This really happened to me when i was sleeping and dreaming there is a big spider in my bed. Then i woke up and stared at a big black spider on my pillow.
Reminds me of a Halloween comic I saw once. Man takes down real spiderweb and the spider says wow. Man puts up fake spider web and the spider says wwooooow
Are you near water? It looks like the biggest fishing spider I’ve ever seen, and if it was spotted down its back I’d guess *dolomedes* *triton*.
Edit: if that’s a 3/8” bolt, this critters body length must be about 30 mm, and the legs look at least that long. If I took a wild guess at a diagonal measurement it may be 75-85 mm, meaning this lady may be 25-40% larger than average.
Not the OP but I used to live in the woodlands TX and there is a very big lake there plus it was raining heavily over that area/flooding for a while several weeks ago.
Average rainfall in AZ (where I grew up) was only about 12 inches a year if memory serves correctly.
That being said, we got it mostly all at once in monsoon season with a bunch of flash floods. I can’t imagine it either lol.
Our landscape used to be able to handle it before the removal of that natural landscape that would absorb all of that water. Now many of those areas are prone to flooding.
Bro I live in Florida and we literally got 4 in of rain on Wednesday. Like 3 months back, I parked my car and went into the grocery, and when I came out, it had rained so much that I had to take my socks and shoes off and wade through water that came up over my ankles to get back in my car
If I'm not mistaken, I live in the town that holds the record for most rain fall in one day. Something like 20 inches, 2 years ago. Needles to say, the town is fucked. My house washed away and went bye bye
It all depends on the location. I live in the Midwest, we had about 3” of rain in about 2 hours last night. It caused 2’ puddles in areas. It was all gone the next morning.
I can imagine you folks have all kinds of unexpected visitors lately. I'm a few hours north, and the sabine is well over her banks. The last few days have been welcome for us to dry out a little.
Interesting. I live on an island in the Mississippi River and the dark fishing spiders here look more like wolf spiders and their leg span is pushing 5 inches.
My mom grew up in NOLA, basically across the street from the Mississippi, and she has horror stories about all sorts of little and not-so-little friends being found in her house.
She *hated* snakes because when she was little, she went under the sink to go try and figure out if/where a suspected leak was only to look up, on her back to see a snake wrapped around the pipe(her mother was blind and dad always working so she started doing a lot around the house starting from a young age). Spiders she wasn’t thrilled about either.
Although she has learned to appreciate both of them and their places in the ecosystem as a result of me going on about the different things I learn and share with her- and cute pics of jumping spiders don’t hurt either :)
If it helps, the "official" measurements for spiders—the ones scientists use—are for body length only, not including legs.\* That is why measurements you may find [online](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/121437-Dolomedes-triton) or in field guides may seem too small.
Also, in my experience, people overestimate spider size when just going by eye. The more scared you are, the bigger they seem. So shave like a third off your first guess.
____
\* People in the tarantula-keeping hobby use "diagonal leg size", which gives the biggest measurement. e\_e
They don’t have indeterminate growth like lobsters, no; they get to a basically predetermined adult size, with a standard variation. This one seems to be big for her species.
Horn worm and neither did the 100 people who claimed they were no threat to my baby. She got a few sips of em then it turned and bit her. She ran back into her dwelling in pain.
I would think the self-drilling type screws shown would be 1/4” or 5/16” but then that means the mortar joint would only be about the same size and there’s no way that would be the case. You are probably closer with 3/8” or maybe even 1/2” because the mortar would be at least 1/2”.
Haha yeah, it might look scary (especially because it’s big), but it isn’t medically significant, which means that it won’t hurt humans, even on the off chance it bites one.
It's the legs and the leg span.
That make them creepy. It's meant to make them look more intimidating/bigger but their actual bodies are small and kind of goofy looking. If you look for the eyes/head it can help dispel the arachnophobia. These days I just look at big spiders as hairy neurotic land crabs.
You should try it's a real thing, exposition therapy works very well !
I was terrified of spiders since childhood then had enough and start documenting myself about those beautiful creatures and start to fall in love with them the more I learned.
They're harmless for the majority and more likely deeply affraid of you as well.
That mufucker gets close enough to bite me it wouldn’t matter how harmless it is: I will shit myself, have a heart attack, and die. All within about 2 seconds of seeing it.
Spiders like these are very short sighted. Even if it somehow see your foot, it wouldn't see your ankle it's so short. At any time it would see you as a wierd terrain and they don't bite terrain lol, unless they want to drink, but then they wouldn't inject fluids in you and wouldn't go deep either.
They might see fingers as prey.
Anyways they pretty much can't see you unless they right in front of you.
