Matt Barkley recently shared a horrifying photograph on social media of a spider discovered lurking in the basement of his Buffalo home, and the Bills backup quarterback has been left at a total loss over how to deal with the terror-inspiring invader.
On Friday, Barkley took to Twitter to document the seemingly sizable arachnid, making note of how the creepy critter was making itself comfortable in an area where his kids play.
Among the many freaked-out reactions and the like — which included the expected memes and suggestions Barkley needs to move out immediately — one intrepid individual possibly identified the species of spider.
Well, so long as it’s not poisonous. Still terrifying, though, indeed.
Here is a rundown on the wolf spider, thanks to Wikipedia:
The many genera of wolf spiders range in body size (legs not included) from less than 10 to 35 mm (0.4 to 1.38 in). They have eight eyes arranged in three rows. The bottom row consists of four small eyes, the middle row has two very large eyes (which distinguishes them from the Pisauridae), and the top row has two medium-sized eyes. Unlike most other arachnids, which are generally blind or have poor vision, wolf spiders have excellent eyesight with their large eyes.
The Wikipedia entry also notes that “[f]lashing a beam of light over the spider produces eyeshine. The light from the flashlight has been reflected from the spider’s eyes directly back toward its source, producing a ‘glow’ that is easily noticed.” That seems to be the case with the flash from the photo snapped by Barkley.
Whatever the case, that spider is one ominous example of high-octane nightmare fuel, something that led Barkley to make a most sensible observation.
Fair enough.
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