Apr 25, 2009

Spider in the Eaves

Monica's toddler looked out the open back door of their California central valley house. He said, "hi itty pider!", which brought mommy to investigate. She found this monster lurking in the eaves. Monica gathered enough courage to get a dollar bill close enough for the photo to give us a sense of its size.

Anyone know what type of spider this might be? Should Monica be afraid? Should she not have revealed how much cash she had on hand to the spider?

15 comments:

cynth said...

I'll tell you what kind of spider that is.. it's a terrifying goddamn spider! They are all the same kind.

Susannah Anderson said...

It's a Tegenaria, probably T. domestica or T. gigantea. They're usually known as a House Spider, and they're not known to be dangerous.

Given that the legs seem to be ringed, it is not the T. agrestis, or Hobo spider, which does have the reputation, deserved or not, of being aggresive and moderately dangerous.

So: nothing to worry about. And it will help rid your place of mosquitoes and other unwanted pests.

Lab Boy said...

Looks like a huntsman (and a rather small one at that). Harmless. (Or in the new Guide, Mostly Harmless.)

Lab Boy said...

Ah, nevermind. Wanderin' Weeta has it right.
Still: Mostly Harmless.

niner said...

Haha, I agree with Cynth! Ugh! -_-

Unknown said...

It looks like she's trying to bribe the spider to go away....

Anonymous said...

Wow, if spiders didn't eat so many other scary bugs, I probably would have sqaushed it!
btw linked to you from nature blogs :)

JAS said...

"House" spider? As in as big as a friggin' house? Yowsers.

April said...

Harmless? I disagree. I think that thing is fixing to eat the person's face off. Because that's all spiders want to do, eat people's faces off.

Jaden Walker said...

It's a huntsman spider, and a gravid female at that. Totally harmless, but they are a bit creepy. They're great to have around, though.

jynxkat said...

thanx guys- people keep telling me i should have killed it- but i did suspect it was an eater of roaches- and i hates roaches!

Unknown said...

I think you should name it and call it your pet...like Sally the spider. That should ward off any ill feelings about it ;-)

W. A. Whipple said...

I find the "headlight glare" from the flash in its eye a bit creepy. Nice that the toddler was friendly & accepting rather than terrified. Perhaps the little guy will grow up and be a naturalist of some kind! :D

Kit said...

*laughs with Theo* it does look like the spider is snubbing the bribe though. Maybe if they had offered a $20.
Meanwhile, I'm mega-freaked out by the eyeball reflection going on there. GEH! *shiver*

Anonymous said...

"Should she have revealed how much cash she had on hand to the spider?" Oh my gosh, hilarious. :D