Hi, I am in the UK and have a spider infestation in my garden. They are 3-5+cm, dark brown to almost black. They havd a lighter shade of browny green on their front. The females are brown, because there's one with a egg sac attatched to under her abdomen. They are EXTREMELY fast. Ive noticed that even when unthreatened, some stand on their tiptoes. One has faced me directly, pointed at me with its left front leg and fangs and shook violently. What on earth is the spider and why did it do that??
Your garden has a splendid array of volunteer pest controllers, namely wolf spiders. Most of the ones in your images are males (swollen palps); the one with an egg sac obviously is a female). These spiders are are active hunters that run down their prey, and thus usually are on 'tiptoes.' The one facing you appears to be exhibiting a defensive posture, intended to make the spider look more menacing to a potential threat. They are not at all dangerous to humans.
