Fishing Spider

Description:

Brownish to gray with few white marks, dark W-shaped marks on dorsal surface of abdomen. The main difference between scriptus and tenebrosus is that the 'W' pattern on scriptus is outlined in white all the way across the abdomen. The pattern in tenebrosus is broken.. and it generally has less white. (BugGuide.net)

Habitat:

Deciduous habitat. Found in a hollowed out tree.

Notes:

These guys always creep me out because they are so large compared to any other spiders in our area. It doesn't stop me from getting close though, unless they are guarding their hatchlings. They become quite aggressive in that case.