I saw this spider sitting quite happily on a split log out in teh
woods and was wondering if anyone could give me any info about what
type of spider it is, and any other info that may be ineresting.

http://home.comcast.net/~rgomez78/DSC_0021.JPG

Sorry there's nothing in the picture to give perspective, but at a
guess the spider was between 4 - 5 inches long.

Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by cvenom-ga on 26 Jun 2005 19:12 PDT

Pink after looking at the links, I am convinced you have the answer, please post it!

Thanks for accepting my suggestion!

This type of spider is very common in the United States and in
Australia. Wolf spiders vary widely in size; some are tiny, and some
can be as large (though not as hairy) as a tarantula. They are not
poisonous, and are a good thing to have in your garden, since they
feed on insects which can harm garden plants.

SpiderzRule: Wolf Spider
http://www.spiderzrule.com/spiderphotos04/DSCN3819_small.JPG

Kaweah Oaks: Schizocosa mcooki 
http://kaweahoaks.com/html/spider_wolf02.jpg

Best regards,
pinkfreud

It looks to me like a wolf spider. A mighty big one.

after a few searches and looking over a few different spider pictures.
 I have came to the answer.  It's for sure a
Dark fishing spider
Order: Araneae
Family: Pisauridae
Genus and species: Dolomedes tenebrosus Hentz

Though at first I thought it was a Dolomedes scriptus Hentz which are
similar to D. tenebrosus, but it has more pronounced W-shaped white
marks associated with the black marks on the abdomen.

Please look for yourself at:

http://www.uark.edu/depts/entomolo/museum/dolomede.html

http://bugguide.net/node/view/2011

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=9807

http://spiders.entomology.wisc.edu/Pisauridae/Dolomedes/tenebrosus.html

Here's a huge gallery of spider pictures. I hope you can find him.

http://www.spiderzrule.com/spiderphotos.htm

Sacredhoops, you actually had the right answer, but for some reason my
browser showed that Pink had the submitted that response. Seeing as
you are not a reasearcher, I can only say thanks!

You know the answer is wrong!!! So why should she have to pay for the
wrong ANSWER!!

I that's sort of shaddy if you ask me!! 

What's that all about...or better yet how about rewarding the person
that got the answer correctly oh wait I am not a PAID researcher, yet
I did you're job better then you did!!

sacredhoops,

I was specifically asked to post my answer. As it turned out, that was
based upon an misconception. The customer was gracious enough to give
me five stars for my effort. In addition, the customer has thanked
you. If this seems "shady" to you, I can't help that. The customer is
able to request a full refund if a posted answer is not satisfactory.