This week in the garden I found a Wolf Spider with her egg sack in tow…
The white round thing is the egg sack, but even so, she herself (legs included) was the size of a silver dollar. The bright silver bits in the lower right are the tines on my pitchfork. I left them in for size comparison.
Can’t see her? Oh, OK!
For a really close up view you can click the image and get as close as you like…
How’s that?
Personally, with the exception of Brown Recluse, I don’t mind spiders in my garden. They perform a beneficial service for me by ridding my plants of bad insects. She is obviously well fed living here in the compost pile. From the looks of her egg case, her babies will be hatching soon! Which means more hungry spiders to eat all those nasty flying Palmetto bugs hiding in there!
I have been partial to Wolf spiders since I was seven. Back then I was brave enough to touch that gigantic fluffy looking spider in the barn… Whereupon all her ‘fuzzy’ sprouted legs and went scurrying off her back! Lady Wolfspider will carry all her babies on her back for a while after hatching thus making herself look even more enormous as well as affording her progeny a bit of extra protection!
Life on the Farmlet 
Lynda, your pic of Mama Wolf spider is terrific. We had Wolf spiders in AZ and I found them fascinating. Unfortunately we do not have them here in northern MI.
Lindy, Perhaps they don’t live there because the soil freezes down so deep? (Guessing) I just read that they tunnel underground, and free range to hunt. No wasted energy on web building for her!
She’s so well camouflaged I completely didn’t see her at first. Up close, she’s rather beautiful.
Hi Emily, Good camouflage, Eh? Pretty yes, for a spider, but I think that as an adult I would never have the courage to touch one now!
Soooo camouflaged. I had to click the photo to total hugeness to see her. What a lovely mother.
Lauren, I think, though I’m not certain, she is the only spider species to actually carry her egg sack with her. That is amazing dedication!
i had one in the house and when I touched her she divided into hundreds of babies. I called the exterminator the next day. In the garden, maybe, in the living room, not so much.
Awww, poor little spider(s)! 😉
Great photos Lynda :)) I have never seen a Wolf SPider b4, very cool! !
Glad you liked it! LOL, Bob has a phobia about spiders…
Hey Rich, I just thought about it… did you happen to follow the link to see a picture of the Lady W. carrying her babies?
If not look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wolf_spider_with_young_in_garden.jpg
😉
She is an admirable mother and knowing what you’ve just taught us, how could anyone ever want to harm one? Spiders get carried out of our house – my husband claims that if you kill a spider, it will rain…
Don’t know about the rain part, just know that without spiders we’d be awash in ugly insects we DON’T want in the house and garden! It is a delicate balance. Each species has it’s own job to perform.