this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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So I'm like 13 years old, climbing a tree at a friend's house. It's a bit of a shimmy up the trunk, I'm well in the air, hugging the tree. I look down at my feet to make sure I have footing before lifting a hand above my head to reach for a branch.
As my head is going from looking down to looking up, just as I am grabbing the branch and hanging from it, I realize that my nose is almost touching a big old wolf spider mama, fully laden with all her children.
DROP
I never climbed that tree again.
Are they venomous or otherwise dangerous to humans?
Nope. Also, if you coax a momma into your hand, you can throw it at your enemies for a spectacular spider-bomb.
🏌️🕷️ ——––-----___🎯👤
Spider-Bomb, Spider-Bomb
Does what ever a… AH! GET THAT THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!
When they get spooked they launch their kids everywhere to overwhelm potential predators. Imagine if you squashed a spider and suddenly you were covered in hundreds of tiny spiders?
One climbed onto my foot while I was brushing my teeth once and I launched myself into the wall behind me pretty hard which hurt. Other than that I don't think so.
Wow that sounds dangerous
No, they are spider bros. They kill brown recluses, black widows, and other things that are dangerous. Typically do not mess with humans unless seriously provoked.
I get the sentiment, but black widows (and Theridiidae in general) are quite proficient in taking out wolf spiders and other prowling spiders, not the other way around.
I'm going to need to see some videos before I can determine who is winning this debate. With heavy metal background music, though I would also accept a David Attenborough narration. With and without the wolf spider swarm.
sigh For completion sake, should probably also check out some videos of each of those spiders vs other things like scorpions, mice, mongeese, non-mon geese, snakes, etc.
I wouldn't recommend those types of videos. These are just the arthropod version of cock- or dog fighting and basically animal abuse. They also don't actually teach you much, since the scenarios don't reflect their actual behaviour in nature.
For example, almost every active hunting spider will kill a black widow if you put them in an enclosed space together. But in the real world the widows would be in her web where something like a wolfspider would get trapped long before getting close to the widow spider.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/wolf-spider-bite
Seems like it's not even as bad as a bee sting. Spiders are really not very dangerous at all, generally speaking. They're going to leave you alone unless you're fucking with them.
To add to what nougat said, because that’s very much the appropriate answer…
All spiders are in fact venomous- it’s part of how they feed. Many species, the venom is not harmful to humans, or only very weakly so. (Wolf spiders qualify as “very weakly so”)
That said, you try keeping a reasonable head when you suddenly come eyeball-to-eyeball with a wolf spiders qualify and her kids.
Are there any exceptions to this? And what about non spiders like daddy long legs?
So, true spiders digest their food externally by injecting the venom. They then slurp it up. So the answer to that is "Yes". Some true spiders may also eat the more solid bits, but that's in addition to. but again, many- most- spiders are essentially harmless to humans.
harvestmen (daddy long legs) are venomous and lack the mouth-parts necessary for injection, but they're not true spiders.
Harvestmen do not possess venom glands.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones
Dammit I need to be more careful when posting on mobile. Meant to say not, lol. Thanks for the correction
Yes, there are a few
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uloboridae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heptathela