catch it (which it allows in a jar) and releasing it into my garden. He insists on coming back in though. We seem to have come to some sort of an agreement and so now he just stays in the corner of my room, periodically coming down to run across me or sit watching me from the edge of my bed. LOL
He seems to be more social than most wolf spiders and very interested in what’s going on in “his” home, and delights in chasing my boyfriend (who is terrified of spiders) and kitten (who is currently terrified of anything that pounces back), but does not bother me. I wonder if anyone else has had experience with a wolf spider with a similar personality as Harry (yes i named him) does.
Does anyone know what the best killer is for these horrible spiders?????bug bombs???
Today I was getting a package of chalk for the kids I was babysitting. Inside one of the containers was a wolf spider… it wasn’t that big and once the kids calmed down I grabbed my camera and took some pictures (included). Some things I noticed of my wolf spider was it was fast, brown/gray, hairy, and lines down/around the back. I didn’t catch it and I killed it. Could anyone tell me if there could be more in/ around the house? What are the chances I’m going to be bit/ one of the kids going to get bit? Is this REALLY a wolf spider? Is there any way I can get rid of these spiders if there are more? It would be nice to get some answers. If you know the answers to any of these questions please email the answers to me at celloluver94 @yahoo.com Thanks!!!!
I ended up being bitten by a spider that made my leg swell up so bad, that I was unable to use it, and was forced to take a day off from work. After some days, the bite got better, but I do not wish to have to go through that horrific pain again. It was only the day before I woke up to a spider on my arm…
That I promptly flicked off, and could not find again. I saw it out of the corner of my eye though, and it was dark… Had the similar shape of these wolf spiders. Just today, I found this guy hiding out in the corner of my room. Caught him, and took a picture of him. The prominent cream color against his dark abdomen is fascinating to me, but I am unsure if it is a wolf spider or not. It’s relatively small, only about the size of a dime, perhaps a bit larger with legs spread out.
I live in south texas and find tons of these very small dark spiders around the house the are tiny and have six very small thin legs but the front two legs by the face seem to be much thicker and bold there were no distict stripes or markings. Can you help me identify it I would like to know if it is dangerous.
Thanks a bunch
Wolf spiders are very wonderful for the garden and are not dangours to people, please stop killing these wonderful spiders! The mother carries their young on her back! And can even been kept as a subute for a tarantula readily eating crickets in captivity. Their best place should be out in the grass under rocks and logs catching large less plesant insects and bugs. Also there are only two spiders in the U.S. that pose any therat to people Black wido, and brown recluse…possiably the hobo spider.
Sincerely, Lames L.
I am reading a lot of the post here and we all seem to have the same problem. However, some people on this blog have some helpful information but are not answering the most asked question: How do you get rid of these nasty pest? Like others have mentioned….one place seems to be infested yet right next door (even in an apartment complex) is not infested. I have encountered 4 wolf spiders in the last 2 weeks, with one of them being the size of a grown up’s hand. If someone can please help me in telling me what I can do to make sure these pest do not come into my house as I am very afraid of them. I have asked the apartment complex to spray which they do anyway every month but it is not working. Please help!!!! You may email me at floppylouace @gmail.com Thank you
I was bitten by a spider which the doctor thought was from a wolf spider. I never saw what spider did it but sure felt the lasting effect. The bite was on the bottom of my foot and I was not able to stand on my foot at all. My foot swelled up, red streaks running along my foot, a big red area with a white middle. That happened two days ago I finally had to lance it to relieve a bunch of puss and nasty junk. After doing that it left a whole in my foot and is still draining junk. I still can’t not stand on my foot with out sever pain. So if it was truely a wolf spider i sure don’t want to get another one from it or any spiders.
