Randy the Wolf Spider

This is the story of a large and hairy spider we found while we were working in our yard. We found it under a bag of trash. It was sort of drowsy and easy to catch. Boy, was I scared. Mommy got a jar and Daddy coaxed him into it. Mommy made holes in the lid so he could get air.

We asked the neighbors if they knew what kind of spider he was. But no one knew. Mommy said, ''Let's take him to the Living Desert Reserve.''

The Living Desert Reserve, which is near my home, has live exhibits of animals and plants found in the desert.

We could not take him to the Reserve until Sunday, so we kept him in the house a few days.

It was interesting to watch it move and eat the salt from the peanut jar. He was about one-and-a-half inches long. He was light brown with a black belly.

Daddy said, ''Why not call him Randy?''

I said, ''Sure.''

When I looked at him Sunday he had spun a web.

When he took him to the Reserve they said he was a wolf spider. They asked if they could keep it, and so we said ''OK.'' When we got home we looked up the wolf spider in an encyclopedia. We learned that wolf spiders are called that because they chase their prey and pounce on it. They are very fast runners.