Arachnophobia

Is it my imagination, or is anyone else in the UK finding an awful lot of spiders and spider webs around this year? We seem inundated.
 
PeteByrdie said:
Is it my imagination, or is anyone else in the UK finding an awful lot of spiders and spider webs around this year? We seem inundated.
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Funny you should ask that Pete, because only this morning I was thinking that I have hardly seen any large spiders at all this year, except one biggie that I spotted on the wall of a friend's garage a few weeks ago. And I have been doing a lot of clearing out of sheds, and attics and such like. A couple of years ago was a bumper year round here for what my dad used to called 'racehorse' spiders, i.e. the ones so big you can hear them approaching! So far this year, nothing.... though I expect I have spoken too soon....
 
CharmerKamelion said:
Funny you should ask that Pete, because only this morning I was thinking that I have hardly seen any large spiders at all this year, except one biggie that I spotted on the wall of a friend's garage a few weeks ago. And I have been doing a lot of clearing out of sheds, and attics and such like. A couple of years ago was a bumper year round here for what my dad used to called 'racehorse' spiders, i.e. the ones so big you can hear them approaching! So far this year, nothing.... though I expect I have spoken too soon....
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Well, we are coming up to mating season for these big boys and girls.
 
Beresford said:
Well, we are coming up to mating season for these big boys and girls.
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I've mentioned on this forum before about the amount and size of spiders we get in this house at this time of year. Huge buggers, the size of my hand.

Last year however I invested in some spider repellent and we hardly saw one.

Done the same this year and I haven't seen any so far. £5.99 a bottle of spray. Bought 6 bottles which should take us into October.
 
I'm giving that a try, definitely. On my dad's boat we use electronic spider scarers, and they seem to work. But we have three on a boat less than 40 foot, and the batteries need changing frequently. So, I'm not filling the house with them.
 
Nosmo King said:
Conkers are supposed to deter spiders
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So I've heard. I've also been in one of those houses where they leave conkers around to deter spiders, and watched a big house spider crawl over a conker, laughing, sticking a middle finger up at the conker. Well, he may not have done the finger thing. But I'm sure I heard him laughing.
 
Bigphoot2 said:
A friend of mine uses about 10 drops of essential oil - usually citrus or peppermint in a spray bottle of water and a few drops of liquid soap to make the oil mix with the water. From what she'd told me it seems to keep them away.
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That's exactly what the spray I buy smells like - peppermint. Dont know why spiders dont like the smell of peppermint though ????
The firm that makes the spray I use are called 'zero in'. Seems to work though.

Before I started using the spray i would hate this time of year, up and down the stairs at the beck and call of the kids with spiders in their bedrooms. Pint glass and old birthday cards in every room of the house to catch them in.

Tip tip. If you can get as close to them and as often as possible and you'll soon lose your fear of them.
 
Big BIG spider this morning in the shower, first I've seen so far this year. I tried to avoid splashing it but after a minute it just sort of curled up in a ball. Just now checked the shower and it's still there in a ball - so dead :(
 
I had to go down to the Annexe this morning, where old furniture is stored. I've heard it's incredibly creepy, and of course the first thing I saw when I unlocked the door and opened it was a massive-arse spider hanging on the inside of the door. Fortunately it was dead!
 
bugmum said:
I had to go down to the Annexe this morning, where old furniture is stored. I've heard it's incredibly creepy, and of course the first thing I saw when I unlocked the door and opened it was a massive-arse spider hanging on the inside of the door. Fortunately it was dead!
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Massive-arse spiders are easily my least favourite.
 
Nosmo King said:
I use to have 2 tarantulas, the biggest was the size of my hand
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What species did you have? I'm currently dreaming about a modest collection of the following:

T. vagans
A. geniculata
A. seemanni
C. versicolor

That covers terrestrial, fossorial and arboreal, which seems reasonable to me. Something has shifted for me with the genic, they used to give me the fear, even after I'd become interested in keeping. I'd maybe add in B. emilia and/or C. cyaneopubescens to round off the half-dozen.
 
Krepostnoi said:
What species did you have? I'm currently dreaming about a modest collection of the following:

T. vagans
A. geniculata
A. seemanni
C. versicolor

That covers terrestrial, fossorial and arboreal, which seems reasonable to me. Something has shifted for me with the genic, they used to give me the fear, even after I'd become interested in keeping. I'd maybe add in B. emilia and/or C. cyaneopubescens to round off the half-dozen.
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I had a Chile rose,
Scientific name: Grammostola rosea
Family: Theraphosidae
Phylum: Arthropoda
Order: Araneae
Kingdom: Animalia,

and a Honduras curly haired.
Scientific name: Tliltocatl albopilosus
Phylum: Arthropoda
Family: Theraphosidae
Order: Araneae
Kingdom: Animalia.

