An Ontario resident had a hair-raising experience this week after an encounter with Canada's largest spider species. 

The resident detailed their frightening experience in a post on Reddit on Tuesday, which has already garnered over 170 upvotes and several comments. 

"Is this a dock spider?" they wrote. "It was huge and scared me a lot! When I lifted my outside cushion, I jumped at least two feet and screamed so loud. The spider and I had a talk. We came to an understanding." 

The Reddit user said they discovered the spider near Georgian Bay, where Dolomedes — a genus of large arachnids commonly known as fishing spiders, raft spiders, dock spiders, or wharf spiders — are very common. 

Is this a dock spider? It was huge and scared me a lot! when i lifted my outside cushion, I jumped at least 2 feet and screamed so loud. Georgian bay, Ontario Canada. The spider and I had a talk. We came to an understanding.
byu/yeruMisexy inwhatsthisbug

Unlike other species, dock spiders are semi-aquatic, meaning they are capable of walking on water thanks to their H20-repelling hairs and widely spaced legs. 

Considered Canada's largest spider, female dock spiders can grow to be as large as nine centimetres, which is about the size of an adult's hand. 

Dock spiders are normally found on docks (hence their name), boats, boat houses, rocks, and near rivers, streams, ponds, marshes, and reservoirs. 

The massive spiders don't spin webs to catch prey like other species. Instead, they dangle over water and rest their front legs on the surface to feel for vibrations. Once they detect prey, the spiders run across the water's surface to inject their venom. 

Although finding them can give you quite the scare, dock spiders are not generally aggressive toward humans and will most likely run away when confronted. However, if they feel threatened or scared, they might deliver a bee-sting-level bite. 

These situations are still extremely rare, and most often occur when the spiders are sat on, stepped on, or trapped inside clothing. 

If you discover a dock spider, your best bet is to give it space and leave it alone. Removing piles of rock or wood debris around your home, shed, or boathouse is another preventive measure you can take to keep the massive but mostly harmless spiders away from your property.