Anyone know their spiders? (Warning to arachnophobes, spider picture inside)
Found this one in the garage, maybe the size of a quarter, really round tummy (thought he was a pebble, actually). Seemed ready to fight as I scooted him outside with some gentle prodding.
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Our daughter is nearly 3, and has a love of spiders you can't imagine -- engendered from, I think, the "Miss Spider" stories (like the stories, she usually asks them if they would like to share her courtesy and have some tea). 
I never kill spiders. I love spiders!
This is Mr. T, our resident Turantula. He visits a few times a year and wanted to use the pool.
Hell, I don't even kill the Scorpions we find in our house (5 last year). I just capture them and put em back out in the desert.
Like I say, my daughter loves them. And I like to photograph them.
This one was waiting for me to turn on my garden hose, sneaky lady.
And this one set up shop right next to the grill outside. Got to say "hi" quite a bit last summer. 
I buy about 10 pounds at a time--very green, freeze them for smoothies in the summertime. But, when I see that big display (costco or elsewhere) of very green bananas, I admittedly get a little freaked out after hearing about the poisonous exotic tropical spider incidents coming in with bananas and other Central. American produce in recent years.
I assume they are large enough I'd see them first, but....
And, no I am not a real arachnophobe and likewise tend to "capture and release"... Nonetheless.... 
http://michiganspiders.blogspot.com/2009/10/yellow-sac-spider.html
Bite Info - Believe it or not, these little guys are one of the more dangerous you will find in Michigan. They are the most common spider to be bitten by and their bites are sometimes mistaken for that of the Brown Recluse. The Yellow Sac Spider's venom is cytotoxic which is similar to that of the Brown Recluse but it is not nearly as potent. Although their venom is not nearly so dangerous as the Recluse, the bite can sometimes leave heavy swelling and even open sores. On the rare occasion the bite can result in chills, fever, headache, dizziness, nausea, anorexia, and sometimes shock.
Their size/arrangement are keys to its identity.
I find them (spiders in general) fascinating.
It is easy to spot their nests once you know what you are looking for - they always make little cocoons up at the intersection of a wall and ceiling. During the day they are often resting in the cocoons.
I was bitten by one a few years ago, and wow, was I sick! It took me days to get over it. Didn't get a necrotizing wound, but the bite hurt like the dickens and I felt like I had the flu. And I had to get a tetanus shot, which also fucking hurt for days. It was a bad scene. Now I kill them when I find them. Sorry, but these are dangerous spiders, and dangerous spiders don't get to live in my house.
The problem with yellow sac spiders, as I understand it, is that they don't wait for insects to fly into their web, but instead they go out at night and hunt them down. And they're pretty aggressive spiders, so if they encounter you staggering across their hunting path on your way to the bathroom in the dark one night, they don't hesitate to bite. And then you have a bad couple of days if you're lucky, or a sucking horrible wound if you're not. It's no fun at all. 
Roger, is that you???