If you fish or boat, you would likely be familiar with them. Very panic inducing when you are going top speed and suddenly see one of these guys crawing up out of your motor towards your hand. Here in Ontario, we call these monsters Dock spiders
I usually consider myself an animal love and COMPLETELY appreciate where you’re coming from but I am incapable of “looking closely” at this photo. My body physically goes into flight mode. Lol!
That's fair! I personally panic, scream, and cower if any canine gets within a foot of me, so I have sympathy for arachnophobes. I just wish more people who are afraid of spiders would recognize that it's not, like, the spider's fault you're scared, just like it's not the fault of the neighbor's puppy that I'm terrified of it.
Maybe because you’re screaming too loudly, lol. I’m totally kidding. I felt compelled to say it forgive me 😆 I was thinking the same thing as you. I’d love to see that in person!!
Before seeing this sub I’d never have even considered touching a spider, but you all make it something I might work towards doing and that guy in the op is beautiful.
I hope you get to see many spiders at your door and they let you hold them!
Yep, next time you’re near water just keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see them sitting there with their fishing rods and a 4 pack of beer, chatting with their buddy and stretching their legs out and saying “you should have seen it Larry, it was this size!”
Yup! They literally dive and hunt fish! Not strictly - they still eat bugs, and the occasional tadpole - but yeah they’re covered in hydrophobic hairs so they can walk on water, and they can also breathe underwater by storing air bubbles against their bodies. They use the water as a web - they’ll anchor themselves to the shore with their back two legs, and they’ll splay our their front legs across the water to feel for vibrations, just like a web. They can sense fish under them, and they’ll dive down, wrap their legs around the fish, bite, and then drag it onto shore like a freaking leopard. Really cool critters!
Usually if you touch them they JUMP and wiggle all their legs in terror and try to scramble away. You have to be really careful when you touch a spider though, because they're so fragile - you could hurt them a lot more easily than you think.
I was on a canoe trip in Michigan many years ago. We hit an overhanging tree and around 20 spiders rained down, some in the canoe and some on the water. I had a big fear of spiders (better but still working on it), and I was trying to calmly scoop them back into the water without tipping over. I just knew if I went in they would climb on me to get out of the water. I did know they were fishing spiders but I was in my own personal horror movie. I always thought they were cool as long as they are on the water and not me.
Interesting, is it still there? Could you put your hand right next to it so we can get a scale of size? Like try to get as close to the legs as you can
My mind cannot accept that that is not a decoration for halloween
Same 😱
You feel something crawling on you?
I actually had a hair inside my shirt tickle me right as I scrolled to this. **𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔**
A small kitten jumped into my lap *shudders*
Don't sweat it. My wife's spirit animal is also a bunny.
a small kitten like the one in the photo?
This really happened to me when i was sleeping and dreaming there is a big spider in my bed. Then i woke up and stared at a big black spider on my pillow.
The same thing happened to me, but with a centipede. And the same day I learned how fast those fuckers run.
Reminds me of a Halloween comic I saw once. Man takes down real spiderweb and the spider says wow. Man puts up fake spider web and the spider says wwooooow
Came here to type this exact same thing out
IS IT NOT?? Because, in my mind, it is, and will always be. That is a nightmare (for me)
Are you near water? It looks like the biggest fishing spider I’ve ever seen, and if it was spotted down its back I’d guess *dolomedes* *triton*. Edit: if that’s a 3/8” bolt, this critters body length must be about 30 mm, and the legs look at least that long. If I took a wild guess at a diagonal measurement it may be 75-85 mm, meaning this lady may be 25-40% larger than average.
Not the OP but I used to live in the woodlands TX and there is a very big lake there plus it was raining heavily over that area/flooding for a while several weeks ago.
Maybe this gal saw the forecast of 10-13” of rain next week in Houston and is headed for high ground.
LOL I currently live in Houston, so yeah - that's going to suck! Don't blame her one bit!
INCHES?! We measure rainfall in millimetres (mm) in Australia. 15-25mm is a shitload of rain! 1 inch is 24mm. You guys are gonna flood for sure!
1/4 of the USA used to be swamps. Our landscape can handle large amounts of water
You know sometimes I forget I’m from the driest state in the driest continent on the planet.
Yeah I'd say dry. I can't imagine not getting inches of rain at a time. But I live in the Appalachian mountains and it's pretty green here.
Average rainfall in AZ (where I grew up) was only about 12 inches a year if memory serves correctly. That being said, we got it mostly all at once in monsoon season with a bunch of flash floods. I can’t imagine it either lol.
Yeah, monsoon season there is crazy. My sister lives in Tuscon, so she's getting to experience that right now.