Irene
Kansas
ok so i was in bed and noticed i got bit by something quite painful!!! so i look at my arm and i was dripping with blood and there was a wolf spider on my arm! now i have nightmares that the thing gets in my mouth and it hurt me and killed me…. im only ten so this is really creepy for me and ima need help!
thanks!,
livi
OMG!!! I live in Tucson, Arizona and usually go out at night to “hunt scorpions with my blacklight……(their sting can be very painful!)….just now I found a HUGE Wolf Spider-bigger than I had ever seen……..2 inches long (and round of course)……..it looked very different……as I got closer, I saw it had a lot of “bumps” on it’s back……..strange I thought, until I saw them MOVING!!!!!! It was a Mother spider carrying her newly hatched babies on her back!!!!!! I will first apologize to all the spider-lovers out there, but me, suffering from pretty bad arachnophobio (sp?), just HAD to kill it. I know they eat other bugs that may be a bother, but I couldn’t let HER and ALL of those babies go free in my back yard, (near to my bedroom french doors!)……..anyway, I felt the need to do some research and share my gross experience tonight………hopefully I won’t have nightmares!
Hi i found a small spider and it look’s like a zebra (jumping spider)spider but ive seen videos and it dosnt resemble any jumpers on the net have you heard of what its called
First of all, people need to stop with the funnel web spider nonsense. The funnel web spider is of AUSTRALLIAN decent, and you better hope to God you dont meet one because they are extreamly dangerous. You will not find a funnel web spider outside Australlia. Period.
Phoenix,AZ
On Saturday my wife was in our bathroom getting ready to take a shower, while entering the tub, she screamed her lungs off and said theirs a spider in the tub. Entering the bathroom to see what was the problem, I saw the largest wolf spider I have ever seen before, the abdomen was just under the size of a nickle and the legs were about a span of inch and half wide. The spider didnt seem to be carring any eggs on the abdomen so my question is, could there be more Wolf spiders in our house and why was it so huge?
Georgetown,TX
We have been living in our farmhouse for 20 years now. we have a old well just outside our house that i have been seeing a spider(s)(probably wolf spider) in there and on top of it for a long time and i was wondering how long can a wolf spider live? I’m sure it is just one spider but since i have seen it for at least a time span of 16 years I don’t know. This spider is also HUGE!! it is like the size of a tarantula. I can’t capture it, as every time i try it moves back into the well. Very fast with very long legs.
two days ago i was camping when i believe i got bit by a wolf spider. i fell asleep around midday next to my tent. when i was woken up because a bee stung me on my stomach. i fell asleep shortly afterword’s again. i was once again woken by something biting or stinging me on my right leg. i thought it was just a bee sting so i let it go. but yesterday the area were i got “stung, Bit” was red and very itchy. my ankle had swelled up very noticeably. when i arrived home the bite or sting mark had turned into a blister. Today is Monday and the bit/sting area has made a blister about the size of a quarter. The blister is a yellowish almost green color. my leg is very swollen also. i don’t think this is a bee sting because i got stung on the stomach that weekend and its just a red welt. Also when i got bit/stung on the leg it felt like someone stabbed me with very hot fork. Is this a wolf spider bite? please help me.
There are large black spiders in one of the bldgs. outside. I want to know what it is.
Its about 3 to 4 inchs around.
This was a great page with a lot of really good information and pictures. I was just confirming the monster spider I saw this evening scampering across my living room was indeed a wolf spider. It was. I guess it came in through the crack in the front door or came in with my son this evening. The spider was running quickly across the living room floor and that is what got my attention. He was bigger than a cricket with very long legs. Black body with a little white decoration. Long fangs and big eyes. Fortunately, he stopped. I kept my eyes on the room while I went to get my shoe from the bedroom. He stayed put. He got squished. I don’t normally do that with spiders, I just put them where they belong in the wild, but I have two young children and don’t want them to accidentally “threaten” the spider and get bitten. My husband was bitten, most likely by a wolf spider, several years ago on his arm. It had to be drained and packed regularly for weeks until it healed. (It did not want to heal on its own.), but it was not a brown recluse bite. The doctor said that spiders, such as the wolf spider, while not actually poisonous to humans through their venom, frequently carry bacteria on their fangs that cause the skin infections, e.g. staph infections, that are so severe.
