House spiders

[newbie babs]

I am not normally bothered by spiders but I was reading my book and out the corner of my right eye I saw the fireplace go dark.

I turned to see a spider 2 inches long, going along the stone fireplace.
Apparently I moved rather quickly ending up nearly sitting on my daughters knee.

Why are they so big ? what they eating ?

It was HUGE

Anyone else seen them !!!

 

[T163R]

I am not normally bothered by spiders but I was reading my book and out the corner of my right eye I saw the fireplace go dark.

I turned to see a spider 2 inches long, going along the stone fireplace.
Apparently I moved rather quickly ending up nearly sitting on my daughters knee.

Why are they so big ? what they eating ?

It was HUGE

Anyone else seen them !!!

Well were the legs doing the majority of the size ?

 

[newbie babs]

it had long legs but a horrible long body too, so glad the cat never saw it she normally paws them to play with.

It is a sign wet weather is on the way, I think I remember they come in when its cold.

 

[T163R]

it had long legs but a horrible long body too, so glad the cat never saw it she normally paws them to play with.

It is a sign wet weather is on the way, I think I remember they come in when its cold.

Cats ....you gotta love 'em

So what did you do with the spider ?

 

[Yew]

earlier this week, I actually saw a spider outside a house for the first time..

 

[T163R]

earlier this week, I actually saw a spider outside a house for the first time..

Sorry ?

 

[generalvegitable]

theres one in my bedroom. Its called bob. and it seems to live under my wardrobe. I have no idea what they've been eating but there have been suspiciously low numbers of flies and moths around since bob moved in.

 

[newbie babs]

This is the same as the one that visited me, but much bigger

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

They are harmless creatures. It is just that many people have a phobia about spiders inside houses. I tend to be far more annoyed if a slug manages to "sneak in".

 

[T163R]

This is the same as the one that visited me, but much bigger

View attachment 7599

So did you feel obliged to attach this picture ? hock:
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They are harmless creatures. It is just that many people have a phobia about spiders inside houses. I tend to be far more annoyed if a slug manages to "sneak in".

Harmless ? Yeah, maybe spiders like GV's Bob, but not venomous spiders. Yummy. Thankfully I already had dinner !

 

[newbie babs]

The spider was taken to play in the garden, don`t mind smaller ones.

Just found out they can live for months without food and water

 

[T163R]

The spider was taken to play in the garden, don't mind smaller ones.

Just found out they can live for months without food and water

I don't mind small ones either. Though, over 2 cm long/wide, I usually run the **** out.

 

[newbie babs]

Found this as to why is may have been paying me a visit

They become more noticeable in autumn, which is their mating season. The males are often seen scuttling across a room or falling into bath tubs as they move around in search of a female. The males have longer legs than the females, while the females have broader abdomens than the males.

 

[T163R]

the females have broader abdomens than the males.

That wouldn't work with humans

So are you actually feeding yourself with spider stuff tonight ?

 

[JamesHorrell]

I get them all the time and my dog chases them around until they run under my sofa or hide under something and my dog sit down and waits for them to come out but after a while he gets bored and goes back to sleep.

 

[T163R]

I get them all the time and my dog chases them around until they run under my sofa or hide under something and my dog sit down and waits for them to come out but after a while he gets bored and goes back to sleep.

Thankfully he doesn't ask you to take a spider out of his hiding place for him, or does he ?

 

[JamesHorrell]

No I think i may be a little scared if he just stared to talk to me

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The really big House Spiders are the females; they are always bigger than the males. They aren't poisonous ( unless you're a fly of course! ) but they have been known to bite, and their bites have a habit of getting infected easily so I'd always suggest the glass tumbler and card method if you want to move them outdoors.

Now, you know those spindly Cellar Spiders that hang upside down in the corners of ceilings? Apparently they eat House Spiders so if you have lots of those you'll have fewer House Spiders...

If you live in the southern part of the UK one to watch out for is the False Widow, which looks a bit like an Orb Weaver except that they are rather bigger and are a shiny black colour with a red or yellow pattern on their back ( same sort of shape pattern as the dark brown one on the Orb Weavers ). They live outdoors in very tangled looking webs, often under windowsills and in similarly sheltered spots.

These are a bit more "interesting" and have put a few people in hospital, though again they are not dangerous as such; it's more a chance of an allergic reaction than a venomous effect. I managed to get bitten by one in our garden May 2010 and it took about 3 - 4 months for all the itchy swellings and red marks at the bite location to completely vanish...!!

They are an introduced species which got into the country in the south west a few years ago and have gradually been spreading ever since. You are unlikely to find one indoors, though and when they do set up a web they tend to stay in that one location rather than move around - thankfully!

