So I’m looking through the comics and I see Ripley’s Beleive It or Not. It states that there are Giant Wolf spiders that regularly attack wolves by pouncing on them. I’m choosing not to believe, but then again… Does anyone have the lowdown on this? I tried looking in the encyclopedia, but they just had a general description of wolf spiders, no mention of Giants.
Short answer: Robert Ripley didn’t tell you to believe his stories. He said “Believe it or not.”
It’s not clear how much stuff he made up, and how much stuff he heard and just passed along as fact.
don’t know about ripleys or the wolf thing, but a wolf spider pounced on my head while at sleeping at summer camp one summer and the lancing the doctor had to do to bleed and empty the hugh boil/blister the bite created left a nasty little scar. right on my right temple. big ouch.
My father told me that he once found a Ripley story so unbelievable that it couldn’t possibly be true. He said he wrote to Ripley (or his publisher) to find get the straight dope. He said he received a postcard that depicted a large question mark and the phrase “Believe it – Or not!”
Not sure about the Ripkey’s thing but my dad and a group of his friends were chased by a huge spider while camping as boyscouts. He said the scariest thing was how it really seemed to be “stalking” them.
I browse the Ripley’s BION at comics.com once in a while for amusement. What I find even more amazing than the out of context claims, bogus information and outright lies is that the artwork has devolved to a level worse than a Chick tract.
At first I thought, I would be willing to bet money that the story of wolf spiders attacking wolves is a pure fabrication.
The Encyclopedia Britannica article on wolf spiders, says that the largest have a body size of about 2.5 cm with legs of the same length. “They are named for the wolflike habit of chasing and pouncing upon prey.”
But then this site, “Wolf Spiders”, mentions the following: “VENOM: The Wolf Spider is not an aggressive spider. If the spider is handled, it can cause a painful bite which may cause infection and skin lesions to some people. No human has died from the bite of the Wolf Spider but a fully grown Labrador can die in a few hours after being bitten by a Wolf Spider.”
So if a wolf spider is able to kill a labrador, perhaps also one species would be able to kill a wolf? But if so, it must surely be by accident. What the hell is a spider 2.5 cm long going to do with a wolf corpse?
I know some tarantulas attack small birds and eat them, but I really don’t see anything as large as a wolf being attacked by any spider. Sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if the bite of some spiders could kill a wolf, but I don’t think a spider would actually attack a wolf.
Wolf Spiders do NOT stalk & attack wolves. Nor elephants 
Do they stalk and attack Daniels who have inadvertently stumbled into the wolves’ den?
If not the den, how about the TV room?
And black widow spiders have been known to kill and eat widows of African descent.
Wolf Spiders. Hah! You ought to see a tiger beetle stalking
his prey.
…or those dung beatles…
Contrast the name wolf spider with bird-eating spider. A whole bunch of these were stolen today from an Australian pet shop, so I’m nervous as I type this.
picmr