Large spider(s) outside my office.

[TheGoodTexan]

I've seen two of these guys. A few other folks have seen three of them at a time. They're amazingly huge for around here. They've been in this same corner of the building for about a month now. I talked to an exterminator that was spraying around the building a while back, and he said there was no need to kill them. He said they'd stay put, and were out of they way so as not to be a problem for humans. My only concern is that there are three "eggs" that are over in a corner, which are each about as big as the spider is. Probably hundreds of baby spiders in there!

Check out the zig-zag pattern in the webbing.

[StratBluesRock]

[alcrpntr]

We used to refer to those as garden spiders. Not threatening but damned intimidating.

Hunting around Possum Kingdom one year I was stalking a buck and watching the buck and not what was close to me. I walked through a web and ended up with one of those on my chest. At the time it looked the size of a small dog. Too bad it was before cameras were everywhere, the dance I did could have made me infamous.

[scantron81]

Typical garden spider. Harmless but scary. Perhaps it will keep other creepy crawlies from entering your building. That's how I've put it to the spiders outside of our home. As long as they stay outside I leave 'em be.

[bluesfordan]

those guys are cool. nothing to worry about. Big spiders as a general rule are less problematic than smaller spiders. Their size allows them to eat their prey without as much need for paralytic and enzymatic poisons that smaller spiders require. Same thing with scorpions. Would I want one in my shoe? No, I wouldn't but those big yellow and black jobs are just harmless (to humans, anyway) garden spiders. I used to love catching bugs and throwing them into the nets and watching the spider swoop down and wrap up their dinner.

Unless you're in australia. then everything down there wants to kill you and your mama.

[emu!]

I've always wondered where those big garden spiders go during the winter.

[fuzzbender]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTexan

Check out the zig-zag pattern in the webbing.

there's probably one of these lurking nearby

[elicross]

The only danger in those big, scary garden spiders is that, if they write your name in their web, you're going to die soon.

That's what I heard, anyhow! But it's not the spider's fault; she's just the messenger.

When I lived in Arkansas, I had a big one o' those build a web right across the front doorway of my apartment. I opened the door to go out one day and almost walked right into that big spider and her web. I'm pretty arachnophobic, so I would've freaked the hell out.

I closed the door, grabbed a broom, and opened the door again. Whacked the spider's web out of the doorway and just kinda let the broom fall into the shrubbery beside the door, under my living room window. The problem of getting in and out of the house was solved, but sure enough that big spider built herself an even bigger web in the window. It was like she was saying "I'm still here...and I'm watching you!"

Actually, I was kind of relieved she built a new web there. As long as I could look out the window and see her, I didn't have to wonder where she was....

[Arbiter]

That is an orbweaver spider, quite common throughout the country, and I've seen some as big as my fist. They tend to be more orange here in California, but not always.

Not poisonous. Scary looking, though. Some of the bigger ones can hiss at you if they think you're a threat, which is always disconcerting.

[hekawi]

[coralreefer]

[stratomite]

The irony is, these guys will probably eat their weight in mosquitoes every day.
Mosquitoes can kill you with with West Nile disease.
These guys will run from you.

[Carlsson]

Found this guy in my basement the other day...

[Joe-Bob]

I think those go by different names everywhere, but the important thing is: you want those guys.

They eat lotsa bugs for you.

[Starrman44]

Originally Posted by Carlsson

Attachment 143798

Found this guy in my basement the other day...

Pretty sure that thang would make me mess my pants.

The yellow and black ones are cool. I've got them all over here. They prey on wasps and stuff as well as skeeters. I love the yellow and black ones.

Last year, I was a little too late to save the life of one my wife found. I made her feel terrible about it.

[Kashmir]

the pic of the black spider that Carlsson posted, looks like ones I find in my house all the time. If it's the same spider, they can be extremely aggressive and have a nasty bite. I have vaulted ceilings and, have seen these buggers drop from the ceiling to the bed or ground, and not on a silk string either, literally free-fall. They are bad for burrowing into towels or blankets. I fell asleep in my easy chair one night and when I woke up in the morning I had 6 bites on my back that I am sure came from one of these nasty little devils.

[Canuckcaster]

Outside my house - friend.
Inside my house - ENEMY!!!.....although I usually try to release them into the wild.

CC

[Dave_O]

You just KNOW an Aussie's gonna post and say "Pfft... that's not a spider- THIS is a spider..."






AND no- not fake.

Bird-eating spider found near Bowen QLD.

[Bulldog87]

We always called those banana spiders... basically harmless but scary as heck when you walk through their web and they land on you!

[adifferentbreed]

I have found if I accidentally walk through one of their webs....I don't need coffee.