When we moved into our current home, we had so many jumping spiders in the backyard, it was unreal. It was like grasshoppers leaping at you. One did bite my daughter and the welt was about the size of a half-dollar. Having gone through the other bite consequences with my husband, I put antibiotic cream on it nightly and it healed well and quickly. Fortunately, we were awake when she was bitten, so we knew where and what it was and what to be looking for. I had the backyard exterminated and haven’t had a big problem with them since. (Knock on wood.) This does make me think that I probably ought to require tennis shoes rather than just flip-flops just in case…
I liked the note regarding seeing spiders indoors in August. Maybe we will have another good winter. Makes for pretty flowers in the spring and kills off excess bugs. I’m going to keep that one in mind and see what happens. (You never know in Texas.)
Thanks for all the good information and interesting pictures.
Tammy in Texas
When I had my house exterminated, I asked about whether it would kill spiders as well. The man doing it said because spiders walk upon their feet, and only absorb poison thru their stomachs that the spray would have little effect on them. That might explain why many of the people haven’t been able to get rid of their spiders by spraying.
Kit B. #79: That’s a Funnel Weaver spider. They can resemble a Rabbid Wolf Spider, but wolf spiders don’t have spinerettes on their abdomen and don’t make webs. I was actually bit a year ago by a funnel weaver spider while I was asleep. Guess I rolled on him or frightened it to make it bite me. The bite resembles a brown recluse, but not nearly as bad.
Oh man, my heart is so pounding right now. I am terrified of spiders and at 1:30am found a huge one in my kitchen and I couldn’t get to it. It fell behind my desk before I could spray or smoosh it. It is shaped like a figure 8ish and seemed to be reddish in color. I live in san diego. I also have seen one of these before a few mos. ago in my apt. I am having palpitations cause now I know it is alive and in here and I will not sleep at all till its dead.
As it is, I have little lights on in all rooms and I am forever doing the four corner ceiling perusing ea. time I wake up etc. and never walk barefoot. I am TERRIFIED of them. What can I do now and does this sound like a wolf spider>? I can’t look at anymore photos I am really bugging out. (no pun intended). So do they appear reddish maybe if u can’t get up close to look at it and also what can I do now that it is in here? HELP!
Today I turned around at work to find a wolf spider about 3 feet away from me with a hiding place between my filing cabinet and display case. I spent the next hour terrified and wishing someone would come kill it. I have been bitten twice by poisonous spiders and I am deathly afraid of them all. So a little FYI Lysol (only thing I had) makes them really angry and they will chase you. Thankfully my office chair has 6 wheels and I was able to smash it. I live in Northern Indiana and it was easily bigger than a quarter.
I live in Texas and our house is in the country and i see these huge spiders all the time that look like wolf spiders and just the other day i had one crawling on top of my head it must have dropped from the ceilling well i tryed to kill it but it got away quick but then the next day i woke up with something on my leg it was a big red bump and it was real hard and red around it and now its like a circle that is white like puss and it still hurts i dont know if its a spider bite or what, can someone help me out please
Today I saw this spider on our walkway. I believe it’s a wolf spider. I flung him to the sidewalk.
The spider in #152 is all in my yard. When we try to cut the grass, a bunch of them come from out of nowhere and start running towards us. You should see us running away from them. It takes us almost two hours to cut our grass because we are deathly afraid of spiders. Are these spiders poisonous? I live on the west coast of Florida.
I got bit by a spider and it took a year to clear up. Each time I thought it was getting well the bite area would fill up with infection again. The whole area was about the size of a quarter and the skin turned black.
i have a wolf spider in a web next to my air conditioner i was wondering why it was in a web because i have read that they don’t spin webs but im sure it is a wolf spider i have read up on them many times can you please help me with my question?
Ugh! These thick-legged blackish spiders were everywhere in house I bought[nobody lived here for 3 years] Also 9 scorpions in 6 mos.! Foamed around ac unit which was open to attic. Screened in all vents in attic. Had attic dusted and house sprayed in and out with denon. Bye bye buggies! I saw a scorpion crawl out of the fan[running at the time] above my bed.That was the last straw! Caulked under sink and where ceiling light fixtures are.Found dead scorpions in some.Ugh! I thought So. Fl was horrible because of Palmetto bugs! Here near Ocala you are aware of many species and also some sort of beetlle that leaves small sandpiles in your yard.Spider webs each morning by doors car mailbox etc. I have been webbed! Was told I had wolf spiders and looking at the pics, I believe they were. Hard to squash! Ban the bugs,I say!
i found what i believe was a wolf spider hanging around… about the size of my palm… bigger than an eisenhower dollar. it had 3 or 4 spots on its back just a little different color than rest of its body.
any suggestions? and ftw its dead now so pic is impossible.
thanks,
cj of mo.
