So we just killed this spider in our house. We live in the northern 1/3rd part of Minnesota near Grand Rapids. We hate spiders and wondered what we could do to keep them out of our house. Any help in identifying and ridding ourselves of these spiders would be greatly appreciated.
This appears to be a fishing/dock spider (family Pisauridae) known as the dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus). In spite of that name, they frequently are found far from water - see http://tinyurl.com/2bfszcg for details. It is too bad that you "hate spiders," as they actually are quite beneficial, and the vast, vast majority pose no threat whatsoever to humans. Rather than kill them, why not use a stiff piece of cardboard or the like to 'shoo' them into a container and then release them outside? I'm afraid that short of hermetically sealing your house, there is no way of avoiding an occasional 'visitor.'
