Any ideas what this is

[a_codfish]

Help! I've been looking to identify this species everywhere. I have a 2 year old and I want to make sure this species isn’t a serious danger to her or us. We live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, US. I found it in some old dead foliage on the ground under a rhododendron while preparing my beds for bark dust. It wasn’t very fast, large fangs (1/8") that it would use on a small stick when put in front of its mouth, the body was about 30mm, the picture is accurate in color.

[Eric]

Wow! Very nice find! You found a female "folding-door spider" of the family Antrodiaetidae, genus Antrodiaetus. I lived in Portland, Oregon for half my life and I remember these vividly. They live in deep, silk-lined burrows in the soil. The lining extends aboveground as a turret, the sides of which the spider pulls in to close the burrow (kind of like French doors). Males wander in the autumn in search of mates and may stray indoors or fall into swimming pools and window wells.

They are not considered dangerously venomous to people or pets.

I'd like to eventually put up a guide page for these, and wonder if I might use your images? You would get credit, of course!

Thanks for sharing your find and your story.

Eric

[Cattrix]

I wish I would see one, we have lots of tunnel spiders but I have never seen any like that. I'm in Portland, but then I rarely go digging around our rhodies, as I abhor any type of yard work. *leave that to the husband* hehehe.

That is a large spider.

[a_codfish]

Absolutely! Not a problem and thank you so much for all of the information! Feel free to use the photos as you like. I attached a couple more for you too.

Cody

[Phil]

Awesome spiders! They do have a pretty bad attitude but not a very painful bite at all from what I've heard. I wonder what it's doing out of the burrow.