o.t...what the heck! earthquake.. (pic)

sweet · Dec 22, 2003

when the earthquake hit I grabbed my 2 cats and went for the backyard...this one made me felt like I was carsick :barf: going back in I see this quarter size thing moving on the ground so I get my camera and this is it....any clue as to what type of BIG ASS spider this is?

Nic Ramirez · Dec 22, 2003

lol.

My wife just confirmed that that is the Devil.

Then she ran out of here with the heebie jeebies and both arms extended.

donutsrule · Dec 22, 2003

Baby tarantula?

Edit: Here are some local types. It almost looks like some of the orb weavers, but not quite.
http://www.nhm.org/spiders/gallery.htm

Yvsa · Dec 22, 2003

That's what's known commonly around here as a "Woods Spider." And that's what I called them when I lived in SoCal.
They more commonly live in the woods, build huge assed webs, and live right in the middle of them.

Never been hurt by one, but they have almost made me hurt myself getting out of one of their webs I happened to walk through.

We generally have several around the house at different times during the summer.
We leave 'em alone as they eat the bugs that do bother us.

Thomas Linton · Dec 22, 2003

Saw those in the hills all the time when I was growing up in Cal. We called them "tree spiders," but that's the thing with "common names" -- they vary from place to palce and group to group. Looks like the quake made him leave the web and head for terra-not-so-firma.

Nic Ramirez · Dec 22, 2003

That's funny I live in So Cal like you guys but we always called them "wolf spiders"

etp777 · Dec 22, 2003

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/redmite.htm

Body in this picture is more rounded, but coloring wise, sure looks like that orb weaver.

Thomas Linton · Dec 22, 2003

Live in Ohio now, where "wolf spiders" are large monotone grey non-web-builders. "Common names" again.

How an Ohio spider would react to a real earthquake is anyone's guess. All we have here are gentle rocks every fifteen years or so.

crooked knife · Dec 22, 2003

Tell me, did the dear little bugger like getting his picture taken?

firkin · Dec 23, 2003

nice pic!

dunno what the species is--had one just like it set up home in my bathroom a few weeks back. caught it in a jar and took it outside, it was a bit much to walk into a giant web first thing in the morning.

wouldn't get out of the jar, so I prodded it with a twig--couldn't believe how fat the thing moved then, almost dropped the jar.