Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

Boris is our pet wolf spider--he keeps the rest of the bugs out of my hockey equipment. Nice guy, kinda big. Take a look!

That green thing you see is one of his eyes reflecting back. They have great vision, and the red-eye preflash catches his attention. The flash reflects back out of the back of his eye facing the camera. Want to find them at night in your backyard? Roll a flashlight beam nearly parallel to the grass. You'll be surprised how many you find. :)

Marc said about 10 hours later

Is that a hammer? If so, I haven't seen a spider that big in NC yet. That thing is absolutely massive! Have you ever found Boris in your hockey equipment? If not, do you ever check? :)

He also takes up quite a bit of room, you charging that guy rent?
GJ said about 11 hours later

That's not a hammer--it's literally a broomstick. We use it to help clear the iron ocher from the floating trench you see in the pictures. Anyhow, better scale--that trench he's next to is 2" wide. So, Boris' legspan from front to back is just over 2". His actual body sans legs is about an inch.

This is about as big as they get in NY. In Australia, he'd only be a squirt.
Geoff said about 16 hours later

That is sweet. Thanks for the pics.
Steve said 2 days later

That's freaking scary. I'm never coming to your house....
GJ said 2 days later

Nah, scary is the fact that the one above is the larger female. The real Boris, a male, is slightly smaller and typically shows me two eyes in photos. And I have many more like these two in the backyard, but these two moved in some years ago and are quite content with their diet of wayward wasps, earwigs, ants and pretty much everything else down there. Haven't seen them take on a mouse, though--they're not *that* big.