jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

What kind of spider is this? A local person posted the picture online.

EDIT: I cropped the picture. That's not actual size.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

I’ve no idea what kind of spider that is but he blends into the background rather well.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

He certainly does.

JimWr

Common Name: slender crab spider

Scientific Name: Tibellus oblongus

Lives on vegetation in gardens, etc

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. I passed that along to the woman who found it in her garden. She'll be able to leave the house again. : )

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

It looks like it's alive, which means it's a BAD spider.

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

Don't think it's a crab spider, Tibellus: the front two pr legs are not long enough, not held together (usually); all the eyes of crabs are small and in the front face, not with 4 large and two of them on the side, 2 in front (can't see the anterior set of 4 small ones on the lower face). Might be a Pisaurid (nursery-web) or Lycosid (wolf) spider. You might send to https://www.facebook.com/groups/truespiders/ True Spiders of the World and see if they could ID it.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

relbugman has it. Although the crab spider is similar in general appearance and it was a good try. Its this nursery web spider specifically: https://bugguide.net/node/view/509685
There are different species in this group. They get their common name b/c the females bring their egg sac to the top of a plant and there they enclose it in a web "nursery", which they guard while the babies hatch.
Not at all aggressive to humans, though they do run fast in short bursts and that can be off-putting. They will just run from you, though. One species commonly seen near water is scary-big.

HOHIMER

Common Name: slender crab spider
Scientific Name: Tibellus oblongus
Otherwise Known As: Big ass spider!
Lives on vegetation in gardens, etc
Normal Female Reaction: Fear, Tribulation, Horror, jitters, bête noire

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

Mark, I’m always interested in your great comments, especially on behavior. In this case, are you sure you're not partly mixing nursery web spider with lynx spider nursery behavior? Lynxes usually do exactly what you describe, making a strong, often large egg ‘nest’ on a branch tip where they lay their eggs and guard the hatchlings until they disperse.
Many nursery-web spiders carry their egg sacs in their chelicerae, but make a thin web at hatching time in the grass or litter near ground level, and then also guard it until the young disperse. This is similar to lynxes, but not usually up high on branch tips of shrubs and not as heavily webbed, and the bundling and carrying of the eggs for an extended period before is very different.
Still, it is very interesting that parts of the behavior are similar in these not-so-closely related families. A number of other families also make special places to lay their eggs, including some crab spiders. I once found a fluff about thumb-sized at the tip of a meter-tall grass stem, no parent around. It produced about 100 tiny crab spiders that kept in the web for over two weeks, shed their skin twice, then dispersed on their own. Always interesting!

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Looks like a Grass or a Wolf spider to me. Very common.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Good call. I immediately had it as a Wolf and was doing a quick search when I saw realbugman's post.

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

Grass spiders are another good possibility, but nearly always have the spinnerets extending beyond the abdomen, and have all eyes to the front. Still stick with Mark's ID.