I would take a ventral shot but I'm not down in La Junta anymore and I don't think my friend would really be up for picking it up to try and get a ventral shot so the two that I've provided are all I have. I don't think its dangerous for her, more of a curiousity thing than anything. There has been a lot of migration going on in her area with breeding season coming along so she's seeing these often and I think she was just wondering if she should worry about being bitten so she asked me to take a look. I'll do some research on the hogna species.

...are all harmless to humans despite their fearsome size. The best way is to simply ignore them and seal off all little cracks to prevent them from entering homes. Aside from that, cupping it in a bowl and sliding a piece of cardboard underneath the spider then rotating the bowl will allow for safe transfer of the spider outside. These guys should be kept around to eat the real pests in the form of roaches, crickets, and other large insects.

Yeah this one was found in her kiddie pool outside her home so I wan't too worried about it getting inside the home. This is the same friend that had the Western Black outside her home in her animals food bin. She seems to have all SORTS of spiders on her property. I am going to perhaps see about staying a weekend sometime just to see what other kind of insects I can find on her property.

...the media has over-hyped the disposition of black widows and brown recluses. Though I have not specifically studied them over the years, I have had many times where I had close interactions with them. To say the least, many aspects about their powers are truly exaggerated. The media often say that both of these species of spiders are extremely aggressive. This simply is just not true, in fact I can easily argue that wolf spiders can be more aggressive than widows. However, the capability of the venom has created emotional fear within many. And though the venom is of a worry, killing the spider in my opinion is not of a necessity. Usually, when I find widows and recluses in and around my home, I just capture them and transfer them to a remote location of either my yard or somewhere in the country. Once again, the presence of the widow simply means a large portion of insects and without the appearance of other species of spiders, the insects will surely become too common for our own good.

I fully agree with you on that. I have a capture and release policy when I find spiders in my own home and tend to err on the side of caution by keeping my house as free of insects as possibly just so spiders do not come inside my home in the first place. If I do find one that comes inside though I will usually capture him and there is a field by where I live that I'll release him at. Several ant colonies out there that a spider could sustain himself on before moving on to greener pastures.

I would take a ventral shot but I'm not down in La Junta anymore and I don't think my friend would really be up for picking it up to try and get a ventral shot so the two that I've provided are all I have. I don't think its dangerous for her, more of a curiousity thing than anything. There has been a lot of migration going on in her area with breeding season coming along so she's seeing these often and I think she was just wondering if she should worry about being bitten so she asked me to take a look. I'll do some research on the hogna species.