Is This A Poisonous Spider We Had In Our Tent In Minnesota?

We were camping next to the lake in tents all weekend enjoying this beautiful September weather. It really wasn't very buggy out, and we didn't even have problems with critters and toads like we normally do.

We were up at Lake Kabetogama in Voyageur's National Park. The park has many boat-in campsites, and it's a really fun way to camp. We pitched our tents on our tend pads and enjoyed a really fun weekend.

Then, on Monday morning while we were packing up our tents, I heard my cousin scream. He was folding up his tent when he saw this huge spider.

The picture doesn't do it justice. This thing was meaty! His phone died, so I grabbed mine to take a picture and I didn't want to get too close to it because man I hate spiders.

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I'm not an expert on arachnids, because once again I hate spiders. But, I did a google image search and I think I found out what was chilling in the tent all weekend.

To me, it looks similar to a Dark Fishing Spider. At first, I thought it might be a wolf spider, which is common in Northern Minnesota. However, with the legs each having noticeable bands, it looks more to me like a fishing spider.

The good news is they are deadly and they don't particularly like being around humans. In most cases they will run away. They are found across most of Minnesota in wooded areas. If you do get bit by one, it will feel similar to a wasp sting. I think I'd be more worried about ruining a pair of underwear if I had one in my sleeping bag. Yikes. That's a scary guy.