 

[Goldfish62]

I had one in the house the other evening that was so huge it wouldn't have fitted under any jar. The only option for a chronic arachnophobe like me was to bash it with a magazine. Incredibly it took two attempts to stop it in its tracks, and even then it appeared just stunned. I quickly scooped it up and chucked it outside.

They are definitely getting bigger.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

If you want them gone, conkers seem to work quite well, I don't mean for target practice, but spiders do actually seem to dislike them intensely.

 

[Darandio]

They don't like hairspray.

My mother has a serious fear of any spider and calls upon my dad whenever one is around. However, one night he had gone to bed and a rather large one appeared. Cue my mother (in her 70's) unloading half a can of hairspray upon the spider which froze it to the skirting board. Dad gets up the next morning and sees a spider there, springs into action with his tissue and the thing disintegrated.

Problem is, I coined their bungalow "Spider House" as it was a serious problem. Another story was my dad coming in from the club slightly tanked up and going to bed. Mother went to bed an hour or so later, pulled the cover back to climb in and saw a nice big black spider had already taken the spot. She didn't wake him up, just put the cover back, left it there and slept on the couch.

She has always slept with cotton wool in her ears for years now.

I appreciate these anecdotes are better "first hand" but to hear these stories from my parents (pensioners) can be hilarious. It's how she delivers the story, so serious then effectively wetting herself with laughter. Then the cotton wool goes in for another night.

 

[trentside]

My house also seems to have something of a spider problem. It seems to come if phases, we don't see any for weeks, then several big ones appear in quick succession. We invested in a 'spider catcher' a few years ago - it was all but useless on a short pole, but a bit of bamboo cane and it's now a useful tool. We did try these plugin things, but they emitted a high frequency buzzing which gave me a headache - seemed to work though.

I'm not too bothered about small spiders, but the bigger ones are taken outside and set free in the hedge. If it's nighttime, they're in the bedroom and I can't be bothered to get the catcher, they get a quick whack with a magazine or newspaper.

I always thought the conker thing was a myth, does it actually work?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

It appears to work, I can't claim scientific research to back it up, but there was a dramatic reduction in spiders since deployment of conkers under all the furniture

 

[newbie babs]

I am going to try with the conkers, I am sure the spiders would rather not visit anyway.

 

[trentside]

It appears to work, I can't claim scientific research to back it up, but there was a dramatic reduction in spiders since deployment of conkers under all the furniture

Scientific research not necessary, anything is worth a try.

 

[atillathehunn]

When we lived out in various parts of Africa throughout childhood, there were spiders everywhere. We had a large quite old house near Nairobi for a while and it would always be full of spiders. Whenever we had guests come out to stay with us from Europe they would be terrified of the spiders, and would spend all night lying awake terrified of them or even worse trying to swat them. Not only would you just fall over in the dark and wake the dogs up, you would spend days trying to kill them all! Of course, they are utterly harmless and they eat the mosquitoes (much more of a menace!) and other things. The only time to be scared of spiders is in Australia. There's a rather good photo somewhere of a large spider in Queensland devouring what appears to be a rather sizeable bird. Would not want one of those in my garden!

 

[Barrett M95]

The really big House Spiders are the females; they are always bigger than the males. They aren't poisonous ( unless you're a fly of course! )

*ALL* spiders are poisonous. Although you mentioned "unless you're a fly", so I think you probably know that. It's a common myth that there are " no poisonous spiders in the UK" - because in truth - they all are! They just don't all have fangs large enough to pierce human skin or venom powerful enough to do much damage if they do.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

*ALL* spiders are poisonous. Although you mentioned "unless you're a fly", so I think you probably know that. It's a common myth that there are " no poisonous spiders in the UK" - because in truth - they all are! They just don't all have fangs large enough to pierce human skin or venom powerful enough to do much damage if they do.

Then they are venomous spiders surely? Or are they all poisonous as well?

 

[SouthEastern-465]

Anyone had a time where they've put the plug in the bath, let it run get in, and than you feel an itch on your chest. You look down and a huge spider trying to stop itself from drowning crawling on you!

I absolutely shat myself when that happened to me!

 

[Barrett M95]

Then they are venomous spiders surely? Or are they all poisonous as well?

??? I'm not sure I follow your question. All spiders are poisonous (venomous), but don't all have fangs long/strong enough to penetrate human skin and even if they do, the venom they inject isn't powerful enough to do much more than a mild itch to something approaching a nettle sting. Of course some species in some other parts of the world can do much more damage.