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

[HR Patterson]

He is about 3-4 inches long. Just wondering if he is a threat to us or not. Chickens fear him. Children run. My wife thinks he would make great target practice for the .22! I say he stays as long as he don't bite and make body parts fall off. So if anyone knows what he is, please let me know.

That's the clearest pic I could take. My son informed me that he is "squirmy and can jump" so I snapped what I could.

 

[Siber_AK49]

Looks like a brown recluse (SP?) but I'm not a spider expert sadly

I know they are all over the US and I have bad allergic reactions to their bites (puss and deep holes beneath it, going to the hospital when bit and getting it lanced to drain) and I know other people do too.. But I'm not sure maybe someone else can give a more "for sure" definition.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

At that size it just might be a garden spider but they are usually brighter colored - yellow, green, etc. Never seen one like that before. Personally, I'd smoosh it because they scare me... Check out www.whatsthatbug.com to see if you can identify it. It's a really cool website and your kids will love it.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Definitely not a brown recluse. I checked the bug site and it looks like a fishing spider (harmless) but I'm not an expert or even a spider-lover. Check it out:

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/spiders2.html

 

[ginbart]

If it were me, it would be dead.

I HATE SPIDERS, I HATE SPIDERS, I HATE SPIDERS,

I heard on a TV show, that you are never more then 6 feet away from a da** spider

 

[rooster-red]

I don't know what kind it is, but it is not a brown recluse.
Brown recluse are AKA "fiddle back" because it has something similar to a fiddle shaped marking on its back, and a different body shape.

I was bitten by a brown recluse several years ago.

I say go far out into the yard and release it.

 

[Mattake2]

I think it is from the genus boot sole.

 

[chickenfeed]

Looks like a fox spider. Completely harmless.

 

[ChuckenGirl]

AHHHHH
spiders are not cool!

 

[spook]

It looks a lot like the "wood" spiders we have here. They just give me the shivers, wow, needless to say, these are the size of a canning jar lids- ewwwww.
I feel that if a spider crosses my path, it asked to die. lol.