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Photo#136531
South Dakota spider or tick? - Bassaniana utahensis

South Dakota spider or tick? - Bassaniana utahensis
Spearfish, South Dakota, USA
August 9, 2007
Size: 3-4mm
A one inch long spider that ran fast, made loud scratching noises while running on a formica counter top and jumped about ten inches at a time was also living in the same kennel area and may have been an adult version of this same insect. I can't tell for sure since the larger one got away before I got a good look.
The smaller one, pictured here, had a hard shell.

Moved
Moved from Bark Crab Spiders.

Moved
Moved from Spiders.

Welcome to Bug Guide
I'm no expert, but it looks like a spider and sounds like a tick. Perhaps you'd like to look at some tick photos while waiting for a much more intelligent response. So give a click: http://bugguide.net/node/view/15486

Once there, click the Images tab for more photos.

 
It's a spider
Ticks have one body segment, but spiders have a cepalothorax separate from the abdomen. Insects have separate head, thorax and abdomen. I have a hunch this is a very young wolf spider (Family Lycosidae), but, like you, I'm no expert.

 
Reminds me...
more of a Thomisid crab spider. Compare this image of Bassaniana:

Not saying that's the genus, but at least something similar.