Last week I started feeling swelling and pain on the top left side of my scalp. I thought it was a really bad zit or something and didn’t give it much attention. The next day, my neck was swollen and sore. The spot on my scalp was red and swollen to the size of a silver dollar. It felt like a stinging, pulsing pain and I could not move my neck all the way back and forth anymore. I could feel several bumps that joined into one larger swollen knot. I shaved my head so I could have easier access to the area. I treated it with antibiotic ointment, peroxide, and some ice.
After a few days passed, my scalp became flaky but I didn’t pick at it. The swelling got a little better and the stinging pain became only occasional, but still hurt like hell when it did come.
By the 8th day (today) it’s pretty much cleared up. I picked off the flaky parts of my scalp to find two fang marks on each piece I picked off. Either I got bit 6 times by one spider, or I got bit by 6 different spiders in the same area of my head! Wow, that explains the different lumps I felt all in the same area. I thought I had a bad case of acne or something on my scalp, when in reality It was a load of spider bites! I would post pics of the scalp flakes showing all the fang marks, but that’s kinda gross.
I never felt anything bite me, so I assume it happened while I was asleep. I see spiders outside my home, so I assume I have them inside as well. Sure wish I knew how to get rid of them because this experience was no fun at all.
I recently got bitten twice by a wolf spider.It happened on my lower leg above my ankle.The swelling and itching was the worst.But it also hurt to walk because of the muscle movement.
I don’t have a camera or I would take pictures.
It seemed to have a ragged fang on the left side since both holes are bigger than the others.
It happened in bed.Needless to say now everything is shook out and the skirts are gone.
I didn’t go the hospital although the hubby was worried.
But the only symptoms were the pain,itching and swelling to the point that socks and shoes didn’t fit anymore.
It’s still itching as I type and I can’t put pressure on it.
But to anyone else I recommend doing the doctor.
Wolf Spiders are everywhere !! I see them all the time, they don’t seem to be aggressive at all. I find them often all over my house and yard and I just catch them and take them out into the woods. Now, I’m reading that they are very important around humans since they hunt and eat more harmful insects that you don’t want in your home. I have seen videos with them crawling all over arms and legs, even one guy that has one on his shoulder and its just sitting there for some time.
I’m sure they will not bite if they are not provoked but will stand their ground if needed. I have a small dog and a few cats and the spiders just run the other way. I wouldn’t kill any for any reason as it is, but now I don’t even think I will bother to relocate them. You get rid of one and there is just going to be be another one to replace it. There isn’t even anyway to keep them out of your home anyway. If you find one, just catch it and let it go outside. Everything has a purpose in this world as far as I’m concerned, more so than myself or any other human I have ever known
I am so glad that i found your website.. i found 2 of these “wolf spiders” in my laundry room.. i was reading on here about how the female eats the males insides.. well there was 1 in the basket with her and i think she had done ate him. it was really scary but i caught the female like my husband wanted and i am just relieved that i found out what it ws before my 2 yr old son found it. just wantd to say thank you.
you people getting bit by wolf spiders must have soft skin, cause i’ve literally rolled in them (being a pumpkin farmer, they run all through the hay thats put down) and have never been bitten. while splitting a pile of wood once i caught a 5″ wolf spider, IT WAS THE SIZE OF MY HAND!! it was on a log, i grabbed it, it ran onto my arm and i caught it in my hand. it tried to bite me it seemed, but i never felt a thing. then i let it go into the weeds.
my mom always complains about being bit by spiders and all, and the bite marks are a lot like what you guys say, but they surely aren’t wolf spider bites. a lot of the time they look like mosquito bites, or bed bug bites, or them long legged yellow crab like spider bites. those you gotta look out for, they can really mess you up. cause truly, i’ve seen a few different species of wolf spiders in my pumpkins and a lot of times i gotta shoo them out of my shirt or gloves, but i’ve never been bitten.