No rain yet... just brutal heat and increasing humidity 🥵
It's crazy that you don't get much rain there, but the Solomon islands just off the coast of Australia get like 2000mm per year.
Antarctica is the driest continent. Mostly desert too.
Our landscape used to be able to handle it before the removal of that natural landscape that would absorb all of that water. Now many of those areas are prone to flooding.
Except Houston. Houston floods if they get more than a 1/2 inch of rain.
The parts we didn't build on anyway
Bro I live in Florida and we literally got 4 in of rain on Wednesday. Like 3 months back, I parked my car and went into the grocery, and when I came out, it had rained so much that I had to take my socks and shoes off and wade through water that came up over my ankles to get back in my car
If I'm not mistaken, I live in the town that holds the record for most rain fall in one day. Something like 20 inches, 2 years ago. Needles to say, the town is fucked. My house washed away and went bye bye
Yep, that's when people turn to needles, alright.
It all depends on the location. I live in the Midwest, we had about 3” of rain in about 2 hours last night. It caused 2’ puddles in areas. It was all gone the next morning.
Yep! Live in Magnolia here. It was rough.
are you serious there are bugs that big here in woodlands. i just moved 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👀👀👀
I can imagine you folks have all kinds of unexpected visitors lately. I'm a few hours north, and the sabine is well over her banks. The last few days have been welcome for us to dry out a little.
Interesting. I live on an island in the Mississippi River and the dark fishing spiders here look more like wolf spiders and their leg span is pushing 5 inches.
I'm hella jealous. You have cool spoods.
You can take 'em! Lol. Just leave the jumpers.
My mom grew up in NOLA, basically across the street from the Mississippi, and she has horror stories about all sorts of little and not-so-little friends being found in her house. She *hated* snakes because when she was little, she went under the sink to go try and figure out if/where a suspected leak was only to look up, on her back to see a snake wrapped around the pipe(her mother was blind and dad always working so she started doing a lot around the house starting from a young age). Spiders she wasn’t thrilled about either. Although she has learned to appreciate both of them and their places in the ecosystem as a result of me going on about the different things I learn and share with her- and cute pics of jumping spiders don’t hurt either :)
Agreed on your ID - that or possibly *D. scriptus*, though she's definitely outsized for that species too.
The size is definitely what is throwing off my ID!!
If it helps, the "official" measurements for spiders—the ones scientists use—are for body length only, not including legs.\* That is why measurements you may find [online](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/121437-Dolomedes-triton) or in field guides may seem too small. Also, in my experience, people overestimate spider size when just going by eye. The more scared you are, the bigger they seem. So shave like a third off your first guess. ____ \* People in the tarantula-keeping hobby use "diagonal leg size", which gives the biggest measurement. e\_e
* thats why men measure dicks from the taint to the tip
***don’t do this shit it does NOT COUNT lmao
Tfw everything might actually be bigger in Texas.
Do spiders keep growing?
They don’t have indeterminate growth like lobsters, no; they get to a basically predetermined adult size, with a standard variation. This one seems to be big for her species.
Old world spiders like tarantulas and trapdoor spiders molt and grow unitll they die. Recorded of up to 50 years in captivity.
Until an ugly green worm bites its fang off and it dies of starvation like mine 😥
That's it. Imma go on a Ugly Green Worm 🐛 crusade. It bit off the fang? Fuck that guy!
She had just molted before the feeding and was 13 years old. All I could do was wait for the inevitable.
I'm sorry mate- that's not cool
Like a caterpillar? Didn’t know they had that much fight in them
Horn worm and neither did the 100 people who claimed they were no threat to my baby. She got a few sips of em then it turned and bit her. She ran back into her dwelling in pain.
Aww I don't like spiders (outside jumpers) but this made me sad. Sorry for your loss.
She almost looks velvety, are they fuzzy?? So pretty!!!
r/theydidthemath
I would think the self-drilling type screws shown would be 1/4” or 5/16” but then that means the mortar joint would only be about the same size and there’s no way that would be the case. You are probably closer with 3/8” or maybe even 1/2” because the mortar would be at least 1/2”.
(I read this in my dads voice… haha thank you for that)
The fuck has it been eating!???!! Tiger sharks?!!!
Anything it fucking wants to.
who's gonna tell that monster no?
Wondering where you cat went to. Well this is where it went.
Children, It lures them in with a clown
Looks like a nurseryweb/fishing spider. Nothing to worry about, but VERY big!
This is… nothing to worry about? 😅
Haha yeah, it might look scary (especially because it’s big), but it isn’t medically significant, which means that it won’t hurt humans, even on the off chance it bites one.
