Thread: Spider AAACCCCKKK

Hey there,

We found a little red spider running on our carpet. At first we thought it was a red ant but when I approached it, it ran and ran like a freaking spider. Yes, I absolutely ABHOR these HIDEOUS creatures. I was able to get it into a ziploc bag, but can't stomach looking at it any more. Oh crap, I just scared myself. The UGLY creature started walking in the bag and I forgot it was there. My heart is pounding so fast. Sorry I'm ranting. I'm literally TERRIFIED of these unGodly evil creatures and now I have the heeby jeebies!!

So, now my question...

Does anyone know about these "things"? Are they poisonous in anyway?

ANY information anyone can give me would be appreciated more than you will ever know.

Thanks!
Freaked Out!

peladac wrote:

Does anyone know about these "things"? Are they poisonous in anyway?

I don't know anything about your particular spider, but I would guess it's an illegal alien spider because the sucker belongs under the house, not in it!

Little red spider? Hmmmm.......not sure, I live in the Pacific NW, we have a lot of spiders here, and some are awful large, which explains why I have a whole lot less fear, plus, ours tend to not be poisonous, well, other than Hobo Spiders.

So it is about as big as an ant?

You want to hear about our "Wolf Spiders"? In 2001 we were living in the Puget Sound area, on the Kitsap Penninsula. We had just gotten this kitten, who by then was about 6 months old. He had been out, and had already once brought us a live mouse, which I had to round up into a bucket to get outside. So, from the door I hear "meow", but I should have known, it was the "I've-got-something-in-my-mouth" meow, and should not have opened the door.

I did, and sure as heck, he came running in, dropped what appeared to be a large brown mouse out of his mouth, and then I realized it was not a mouse! It was a huge spider, brown, about half the size of a tarantula, went running under my recliner! My husband was completely flipped out (he grew up in inner city Chicago), threw back the recliner, and hit this thing about ten times with his steel toed boot, and it was still struggling to move!

Thing is, these spiders are totally harmless to humans, and are just big to catch all the really large moths and skeeter eaters we have here.

My cat was dissapointed, his catch was gone. But... the next day he caught a shrew and brought it in and proceeded to fight (and they do fight back) with it on the carpet.

Originally Posted by MW

peladac wrote:

Does anyone know about these "things"? Are they poisonous in anyway?

I don't know anything about your particular spider, but I would guess it's an illegal alien spider because the sucker belongs under the house, not in it!

Haha, I surely didn't expect that kind of answer, but thanks, I'm laughing so much. That is just too funny!

Thanks for the laugh!!!!!

Thanks for the laugh!!!!!

Originally Posted by peladac

Hey there,

We found a little red spider running on our carpet. At first we thought it was a red ant but when I approached it, it ran and ran like a freaking spider. Yes, I absolutely ABHOR these HIDEOUS creatures. I was able to get it into a ziploc bag, but can't stomach looking at it any more. Oh crap, I just scared myself. The UGLY creature started walking in the bag and I forgot it was there. My heart is pounding so fast. Sorry I'm ranting. I'm literally TERRIFIED of these unGodly evil creatures and now I have the heeby jeebies!!

So, now my question...

Does anyone know about these "things"? Are they poisonous in anyway?

ANY information anyone can give me would be appreciated more than you will ever know.

Thanks!
Freaked Out!

There are only two dangerous spiders in N. America. These are the black widow and the brown recluse. Each is easily identified by its markings. The widow is shiny black with a vivid red hourglass shape on its abdomen. The brown recluse is brown with a violin shape on its head and thorax.

Here is the recluse:



Here's the widow:



All spiders are more or less venomous, but only these two spiders pose any real threat to people.

I should note that there are some very large ant species that resemble spiders and happen to be red and furry. Down here we refer to them as cow killers. They are common to Central and North Texas, so I'm sure that they extend up into Oklahoma. You may compare them with your critter at this site, which features photos of a number of the velvet ant variants.

Here's one of the velvet ant subspecies:

There's only a couple of spiders here that are dangerous, nothing to worry about in your case I don't beleive.

Don't worry Peladac, the ex-Mrs' lives out by Buckley Airbase, and they got some wolf spiders out there, that are as fast as greased lightning, and the diameter of a butter plate. Her dog Penny, a miniature dachsy chases them down and gets them. But then again, she takes on racoons that are three times her size.

Little red house spider, go put him in the garden. He'll keep the bad critters from eating your flowers and vegtable plants.

I was bitten on the ankle by a brown recluse spider about 20 years ago, resulting in a softball sized ankle. If I remember correctly, I was placed on antibiotics.

Originally Posted by AmericanElizabeth

Little red spider? Hmmmm.......not sure, I live in the Pacific NW, we have a lot of spiders here, and some are awful large, which explains why I have a whole lot less fear, plus, ours tend to not be poisonous, well, other than Hobo Spiders.

So it is about as big as an ant?

You want to hear about our "Wolf Spiders"? In 2001 we were living in the Puget Sound area, on the Kitsap Penninsula. We had just gotten this kitten, who by then was about 6 months old. He had been out, and had already once brought us a live mouse, which I had to round up into a bucket to get outside. So, from the door I hear "meow", but I should have known, it was the "I've-got-something-in-my-mouth" meow, and should not have opened the door.

I did, and sure as heck, he came running in, dropped what appeared to be a large brown mouse out of his mouth, and then I realized it was not a mouse! It was a huge spider, brown, about half the size of a tarantula, went running under my recliner! My husband was completely flipped out (he grew up in inner city Chicago), threw back the recliner, and hit this thing about ten times with his steel toed boot, and it was still struggling to move!

Thing is, these spiders are totally harmless to humans, and are just big to catch all the really large moths and skeeter eaters we have here.

My cat was dissapointed, his catch was gone. But... the next day he caught a shrew and brought it in and proceeded to fight (and they do fight back) with it on the carpet.

Yes, it looks just like a red ant except it is a spider. When it tried to move from me as I approached it, it acted like a spider and it's legs are just like a spider. Ask my 6 yr old what kind of spider it is and she'll say "a dead spider".

I know what you mean about the wolf spiders. Since I have been here I have seen one of those and a nasty tarantula. My neighbor noticed that it was dead but not squashed. He said, "man it's all wet". I told him I was not about to squash that huge thing and have spider guts everywhere, so I unleashed a whole can of strong was spray on it. Of course he laughed.

These big spiders are just as fast as the small ones. YUCK. I actually quit a job in Florida because I had to turn on the radio every morning, after seeing this big spider run under there every morning. Well, when I pulled the couch out that sucker jumped at me, yes literally jumped. I had had enough.

I know what you mean about your cat disappointed. Mine catches everything and when we found a squirrel at our door my husband took it and Hunter meowed like he was dying.



Ha, hopefully when you cat got older his killed all of his prey before dropping it at your doorstep.