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We were out caching and I flipped over what I surely thought to be the camo covering of the cache, and boy was I wrong! This is what I found lurking beneath the bark lying on the ground. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is? We are in Michigan and we have never witnessed one this big here. And yes, I did need a stick to retrieve my quarter. Sorry the pics are sooo huge, but we wanted a good close up with detail. Our main goal is to identify this particular spider, but if you have some of your own we'd love to see them. Kinda... :blink:

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We were out caching and I flipped over what I surely thought to be the camo covering of the cache, and boy was I wrong! This is what I found lurking beneath the bark lying on the ground. Does anyone know what kind of spider this is? We are in Michigan and we have never witnessed one this big here. And yes, I did need a stick to retrieve my quarter. Sorry the pics are sooo huge, but we wanted a good close up with detail. Our main goal is to identify this particular spider, but if you have some of your own we'd love to see them. Kinda... :lol:...

Thanks for the beautiful photos! This is a very friendly and harmless spider known as the "Fishing spider", and it often lives in creeks, damp areas, and in basements, and in old wood and stone houses in the backcountry. In fact, we have dozens of these spiders living in our basement and -- to our joy -- a few wander at times into our house, particularly into the kitchen. I still have a beautiful digital photo of one which I took years ago early on a Sunday morning as she basked on the mantlepiece in mid-winter above our woodstove. They often grow quite large, and a good-sized adult can easily reach over 4.5 inches from front foot to back foot, and from side to side. As far as US spiders go, they are giants, and they are simply beautiful.

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That is definitely either a wolf spider or fishing spider. Both are found in Michigan, both have similar eye patterns, both have mottled grey/brown/black coloration, both catch prey without a web...

 

The most distinctive shape difference I was able to find is in the abdomen...but your friend there looks to be about ready to lay an egg sac...so the abdomen is hugely distended.

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looks to be either a burrowing, or forest wolf spider (Family: lycosidae). not a fishing spider (Family: pisauridae). harmless. -harry

Hmmm.... As I look at the photos again, in light of your comments, I must agree with Ju66L3r that the abdomen looks a bit funny for it to be a fishing spider, unless it is pregnant. So, it may well be a wolf spider of some type. In general, fishing spiders have flatter and more circular (in the horizontal dimension) abdomens, rather than the fatter and more oval abdomen shown in the photo.

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Hmmm.... As I look at the photos again, in light of your comments, I must agree with Ju66L3r that the abdomen looks a bit funny for it to be a fishing spider, unless it is pregnant. So, it may well be a wolf spider of some type. In general, fishing spiders have flatter and more circular (in the horizontal dimension) abdomens, rather than the fatter and more oval abdomen shown in the photo.

 

I did notice when I discovered it that it's abdomen was twisted into one of the groves of the bark and as it crawled out, it was almost laboring to move. As it crawled closer, the abdomen stayed almost twisted as opposed to lining up with the body. It moved like it was full. I wouldn't be suprised if "she" was pregnant. She also paid no attention to the plethora of food scurring around her, but that was probaly because I disturbed her. There was no running water close by, but the area was soggy all around, with deep mud, almost swamp like, just without the water on top of the ground.

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My first thought was a wolf spider as well. Especiallly not finding a web, since they are ambush hunters. No Lemon, your spider is an Arigope (spelling?) - a garden spider - most beautiful.

 

Help me out here - is NoLemon's spider also known as an Orb Weaver? or I am I thinking of a different critter?

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I found this one instead of the cache last fall. It was waiting on the back side of the guardrail.

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Argiope Aurantia, Garden Spider. (which is, indeed, an orb weaver).

 

Opened the front door to my apartment a few years ago, overnight one of these had built a web in the door frame. I was talking to my wife when I opened the door and turned just in time to keep from getting a face full of him. Closest I have ever come to having a heart attack.

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Im sure cachers in Florida and us who have cached in Florida are very familiar with these:

 

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These are Banana Spiders, very popular in the South Eastern states, ecspecially Florida! These spiders often spin webs across paths, I have walked into these webs before and been "close lined" by the element of surprise. I always carry a stick with me to remove the webs and their gaurdians from my path when caching!

As far as I know, these Spiders arent poisonous just very big and scary looking!

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These are actually called Golden Silk Spiders (Nephila clavipes). A true Banana Spider (Phoneutria nigriventer) comes from Brazil and is very dangerous. Golden Silk Spiders are often called banana spiders because of their shape and color. REMEMBER ALL SPIDERS HAVE VENOM!!! Golden Silk Spider do not bite often. When they do it will cause slight pain and a red whelp. Also remember, any spider bite can cause an allergic reation, it just depends on the person. Here's some good INFO on Golden Silk Spiders.

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I found this one instead of the cache last fall. It was waiting on the back side of the guardrail.

4c98a11d-9459-49b2-a931-16ed301e2f1a.jpg

Argiope Aurantia, Garden Spider. (which is, indeed, an orb weaver).

 

Opened the front door to my apartment a few years ago, overnight one of these had built a web in the door frame. I was talking to my wife when I opened the door and turned just in time to keep from getting a face full of him. Closest I have ever come to having a heart attack.

 

We used to have one of these living in the bushes outside of my childhood home. It freaked me out, summer after summer there was always one in that bush. :anicute::P:)

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This is a very friendly and harmless spider known as the "Fishing spider" [...] They often grow quite large, and a good-sized adult can easily reach over 4.5 inches from front foot to back foot, and from side to side. As far as US spiders go, they are giants, and they are simply beautiful.