It's the legs and the leg span. That make them creepy. It's meant to make them look more intimidating/bigger but their actual bodies are small and kind of goofy looking. If you look for the eyes/head it can help dispel the arachnophobia. These days I just look at big spiders as hairy neurotic land crabs.
I can guaran-GOD DAMN-tee you, I am not going to take the time to "look for eyes/head."
You should try it's a real thing, exposition therapy works very well ! I was terrified of spiders since childhood then had enough and start documenting myself about those beautiful creatures and start to fall in love with them the more I learned. They're harmless for the majority and more likely deeply affraid of you as well.
That mufucker gets close enough to bite me it wouldn’t matter how harmless it is: I will shit myself, have a heart attack, and die. All within about 2 seconds of seeing it.
Spiders like these are very short sighted. Even if it somehow see your foot, it wouldn't see your ankle it's so short. At any time it would see you as a wierd terrain and they don't bite terrain lol, unless they want to drink, but then they wouldn't inject fluids in you and wouldn't go deep either. They might see fingers as prey. Anyways they pretty much can't see you unless they right in front of you.
The larger spiders are rarely ones to worry about. The small ones you don't see are usually the ones that send you to the hospital.
What's that little thing going to do, besides eat all the insects around?
This thing eats fish and frogs mostly
Holy cheese, looks like the biggest Fisher ever
Texas, the Australia of America
We act like it too. Sorry guys lol
We are in constant battle with Florida over who does the most stupid shit.
Naw. I think Florida has that name locked down.
Florida trying hard tho
Florida is the Florida of America and it’s crushing it
Don‘t Know What it is, but very awesome. And really big❤️
If you fish or boat, you would likely be familiar with them. Very panic inducing when you are going top speed and suddenly see one of these guys crawing up out of your motor towards your hand. Here in Ontario, we call these monsters Dock spiders
This fisher catches the big fish!
There's always a bigger... spider?
Eeek 🕷️
She’s gorgeous!
I heard that in the voice of Steve Irwin
I miss him so much!!
So much
Me too 😂
She's a beaut!
😢🥹
Wow, what a beautiful animal! Wish I had one of those in my house
I wanna pet it soooooooo baaaaad she looks so glorious and sleek
It looks very fuzzy and pettable
“Can I pet that dawg?” Judging by what some people are saying here, I might actually be able to pet that dawg.
CAN I PET THAT DAAAAAWG
I was gonna be like “what the actual fuck” but remembered that this is r/spiders…you guys are a special breed
We're animal lovers! If you look closely you can find so many wonders in nature that you might not expect.
I usually consider myself an animal love and COMPLETELY appreciate where you’re coming from but I am incapable of “looking closely” at this photo. My body physically goes into flight mode. Lol!
That's fair! I personally panic, scream, and cower if any canine gets within a foot of me, so I have sympathy for arachnophobes. I just wish more people who are afraid of spiders would recognize that it's not, like, the spider's fault you're scared, just like it's not the fault of the neighbor's puppy that I'm terrified of it.
WHY DON’T EPIC SPIDERS LIKE THIS SHOW UP AT MY DOOR
Maybe because you’re screaming too loudly, lol. I’m totally kidding. I felt compelled to say it forgive me 😆 I was thinking the same thing as you. I’d love to see that in person!!
Was outside at midnight the other night and saw a lovely wolf spider who REFUSEDDDDDD to let me pick it up 😤
Before seeing this sub I’d never have even considered touching a spider, but you all make it something I might work towards doing and that guy in the op is beautiful. I hope you get to see many spiders at your door and they let you hold them!
Never seen a spider look so *thick*
You should see my ex gf…
Haha
I thought this was Halloween deco
Never seen a fishing spider before! Wow, what a beauty. The black and white combo really stands out. 🥰
I feel like if I walked too close it would do the FF7 battle start animation.
And it would the boss music too, not the regular music :P
HERE COMES A GIANT FIST!
It needs a leash and collar. 😬
Haha….agreed!
That looks like the Halloween decorations I bought at the dollar store last year! What are y'all feeding your arachnids down there?!?!
Small children.
And old ladies’ teacup chihuahuas.
Wait, there are fishing spiders??
Yep, next time you’re near water just keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see them sitting there with their fishing rods and a 4 pack of beer, chatting with their buddy and stretching their legs out and saying “you should have seen it Larry, it was this size!”