To #86 and/or anyone else who might know. I was trying to identify this spider that I caught between my sliding door and screen. He was sitting in the seam of the door and luckily my wife saw him. I couldn’t find any pics that really looked like him until I saw the pics that Trish #86 posted. I caught the exact same spider and he’s the same size too! He or she is a big one. There were a few strands of silk but no actual web,so I’m guessing it is a wolf spider,but I would like to know if it definitely is so I know what I’m dealing with out here in the beautiful Poconos. Thanks
ok so i am totally freaked out and i think these are wolf spiders in my house. we just moved in a month ago and ive kille dat least 20 of them.they are huge and im totally freaked out. so i called my father in law to come look at one because he is the cubscout leader and he is pretty smart about this stuff, he says there are over 200 kinds of wolf spiders and they can vary in size and color. some are very furry and some not.
i started looking on the net and saw several types. i also have at least three different kinds here in the house. they are always on the floor, never the wall and they are really fast when they try to get away. i hate them and im terrified of them, but the more and more i see of them the easier it is to just react and just kill them instead of freezing up and panicking.
i have pest control coming this week but now im scared because some of the comments were bad like the one that says pest control will attract brown recluse because they like their meals already dead? wtf ami to do? i have a 4 yr old and a two month old and now someone else said that the spider at the top of the page is a brown recluse, well that’s one of the kinds i have.
help!
http://www.badspiderbites.com/wolf-spider/#comment-27827
Rebecca
#65. July 12th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
shows some kind of trapdoor spider not a wolf. aside from just plain looking different a good diagnostic is that you can see two sets of book lungs. a wolf would only have one set of book lungs
whatever kind of trapdoor it is, the venom is not dangerous to humans and likely wouldn’t even amount to the pain of a bee sting. further, there is no known proclivity to trigger anaphylactic reactions
also, most of the bite pics i have seen on this site look like bacteria or other insect bites, NOT spider bites
i found one on my brothers bed and it was huge it was the biggest spider i have ever seen in my life. if you see one, get a pic send it to me at cassycronin [at] yahoo.com
Thanks for the info!
I noticed that you used the term “poisonous”- I’m going to guess that you meant venomous, because that is the proper term. Venom is injected (like with spiders) and poison is inhaled, swallowed, ect.
I live in a place with very few spiders- I’ve only ever seen up to three different kinds here, but I’m interested in arachnids-but not touching them.
Wolf spider bite 2 days ago 14* weather in wood pile got red for 2 days days no swelling ,Didn’t hurt, he hit me 2 times . Fange are quarter inch apart. Big one.It is now 4 days. am better.
EL SAVADOR
THAT IS A CAVE SPIDER, NOT HARMFUL.
Hey guys,
I live in South Carolina and recently saw a large spider a little smaller than my palm. I think it was a wolf spider, but I didn’t have time to take a picture- I was in shock, the thing was huge, brown, long-legged, and, well, scared me almost half to death. Last night I had a night mare about it- it came down in the doorway, not 3 feet away from me, and I woke up screaming, “OH MY GOSH!” Any advice on what KIND of spider and what to do about my fear of this giant arachnid?
i have studied wolf spiders for 45 years now. they do however leave a scar but it can be treated by a medication called Apso. the best thing to do is keep the bite moist and get help as soon as you can.ice and aspirin will keep swelling down (NOTE: Cleaning and dusting your house regularly does alot to prevent these creatures.) They are a beauty but you must understand, it is a spider.
Are there any wolf spiders in Canada, if so where in Canada, and can i find them in my home, if so what can i do to help prevent them from ever coming in?
My 13 year old son has several spider bites! One is on his left leg.. Now he has a bite on his left middle finger!! The nurse at school circled where the redness was and said if it goes out of the circle go to the doctors.. When he got home is when he noticed another on his right heel on his foot… I am not sure what to do cause it’s 11pm and I have to get up for work at 4am. My first question is can or do I have time to wait and take him later tomorrow. And do you think he is in real danger? The nurse said it’s a wolf spider bite so I need advice Please!
a found a spider tonight hanging out on my front door, it looks like the spider from #4’s picture, except it had a bad leg, I’m just wondering whats up with this spider and if I should take precautions against it thanks.
