I' m sure if we had venomous ones my attitude would be different.

At our place (a log ranch in the woods with a creek and pasture beside us) we seem to attract ground spiders. Wolf, grass and these black numbers with a white stripe called "Parson spiders" that I had not encountered before. "Harmless" according to those who follow such things but they seem to be able to about stop my heart when I catch one making a dash across the floor after sunset. Little friggen eight-legged mice! "No worse than a bee sting". I don't particularly like bee stings, personally.

This time of year when it's starting to get cold I'll sometimes have one a two a night in the cellar or kitchen/dining room. Just big enough to give you the heebie-jeebies!



We used to have a boat up on Seneca Lake and there I learned about "Fishing Spiders". I had no idea NY had a spider that size. They went 3" (including legs - but that's the size of my palm) and more than once I pulled out a coffee cup that had a guest inside. They made a sound like an 11 year old girl screaming. Well, actually I made a sound like that when I found one.