This fellow is in the corner of the bathroom, I don't have a clue to what he is, or if he is poisonous or not. He is growing like crazy, although I have no idea what he can be eating. My husband touched the web and the spider reared back like he was going to attack, then he settled down. If you don't bother him, he will either sit quietly or go back further into his huge web.
This is a funnel web/grass spider (family Agelenidae) in the genus Agelenopsis - see http://tinyurl.com/2be3zl4 for an example. Like the vast majority of spiders, it has venom glands, so technically,it is venomous. Although large specimens would be capable of inflicting a painful bite if mishandled, the bite would not be dangerous. BTW, spiders in this genus do not appear to be commonly encountered indoors.
Thank you for the information, after I read your reply, I went and looked it up on the spider identification page, and you are right, that is what it is. It is strange, after Dana messed with the web, we have not seen it for quite awhile. I don't know if it has moved or just scared to come out, I bent down to look (but not too close), and could not see it at all. So, don't know what happened.
Our spider is dead, Dana bent and picked through the web, he found him all curled up and dead. Thanks for all your information and assistance.
He probably got lost and wandered into the house, where there is nothing for him to eat...happens a lot here in the woods. Sometimes I capture them and release them outside..yeah, I know, I'm weird, lol.
If you are weird so are we, I used to work over at KFC in Urbana, there was a tiny mouse, we caught it and my husband released it into the empty apartment across from us, it was warm and cozy because the heat was still on, I bet he had a nice warm place until someone moved in or he decided to go somewhere else. I don't like to kill any living creature, that is just my nature, if the spider or mouse is not harming me or my house, we leave it be, sometimes you have to (relocate) them, especially if it is a poisonous spider or a mouse in the house. We even brake for squirrels, and up here we have a LOT of squirrels.