 

I agree - it's a fishing spider. And, I agree that they're beautiful, as are most spiders. That is, so long as I don't discover them wandering around on me. :ph34r:

 

I took this photo of a fishing spider recently on my house. I was walking past my garden at midnight and she was so big I spotted her in the dark. Just over 3" leg span, almost 'eating' size...

 

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I think this one is even prettier.

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I hate this thread (spiders), but will add a few photos of a tarantula we found while out hiking a while back:

 

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Let's be clear- I did not take these - I was up on somebody's shoulders (yes, all 6'3" of me!)

 

And then there's the Cane Spider that was in our condo this summer in Hawaii.... :ph34r::lol:

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Never have run into one of these because they are in Australia. but has anyone there ever run into one of these Funnel Tree spiders I guess they are the Deadliest?

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In Australia, we are blessed with some of the deadliest spiders and snakes. The "Funnel" spider you mention is actually known as the "Sydney Funnel Web" and is reputed as being able to kill a small child within minutes. Commonly, they make their nest in leaf litter around the gardens of suburban homes, especially in my area in the north of Sydney, so bites are a common thing especially during the breeding season when the males go marauding for females. I actually see my cats playing with them from time to time, but even though they can kill a man, cats are completely immune to their venom.

 

Up until an anti-venom was invented some years ago, they were killing people on a regular basis but this has now stopped. Still they have a very painful bite so it's best to avoid them if possible.

 

Caching down under does have it's hazards, if the spiders don't get you the snakes will or the saltwater crocs or the white pointer sharks or the box jelly fish or the blue ringed octopus just to name a few, Red Kangaroos present a danger too....... never corner a roo.......if they swipe you with their tail they can easily break bones.

 

Lastly there's the ever present danger or finding yourself stranded in searing heat hundreds of miles from civilisation.

In the last few years there seems to be an increase in overseas tourists taveling the 4WD highways of Australia and getting into serious trouble. That to me poses more of a risk to cachers than any of our critters.

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i haven't run into one of these yet! not sure if i want to, but curiosity compels me to keep looking.

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check out the myths and facts here: www.camelspiders.net

 

I ran into a few of these in Doha, Qatar. Had one of them chase me across a parking lot :shocked:

 

Actually, even though they live in the desert they like the shade, so he kept in my shadow as I moved across the parking lot until he found a better place and scurried under a jersey barrier.

 

Ran into another one in the sleep tent one day. These guys are fast... he was just sitting there until I approached him, then he started running around in circles so fast I could barely make out what it was. Then he just shot out of the tent and disappeared.

 

Someone sent me a picture of one eating a mouse... if I find it again, I'll post it.

 

Still looking for the mouse pic, but here's one of the more famous Camel Spider pics:

 

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Edited by BRTango
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Yeah boy....

 

I think I'll stick to caching during the day. I'm new (first cache hunt was Saturday; today is Monday), and I saw spiders at 2 of my first 5 finds. Nothing big, mind you, but there are plenty out there.

 

I went caching Sunday, but my bluetooth GPS receiver wasn't fully charged, unbeknownst to me, and it died in the field. I called it a day from there and decided to look for a cache that I knew about-where it was located - in a waterfall. Climbing up the falls, I saw a possible opening. Started to stick my hand in to move some rocks when I saw something move inside. All I know is that it was a snake and was light colored. It spooked me, and I changed my mind about sticking my hand in there.

 

So now I ask: which is worse: spiders or snakes?

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I hate this thread (spiders), but will add a few photos of a tarantula we found while out hiking a while back:

 

normal_DMTarantual2.jpg

 

normal_DMTarantula1.jpg

 

normal_IMG_9606r~0.jpg

 

Let's be clear- I did not take these - I was up on somebody's shoulders (yes, all 6'3" of me!)

 

And then there's the Cane Spider that was in our condo this summer in Hawaii.... ;):)

 

We see these pretty regular here in the South Plains of Texas. During mating season I have literally seen dozens of these things crossing the road in search of mates. We aren't as bad as the Down Under guys but we do have more than our share of poisonous things.

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I found this male tarantula (dozens actually) while looking for the Sulphur Baths Cache, near Coalinga, California in the Coastal Mountains on October 29, 2004. There are many of them around here and between September & October they can be found in en masse on the roads and hillsides.

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It was one of my more memorable cache finds because of the spiders. While I was looking for the cache, three women in a car stopped to ask if they were on the road to the Sulphur Baths and I was able to tell them that they were. A few minutes later they were back, headed back to town. They stopped their car a few hundred feet east of my truck and got out of their car. A moment later, one of them began screaming, followed quickly by screaming from the other two. I walked down to see if everything was OK only to find that they had got out of their car to look at 'something funny' on the road. That something was a male Tarantula. When they realized what it was, they panicked... and then they noticed the others. (I counted five.) In their excitement, they managed to lock the doors of their car and couldn't get back in. I picked one up and tossed it to the side of the road and out of the way of one of them, just about the time the driver figured out how to open the doors. They jumped in and sped off without a 'goodbye' or 'thank you'. Maybe it was because they saw me laughing. :blink::blink::blink:

 

- Kewaneh

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...Caching down under does have it's hazards, if the spiders don't get you the snakes will or the saltwater crocs or the white pointer sharks or the box jelly fish or the blue ringed octopus just to name a few, Red Kangaroos present a danger too....... never corner a roo.......if they swipe you with their tail they can easily break bones....

 

<----- Will never be seen caching Down Under.

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