What kind of spider is this, and should I release it or dispatch it?

[shmooborp]

i would say a kings cross spider, they get big, and its legs are kinda a dead giveaway. idk if they are harmful or not, but they like compost piles and gardens.

 

[mangled]

Okay, That's a big G.D. spider. I've lived in PA most of my life, and I've never seen one quite like it.

I think it's a fishing spider, too. Definitely not a brown recluse.

Yeesh. I'd hate to find that thing in my house. I'm with your wife. Get the .22.

Em

 

[HR Patterson]

Thank you all. I think it is a Nursery Spider, but from what I am reading it does not seem to be harmful, so back into the shed from wence it came. Boy am I glad we don't have some of the other spiders I saw while searching to ID ours. I just may need to get a bigger gun!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I usually leave things alone unless I know that they are poisonous.

My grown daughter is an Army soldier and scared of NOTHING....except spiders. She runs screaming like Ethel Merman if one even gets near her...

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Forgot to mention that my sister lives in PA and they do grow 'em big there. We were walking down the path for a walk through her woods and she stopped everybody, whipped out her .22, and shot the sucker. We call her Annie Oakley.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Spiders are critical for our environment and food chain. Please release it.

I know people get the heebie jeebies from spiders but most are
our friends and living creatures that deserve respect.

Haven't any of you people seen Charlotte's Web??

 

[Wildsky]

I scream like a girl for ANY spider.... I will scream a little extra if its MOVING.

Hubby comes running and rescues it.


If its a snake, I'm the one running to rescue (no, he hasn't screamed like a girl yet)

I HATE the little suckers in our bedroom, they're always on the ceiling above MY SIDE of the bed!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'd rather have the spiders than the thousands & thousands of other pesky bugs they catch & eat.

 

[Godsgrl]

I would just release him. I think it is a wolf spider. We get them in our pool sometimes. The neat thing about them is that they hunt instead of spin webs. very cool, and I don't think their bites are dangerous.

 

[dacjohns]

It doesn't look like a brown recluse or a golden garden spider.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/argiope_aurantia.html

Not a tarantula or black widow.