Ever met a wolf spider up close and personal?  I did recently. Early one morning last week, while reaching for my sandals, I stumbled upon one crawling on the carpet in my closet. By mid-day I'd discovered another one inside a large bowl atop my kitchen counter and almost stepped on yet another one in the family room.

Needless to say, my surprise encounters with these members of the Lycosidae family took my breath away.  With my fight or flight response fully engaged, I can see why the word origin of Lycosidae comes from the Ancient Greek word “Αύκος” meaning wolf.  These spiders are not only scary-looking and quick-running, but quite good at playing possum. In the microsecond it takes to grab a book to swat them with, they make their escape.  

Supposedly, wolf spiders prefer outdoor hunting grounds to indoor habitats, and they are nocturnal. Oh, really? Could have fooled me!  Research also indicates the body size of these spiders can reach up to 1.38 inches. From my point of view, that's exactly how humongous these eight-eyed suburbanites appeared during their brief house safari.

Of course, I'm grateful that the Wolf Spider Menu is all about insects, especially other arachnids, and not me. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit about wolf spiders is how and where infant spiders hitch rides. Notice all the babies on the spider's back in the photograph below. If I had not bottled this specimen for a photo-shoot, I could have had a whole house full of them in the blink of an eye.