What Happens if a Wolf Spider BITES You?

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Today we're simulating a spider bite! I'm adding wolf spider venom to human blood under a microscope!

0:00 Why Are We Doing This?
0:28 Getting Our Spider
1:29 Drawing My Blood
1:45 Venom Extraction
5:09 Spider Release
5:30 Adding Venom to Human Blood

DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt to replicate anything you see in this video. I am a professional and have been working with spiders and other invertebrates for years. If you attempt to repeat this experiment you may injure yourself or the spider. Spiders only bite when extremely provoked and they fear for their life. They are important parts of the ecosystem and it's much safer to keep your distance in the wild.

Most nature shows take place in far off locations or tell you not to try this at home. Here on MyWildBackyard my goal is to get you up close and personal with the fascinating wildlife where I live and show you that you can have a wildlife adventure of your own right at home in your own backyard! Have a taste for exploring and love weird creatures? Join the adventure by subscribing!

Always use caution when exploring your backyard. Read up and educate yourself on dangerous species in your area, and know not to touch them. Contact local wildlife experts if a dangerous animal is causing problems where you live.

My Field Equipment (This section includes affiliate links, buying any of the products using the links below helps support the channel, update equipment and pay for production trips to get more epic wildlife videos!)

Main Camera: iPhone 13 Pro Max
Backup Camera: iPhone SE 2nd Gen
Macro Lens - SANDMARC iPhone 13 Pro Max Edition

Special thanks to these tracks and their artists for making this movie possible:

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

1302 - Amadeus

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

#Spiders #Wildlife #Venom

[MyWildBackyard]

Do we want to see more venom experiments like this?

[teddielynn]

The other spiders probably won’t believe the ufo abduction story. His home was lifted from the ground but they still don’t believe.
I feel bad for the spider.

[thenae]

She was so reluctant to bite 🥺 bless her. I loved how respectful you were towards this spider ❤️

[debiszoo]

Very impressive! I've been afraid of spiders my whole life until recently. I've fallen head over heels in love with jumping spiders! This was a very cool experiment and, while the spider was stressed out, it's very kind that you tried so hard not to hurt or kill him.

[arturturk]

"I dont want to hurt the spider", cut to Dr.Fauci's beagles, I wish everyone was as thoughtful as this gentleman , cheers buddy !

[silkroad]

I can tell you're a little more afraid of spiders than the average bug guy on YouTube. Which isn't really saying much, but it definitely makes your bravery more commendable

[XIxCaptainKRulLT]

I like how you were trying to be respectful towards the spider and avoid stressing it out too much. Spiders are interesting creatures, and I enjoy watching them (without stressing them out).

It honestly makes me think of a wolf spider that lived under a small gap in our basement that helped my sister get over her severe phobia of spiders. It'd just sit there while she worked on stuff, watching for prey to walk buy his tunnel, or go out hunting at night. She called him Gerald, and would greet him every time she walked by his little crevice!

[cliffcurtistruth]

Wolf Spiders are the ones I come across the most when digging through dirt (gold mining) here in Southern Oregon. I have also noticed they seem very non-aggressive and always desperately try to run away when disturbed. To tell the truth, they've bumped into my hands so many times I wasn't even sure they could bite through human skin. Thanks for the video bro. Glad I saw that they do have fangs to be careful of.

[TheWildReportOfficial]

Dude this was freaking awesome! One of the most unique and well produced videos on the topic I've ever seen. I would absolutely love to see more microbiology type videos from you, I feel like I somehow learn even more than I do from these than your macro-wildlife content. Keep up the fantastic work!

[demonvalentine]

Seeing the respect you give the creatures you investigate is wonderful. As a macro photographer I garnered a huge admiration for our insect and arachnid friends. Incidentally, 'Wolf Spiders' over here refers to the order Lycosidae (and they are incapable of piercing human skin).

[robertdaniels-lane]

Speaking from experience, wolf spider bites are PAINFUL 😭 this experiment was very insightful!

[Vibes]

I've been in the pool business for many years. Wolf Spiders love water and damp places. Been bitten more times than I can remember. It is a painful bite. These were very big wolfies also. Very little swelling and the pain subsided within an hour. I have a picture of a wolf spider floating on the pools surface. It was an easy 4 inches across from limb to limb.

[bulletsforteeth]

Considering the painstaking patience and appreciation you took with this spider to conduct this experiment is a testament to science. Fascinating video.

[colinmartin]

I've got a degree (almost, just finishing unrelated electives) in biochemistry and biomolecular analysis and did some research. Turns out there just is not much data on the composition of most spider venoms due to the super low yield they produce.

The studies I have found show that they predominantly produce a variety of lycotoxin proteins, which are super, super mild neurotoxins and animicrobials due to calcium channel efflux.

Basically, the venom shouldnt be doing much to the blood. It shouldn't be causing cell lysis or coagulation, it seems like the venom mostly causes paralysis and is hypothesized to work as an antimicrobial against any pathogens in the prey itself.

That was a fun little research topic. Sorry I couldn't find any more.

I love wolf spiders. They are phenomenal hunters that keep so many nuisance insects at bay and don't make annoying webs. Truly good guys of the animal kingdom that we should all appreciate.

[cbudzyn]

I was 7 months pregnant when we moved into our new house. One night I got up, like all preggers do (you don’t sleep much during the 3rd trimester). My husband got up as well for medicine & while I was in the bathroom with the lights out, I don’t know why but I turned on the light and a huge black wolf spider (looked like a tarantula) was sitting next to my foot then it ran across the bathroom to the shower. I jumped out of the bathroom & almost tripped into dresser, screaming for my husband. He came running thinking I’d fallen. When I tell him about the “biggest spider ever” he does the “oh yeah…of course ” 🙄. Next thing I hear “holy sh$&…WTF is that??”. It wasn’t aggressive/it didn’t try to bit me, just caused a massive adrenaline dump which isn’t good when you’re pregnant. My blood pressure went through the roof & my heart rate wouldn’t slow down for 20-30 minutes. My daughter kept twitching & jerking for 2 hours. (I was thinking PLEASE don’t start early contractions)

[kathleenmackie]

I found out that I was allergic when I was in my twenties. At first the Dr in the er laughed out loud and was pretty much making fun of me for coming in for a spider bite that wasn't poisonous, til he realized I was having a reaction to it. He was a jerk.
When I was a kid though I stepped on one just because I was little and scared, I didn't know they carried their babies on their back and I thought ( At 7 years old). That it had burst into a million tiny spiders. I still have nightmares about

[Xanduur]

I have “recused” dozens of these guys from my wife’s wrath (moved them to my office or another part of the house) and I have never been bitten by one.

[YeshuaIsTheTruth]

I've lived in Oklahoma my whole life. We have lots of the tan wolf spiders and my grandpa always said they were harmless. He said you don't want to get bit by them, but they're harmless.
He did say to stay away from recluses and widows though

[brianriggs]

As a tree trimmer, I've come across&been bitten a couple times from a wolf spider, Other than it stung, Had a little pain for 6-8 hrs, Never felt anything more

[Sugarglidergirl]

Next time you should try to make a feathered edge blood smear (shaped kinda like a thumbnail). But they can be difficult to do for the first time. It’ll allow you to see a thinner layer of blood cells at a time.