Wolf Spider

Wolf spiders! Pictures pop in my head of werewolves and other animals with long, piercing fangs. They are the unreasoning stars of horror movies and the reason we jump from our beds, tearing bank the sheets and blankets. There are those people who love these little creatures. “They have such loving eyes,” to which I respond, “Of the four pair, which do you fancy most?” Hey! You either love them or hate them, and yes, I know they are good for controlling the insect population.

Wolf Spider is the common name for any of a group of ground-dwelling hunting spiders. They occupy nearly every type of earthly habitat including grassy fields, lawns, leaf litter of woods and sometimes houses and schools. They are of the most common and conspicuous spiders with nearly 2200 known species world wide. None of this is comforting if you suffer from arachnophobia.

The surest way to recognize a wolf spider is by the body shape, the eye arrangement and by the fact that they are usually not in a web. Their general

body shape is somewhat stout. Even the legs are stout, fairly even in length and strong enough to support the spiders weight. This is a pretty fat little fellow with enough size to make you think about running before you decide to fight for your space. But, as fierce as they look a wolf spider's bite usually only causes minor local pain or itchiness.

Many wolf spiders are active hunters during the day wandering in sunny areas along the ground and in vegetation. Others hunt at night and remain in silk-lined retreats during the day. Some wolf spiders dig burrows in which they lie in wait for passing insects and other prey.

They are common household pests in the fall when they are looking for a warm place to overwinter. They are commonly found around doors, windows, house plants, basements, garages, and in almost all terrestrial habitats.

For some natural spider control try taking a package of pipe or chewing tobacco, soak it in a gallon of boiling water until it cools. Strain the liquid, then add a cup of tobacco juice and half a cup of lemon dish soap. Put it all into a sprayer and treat the soil along the foundation of the house. Or, if you are not into natural remedies there are plenty of granular insecticides you can purchase for application along the foundation walls.