I have 2 spider bites, one on each leg and i have no idea what type of spider it was. the smaller bite is the size of a dime and has 2 red lines coming out from it [it looks like it has bull horns] . The other bite is the size of a nickel and has red lines coming out from it [ it looks kind of in the shape of a starfish]. I was bitten over a week ago.
They don’t hurt and i’ve had no allergic reaction. They are still very, very red and inch, they dont seem to be getting any bigger or any better. i’m using ice packs, benadryl and hydrocortizone cream. The fang areas still has small holes, they have already swollen up and the venom drained out and the holes are starting to scab up. Shouldn’t they be drying up by now or at least the redness and the lines fading away?
I live outside of Charlotte, NC.
I have severe arachnophobia, and wolf spiders come into my home and into my bathroom for some reason they like it in there. They are very fast and sometimes will stop for a minute and watch me. I heard something coming down my hall and it was the biggest wolf spider I have ever seen. actually could HEAR it running.
My problem is this…when I scream these spiders run rite at me. any time I scream at a spider it will run to me and makes people around me laugh cause spiders especially wolf spiders will be chasing me around while i am screaming. ok its funny looking back but why do they run at me when I scream??? I have tried not to scream but they are so fast and big. I will continue to try not to let loose when i see them but in the mean time does anyone know what it is about a scream that makes them come after me, I just think its too weird and cant believe im the only this happens too.
Okay, wolf spiders as a group do contain venom. They normally do not actively hunt humans. That being said there are multiple species within this genra, each is going to have it’s own unique set of behaviors that vary slightly from the “normal”. One thing that people don’t seem to be realizing is that there are also several other species that look like wolf spiders and mimic there behavior that also contain venom. Also, as someone previously mentioned any spider and almost any animal carries around bacteria that is not ment to be introduced into our system.
Reactions to a bite will vary, especially depending on the amount of venom that is injected. This can be from redness to swelling to anaphalactic shock. This can even happen with things such as tick and mosquito bites. Ice packs, antihistimenes, and little movement are very helpful if you are not having an allergic reaction.
Most bites whether venom was injected or not can end up with an infection. Which shows with pus, swelling, localized fever, red streaks and vomiting and headaches. These symptoms need to be seen by a doctor whether you have the money for it or not.
Wolf spiders will bite just like any critter that is threathened. They hunt at night which means if they are crossing your bed and or hunting in your bed and you roll over and squish them they will bite. The more critters like mice, and knats that occupy your place the more spiders will be there. It’s nice, dry, warm and comes with a free food supply.
Spiders period are hard to get rid of with spray. Even spray that contains pheramones, they will just come back when the spray fades away. Poison has to be ingested so and since spiders don’t go around eating wood or licking floors it doesn’t work so well. your best bet is to keep it clean, most spiders don’t care for areas that are well lit and frequently disturbed and use glue mats.
Hello,
I have a question.I just saw a spider,wolf spider and immediately looked for information about it. I was about to go to sleep and I was looking then I saw the bite needed to be seen by medical attention as soon as possible. How bad could it get if It was late at night? Or how could I get rid of them? I’ve seen 2 yesterday and 1 right now.
weird, most spiders don’t run fast or move fast.
I have a new pet. Pretty sure its a Wolf Spider. I live in Kansas, and found it on my foot, in my basement while I was working on something. Apparently he or she was just cold or something. I stood in horror for over five minutes waiting for it to move and not bite me, since I hadn’t identified it yet.