Four pack?? 32 pack, four for each leg. 😂
😳
Pretty sure one this size would have steel toe capped boots on too
Yup! They literally dive and hunt fish! Not strictly - they still eat bugs, and the occasional tadpole - but yeah they’re covered in hydrophobic hairs so they can walk on water, and they can also breathe underwater by storing air bubbles against their bodies. They use the water as a web - they’ll anchor themselves to the shore with their back two legs, and they’ll splay our their front legs across the water to feel for vibrations, just like a web. They can sense fish under them, and they’ll dive down, wrap their legs around the fish, bite, and then drag it onto shore like a freaking leopard. Really cool critters!
What the fuck. Does the fucker filet the fish and sauté it too, crazy to think it hunts like that.
She's so cool looking oh my god
Beautiful!
Wow big, beautiful spider!
I've lived in Texas my whole life and have never seen one that big.
I've definitely never seen that in Texas and I've lived all over the eastern side of the state. That is terrifying
Beautiful, but that’s a big girl
That thing is a so big I thought it was a Halloween decoration
Oreo Spider
omg thats an orca!!!! jk its so beautiful holy shit i love black/white combos
Venom is real?
It’s Venom
You meant his door right?
Lol
Wow, she is gorgeous! Makes me sad that it looks like she's missing a leg, though :(
Looks like im crossing texas off of the list of places to live
That looks MASSIVE! Is it as big as it looks or is this a perspective thing?
I was going to use a banana for scale but I was afraid the spider would wrestle it away from me!
I thought that was a whole lot bigger at first
Damn! Everything is BIGGER in Texas!
Aww, so cute the little thing is like a miny irl Venom!! 😩
Stick a saddle on that and ride it to the store
Jeez thought it was a decoration 🎃👻
Wait that’s …. Real?????
The huge rusting bolts in finishing trim told me this was either Russia, Texas or Florida before I read the post lol.
Surely OP took more than one pic right? Post them all , we gotta see more angles of this beaut.
Massive fishing spider. Massive.
Fen raft spider, must've escaped from a collector, not indigenous to texas
Holy shit that sucker is massive
Your door?? No no, that’s the spiders door now
You mean his front door
Not a spider person here but what would happen if you just started caressing that thing? Would it nite? Figured you psychos might know, respectfully.
“figured you psychos might know, respectfully” is a wild statement, monty lol
Usually if you touch them they JUMP and wiggle all their legs in terror and try to scramble away. You have to be really careful when you touch a spider though, because they're so fragile - you could hurt them a lot more easily than you think.
it seems large because it is
Stunning!!!
Such a beautiful spider
Beautiful!
So gorgeous yo!
Wow! I'm in awe. This girl is stunning!
Need to get that big boi to some water asap
She’s beautiful!
I live in Houston and the fact you have that thing so close to my house is terrifying
Ooooo gorgeous spood! Looks hungry/thirsty poor thing
I was on a canoe trip in Michigan many years ago. We hit an overhanging tree and around 20 spiders rained down, some in the canoe and some on the water. I had a big fear of spiders (better but still working on it), and I was trying to calmly scoop them back into the water without tipping over. I just knew if I went in they would climb on me to get out of the water. I did know they were fishing spiders but I was in my own personal horror movie. I always thought they were cool as long as they are on the water and not me.
Elden Ring boss size, good lord
I think you live next to Shelob
A nursery web/fishing spider! They aren’t toxic. You should leave him there. Name him Steve. Steve will take care of your bug problems.
Don't mind me, I'm just here for the comments. I'm also curious to find out WTF is this.
Google image search came up with “Six-spotted Fishing Spider.”
Holy hell!
Time to move. Leave everything, crawl out the nearest back door or window and go.
We ARE venom
Kinda looks like that Spawn comic character haha
Interesting, is it still there? Could you put your hand right next to it so we can get a scale of size? Like try to get as close to the legs as you can
WOW what a beaut!!!!
Holy shit. That looks like a synobite or whatever Venom is. Like Tom Hardys other half thing.
That looks like Venom!
Is it weird that the bigger spiders are the less I feel afraid?
That Venom from spiderman! I bet if you talk to it it will sound just like Tim Hardy.
Arachnalina Jolie
I had no idea a spider could be as big as a tarantula.
I've never wanted to touch a spider before. This one looks so soft or something though....
You mean you’re at ITS front door
I think I know this spider. It’s the Aragog Noping spider.
FUCK, and I mean this respectfully, THAT
Their formalwear is on point, if nothing else. Yes, that friend is BIG. I have no idea if they're dangerous or not.
Damn, big girl. I absolutely love her and I desperately wish she lived with me.
This sub has really cured my arachnophobia. Don’t get me wrong I fking hate surprise spiders but seeing that in person must have been awesome.
Correction- You mean their front door
Her door, you’re right outside her front door