Spider season

Grunfeld

Bidley said:

I need to remedy it somehow, even some sort of spider-catcher (sadly my two cats are gone) would help!

I have two of these (for upstairs and down):

spidercatcher.net

Takes a small amount of practice, like about two or three goes where you're getting your coordination together and mastering your emotions and just concentrating on dealing with the spider.  But once you've got it, oh man, what a relief knowing that you can deal with the little fuckers. I don't like killing them cos they have their place in the grand scheme of things, and so long as they stick to the house rules I'll leave them alone, but if they step out of line then I evict them.

jonnyburgo

I dont mind them having a mooch about at night, we had one that did the same circuit at 9.45 every evening. Just put a glass over and slide a bit of card under it and chuck em out, easy peasy.

I once used to lodge in an attic room and some nights there could be up to 4 of them in various configurations having a walk about, big buggers too, you could actually hear them scampering across my cds as I tried to catch them *brrr*

axisus

Those videos made me jump! I hate the buggers but I never kill them, I catch them and put them out. Even though they make my skin crawl, I never show it in front of the kids as I don't want to affect them.

ICBM

axisus said:

Those videos made me jump! I hate the buggers but I never kill them, I catch them and put them out. Even though they make my skin crawl, I never show it in front of the kids as I don't want to affect them.

Exactly. The big buggers still make me involuntarily jump when they scuttle, but I'm not going to be afraid of something that much smaller than me and which is harmless (unlike some of the ones octatonic grew up with!). Catching them with a see-through cover and a card so you can then safely look at them really close up helps - the kids like to do that now too.

I actually quite like the tiny ones, they're a bit more friendly. I also genuinely like moths, especially the huge furry ones - which I know are another big cause of phobia. Even then, if one catches me by surprise I can still get the jump reaction.

Bidley

@Grunfeld, thanks for that, I'll look into it!

@octatonic, one reason I'll never go to Australia!

@ICBM, congrats on your daughters being 'more man' than me. My old man tried to get me to deal with them myself when I was young, right up to when I left home, and it just wasn't happening. I got as far as putting a pint glass over them, but I could never put the card/coaster underneath! I'd be so shaken up, I'd probably drop the card/glass and the fucking thing would walk up my arm and eat MY FACE (ok, maybe not the last bit).

I know it's silly, and despite their size I am aware that they're quite a bit smaller than me and they can't do any direct damage to me. I get angry as much as terrified when I have an encounter, as it really would be much easier to not give a shit!

bertie

Grunfeld said:

 I don't like killing them cos they have their place in the grand scheme of things, 

this - different sized spiders will eat different sized bugs,   we never evict,  just re-locate. Sometimes even feed them. 

wibble

You can take part in a house spider survey here...

https://www.societyofbiology.org/get-involved/biologyweek/house-spider-survey

iphone app here...
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/spider-in-da-house/id680780793?mt=8

axisus

Actually my kids are mostly very good with spiders. This was son no2 at 6 years old back in 2006:

Myranda

Just been reading about the big spiders...

Huntsman spiders grow a leg-span up to 30cm Heteropoda Maxima is the biggest of them, but the Goliath Bird Eating Spider is the biggest by mass...

And yet the biggest fossil spider (from when everything else was massive) was only a few inches across... strange

Axe_meister

As the who would sing.

"Never more will he crawl round, cos he's embedded in the ground"

Myranda

Stunning creatures...

Millions and millions of years of evolution have created few types of animals with more than two eyes, but so many species of spider out there, 8 legs, up to 8 eyes, little arm like appendages... ability to make one of the strongest fibres in the natural world... some can jump many times their body length - with great accuracy. Many can construct amazing home/trap combinations which glisten beautifully when moist and lit well... one family - Portia - learn at a fantastic rate to over-come prey species they've never before encountered, and exhibit both intelligence like attributes and some form of inherited hunting tactics as instinct.

Amazing.

viz

Bastard aliens.

strumjoughlamps

we never bother the spiders, they keep the house clear of ants and little bugs/flies

CabbageCat

Myranda said:

 

Stunning creatures...

Millions and millions of years of evolution have created few types of animals with more than two eyes, but so many species of spider out there, 8 legs, up to 8 eyes, little arm like appendages... ability to make one of the strongest fibres in the natural world... some can jump many times their body length - with great accuracy. Many can construct amazing home/trap combinations which glisten beautifully when moist and lit well... one family - Portia - learn at a fantastic rate to over-come prey species they've never before encountered, and exhibit both intelligence like attributes and some form of inherited hunting tactics as instinct.

Amazing.

And yet they still can't make even a half-way decent lasagne. Evolution is broken.

Myranda

How do you know they can't make lasagne? I've seen no trusted peer reviewed studies showing the inability to cook in spiders

frankus

Anyone seen this?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bites-reported-across-london-and-kent-as-south-east-sees-influx-of-britains-most-poisonous-spider-8827447.html

caused concern from the missus in our house.

Myranda

As there's a health warning associated with this - would it not have been useful for the article to be accompanied by enough photos to positively identify the spider?

Col_Decker

This thread needs to die. Die by fire.

viz

frankus said:

Anyone seen this?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bites-reported-across-london-and-kent-as-south-east-sees-influx-of-britains-most-poisonous-spider-8827447.html

caused concern from the missus in our house.

Something about that article seems odd: “I was in bed with the light off,” Mr Lakeman told News Shopper. “I have quite a lot of hair and it normally brushes on my shoulder and being a hot night I had the fan on. To begin with I thought it was my hair so instinctively I threw it off onto the floor.

Col_Decker

Poisonous spiders? What are people eating them?

 

 

/pedant