I’m debating getting a tiny terrarium for it and keeping it as a pet. Right now he or she is duck taped into a tupperware container. Fed it a moth last night and sat in awe at the battle royal.
i was at work when i saw a relatively small sized wolf spider with babies on its back. At first I did not realize they were babies, but when I tried to move it outside the babies scattered like roaches!! I was kind of cool to see. I am interested to know, if the babies leave the mothers back, does that mean they are able to live on their own? They were pretty tiny.
in response to Griselda number 18 i believe that spider is called an African cave dwelling spider if you have ever watched fear factor they have to eat them in a Vegas episode although the look creepy i do not believe they are deadly to humans
Word to the wise, a mourning dove built a nest right outside my apartment window. The baby was killed by either the mother or a crow. The bird mites left the dead baby, and swarmed my apartment. I have battled a swarm of bird mites for two weeks. I removed the nest and had the apartment complex treat the mites. Beware of either bed bugs or mites. They can cause a hell you never imagined!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t always assume a spider, look at the bites! Get the bug and have an exterminator examine it for treatment! Bed bugs look like mosquite bites, they will be in a row. Mites look like ant bites, they will be scattered like chicken pox.
I got bite by a wolf spider. I seen it bite me i was on my couch. All i seen was it i did not see where it came from or anything. After i got bite i talked 2 my mom about it she thought it was ringworm because it formed a cricel but in the middle it had 3 fang marks. I knew it was not ringworm because i seen it bite me. I went camping with my cuz and her mom her mom thought it was ringworm 2. So she put this stuff on it and a band aid. It was NOT a good idea it got 3 times bigger. i was scared.
So i went 2 my granny she knew what 2 do. She put this stuff call silver and green clay on it. I knew was really working. Then i went back home and went 2 bed. The next morning i woke up and anther wolf spider had bitten me on the lag. So i put silver and green clay on it 2. It was working but i did not go 2 the doctor because my granny said not 2. So i started 2 research about wolf spiders. Every web site i went 2 said not 2 put a band aid on it so i was really scared then. So i knew that my house was invested with wolf spiders.
That is bull pucky that there are no parasitic spiders. they live where they want to live and if they want to live under your bed they will. and if they need water they go to your face where you drool or areas where you sweat. lay in bed awake with a low light some night, you would be amazed what you can catch. I have seen, wolf spiders, hobo spiders and jumping spiders all predict and calculate where I was going to sit, use a light switch what ever. We leave some sort of warmth trail or smell but they know, they are intelligent. to some extent
Just a note to all: Spiders and scorpions are usually not covered on pest control spray bottles or even by most sprays used by professionals. When I asked why this was I was told that scorpions and spiders must be sprayed directly to die and even then it will not be immediate. This is because other insects roaches and such clean themselves some more slowly than others. This is what kills them. They walk through the spray then when they clean themselves they die. Spiders do not clean themselves they will eventually die from eating insects that are dead from the spray though. I thought that was interesting though scary. I never worried about spiders till I had children now with a two year old I am petrified of black widows and recluses. I have wolf spiders that scamper across the living room all the time and I have no hesitation in ending their life.
I live in south San Jose, California, very close to the foothills; an earlier post said that wolf spiders aren’t permanent residence in houses (I looked at the species of spiders they said it probably was) but I see them fairly often, they are without a doubt the most common spider I run into. I usually see them in corners on the ceiling or walking on the wall, never in webs. a few years ago we had new double paned windows put in and the amount of spiders have decreased, but I still see a couple around the house each month that are killed by my brother or step dad.
Ive never been bitten by any spider, and am not too worried that I’ll ever get bitten without somehow provoking the spider (watch, I’ll get bit tomorrow now that I’ve said that). Somehow I seem to get lucky, Ive captured and relocated two rattlesnakes (baby diamondback, and a full grown south pacific) yet the other day while at the beach I captured a sea gull who couldn’t fly and brought it to a wild animal hospital and when I had first grabbed it, it bit my pinkie and broke the skin.
I hope this can put some people at ease
I saw a large black-looking spider on the bath mat on the floor in the bathroom. I took off my sandal and hit it very hard,killing it. The very second I hit it a lot of dust-looking stuff flew out of the spider…it wasn’t dust….it was dozens and dozens of baby spiders! I looked up spiders in World Book and it shooed a Wolf Spider carrying her babies on her back. It said she doesn’t weave a web..she forms a cocoon around the eggs and carries that cumbersone thing around until the eggs hatch, then carries them around until they are old enough to take care of themselves. Yikes….I am glad that i carried the critters over to the toilet and flushed them away. shaking them off the bath mat., washed the mat and then sprayed the bathroom with bug killer to hopefully killing any babies that may have remained.