I found a wolf spider in our house in Benicia, CA. What a gorgeous animal. It was so huge that I couldn’t figure out how it got in. I evicted it, as I do all spiders found in the house, but I was sorely tempted to keep it. Besides, the cats would probably have annoyed it.
Tarantulas are really cool too. South of the Carquinez Strait stands Mt. Diablo, where there are thousands of them, and during mating season, they’re all over the road leading to the top of the mountain. It’s really cool to see so many.
Spiders are vital predators, so I’m surprised that you feel that way about them.
They have cartilage rather then bone which makes them flex into very small locations if they need to.
I wonder if the beautiful yellow and black Golden Garden Spiders are relatives of these big boys? They do keep the bugs out of spring gardens in the northeast, anyhow.