The biggest one I've ever seen

I ran down to the basement to get a pair of knitting needles and nearly stepped on the biggest spider I've ever seen outside of a zoo exhibit. I went back upstairs and approached D. with my VERY SERIOUS FACE and told him what I'd encountered. I held my fingers apart spanning about 2/3 of my palm to emphasize how big this spider was. Not quite believing my story, he followed me downstairs and agreed it was the biggest spider he'd ever seen in this state. He used to live in a state with tarantulas so this caveat doesn't diminish the size of our little friend. Here he is next to a 3 x 5 index card for comparison. Those grid lines are 1/4" squares. Think about it.

For another perspective, and to let you know how close I got to him the first time. Remember, that's a size 10 foot facing off against the arachnid.

I'm just glad neither of us are afraid of spiders and our little friend isn't living in the basement anymore. Then again, I have noticed a lack of cave crickets recently and thought it was due to the cold weather. I hope we didn't remove our cricket-catcher!