So, I’m dealing with an overly friendly wolf spider. She is huge, would almost fill my palm if you include the legs. Body length a little over an inch, I guess, and very chonky.
She is constantly trying to cozy up to me at night. To the point that I’m now having dreams that she’s one of my dogs reincarnated. She will just sort of lay alongside my arm on on the chair, or beside my leg. Or I’ll go to move and find her darting from between the folds of the blanket.
Once she grabbed the end of my pinkie finger with her pincers. Not a bite, not even a pinch, more like a curious touch. But of course I freaked out because it’s not fear of pain that I’m dealing with here. I confess I was surprised I didn’t wake the whole house up that night!
Does anybody know bout spiders or have a guess as to what this behavior is about? There is probably less prey for her than usual now, but there are still enough silverfish around that she needn’t resort to trying an animal 10,000 times her size. What is she up to? Why won’t she leave me in peace?
(good jokes also appreciated, as I need to keep a sense of humor about this.)
A lot of people keep jumping spiders as pets and of course tarantulas are fairly popular. The big spiders seem to be fairly intelligent and the jumping spiders can be trained to jump onto a finger, I’ve seen quite a few videos. I’d guess this spider of yours likes it that you’re warm and smell like dinner.
I would ask about your hygiene habits, though, since if you’re drawing flies it might explain her attraction.
Well, close. Not 5000, and they keep the silk packet with the eggs in their front pincers until it’s time to hatch. Then the babies ride around on her back until their little yolk sacs run out and they start looking at each other like dinner.
She’s a good Mommy, she just doesn’t tolerate the sibling rivalry.
Oh lort, look at me defending her honor. Maybe Stockholm syndrome is real after all?
Maybe just…embrace the concept? Go get a nice terrarium, fit it out properly, cotch your new pet spider gently and lay in a supply of small roaches or crickets or whatever. When babies hatch take terrarium outside into presumably better weather conditions than midwinter and let them all go free to annoy other people. It’s very Charlotte’s Web!
I actually have a 100 gal aquarium sitting around doing nothing. But she needs to be out to do her job. If I didn’t need her to take care of the silver fish and carpet beetles, then she wouldn’t be living here any more. To be clear, there is no current sign of babies (or a mate), for which I am enormously grateful.
