Garden Pests and Diseases: Scary Spider Beast! Poisonous??, 1 by misskaffee

misskaffee wrote:
I was watering in my front garden today and saw this guy crawl by. Scared the heck out of me!! Anyone know what type of spider this is? and if it is poisonous?

I seem to have quite a lot of spiders here in GA, some of them scarier than others. -The black widow nest in the garage last year was the worst!! I may never go barefoot again!! In fact, I'm always a little bit nervous about my dog's bare paws out back. (not that I'd be cruel enough to make him wear doggie booties)

My inkling is to just hire an exterminator to kill them all around the outside of the house. But a neighbor said that some spiders are good for the bug-balance. Do you guys generally let spiders alone, or do you actively try to get rid of them??

Any advice would be appreciated!!