Aswell as 2 Imperial scorpions, 2 fire salamanders, a sand boa, a chinchilla and a cat.
 
Pet tarantulas ..... OMG NO ,,,!!! My worst nightmare .

My current abode is a 2 bed ground floor apartment, it's a grand old Victorian house that's been carved up into flats. Its my flat that's attached to the cellar , it's incredibly creepy.... Complete with a stone table that was once used for the servants to do baking/cooking prep on ( I think) , although it reminds me of a Victorian morgue table , like the one with the dead prostitutes on it in "From Hell " film. .... Creepy.

Said cellar is infested with harvestmen , them skinny spiders. I can cope with them. See about 10 about the house daily .

My previous house was very rural and we used to get inundated with Giant British House Spiders..... Big buggers running wild around the skirting each night.... Hate them!!! My ex partner I lived with there, is very old school and just would pick them up and kill them in his bare hand ...... Yuk! I'm like HOW CAN YOU TOUCH THEM......Awful.

At least the things are harmless unlike false widows, glad we have not encountered them. Kids have had limbs amputated after a bite with those monstrosities!

I only saw 1 monster spider here last season...... Good. I killed it with the spider electrocuter from Poundland. Looks like a tennis bat. Works on wasps n all nastys.

I shall try the peppermint spray. Might keep the harvestmen in the cellar.

I may do a vid of my creepy spidery cellar if anyone wants to see it.....complete with stone morgue table.,
 
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Couldn't you manage the glass and postcard trick for your unwanted visitors with more than four legs? We're not supposed to kill them now, because the insect and arachnid populations are dwindling, which is bad news for the environment. That said, if you're getting buzzed by a bluebottle that simply will not use an open window, then drastic action may well be taken.
 
FunkyTT said:
Pet tarantulas ..... OMG NO ,,,!!! My worst nightmare .

My current abode is a 2 bed ground floor apartment, it's a grand old Victorian house that's been carved up into flats. Its my flat that's attached to the cellar , it's incredibly creepy.... Complete with a stone table that was once used for the servants to do baking/cooking prep on ( I think) , although it reminds me of a Victorian morgue table , like the one with the dead prostitutes on it in "From Hell " film. .... Creepy.

Said cellar is infested with harvestmen , them skinny spiders. I can cope with them. See about 10 about the house daily .

My previous house was very rural and we used to get inundated with Giant British House Spiders..... Big buggers running wild around the skirting each night.... Hate them!!! My ex partner I lived with there, is very old school and just would pick them up and kill them in his bare hand ...... Yuk! I'm like HOW CAN YOU TOUCH THEM......Awful.

At least the things are harmless unlike false widows, glad we have not encountered them. Kids have had limbs amputated after a bite with those monstrosities!

I only saw 1 monster spider here last season...... Good. I killed it with the spider electrocuter from Poundland. Looks like a tennis bat. Works on wasps n all nastys.

I shall try the peppermint spray. Might keep the harvestmen in the cellar.

I may do a vid of my creepy spidery cellar if anyone wants to see it.....complete with stone morgue table.,
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No need to kill spiders Funky, Just invest in a good old fashioned solid pint glass (or pinch one from the pub lol) and capture them with an old birthday card.

Is harvestmen that the name of those skinny spiders….??? We call them Cyril’s, I’ve been told that the huge monsters we get in this house are called cardinal spiders.

I did get the kids to film me a few years back capturing a giant cardinal walking across one of the beams in the living room, but I accidently deleted the vid otherwise I would have uploaded it - biggest one I’ve ever seen, it was the size of a saucer.

Do go out and buy the peppermint spray, it really does keep them at bay.
 
Oh should have mentioned. An ex neighbour of mine used to eat spiders.

If ever I was out of the house and Mrs DT spotted a Cardinal, she would knock next door and he would come round, pick it up, pop it in his mouth and chew and swallow the bloody thing.

He was an ex copper though, so I’m thinking zero tolerance with spiders in the house, and zero tolerance with chavs on the streets – I like that way of thinking :)
 
Dick Turpin said:
Oh should have mentioned. An ex neighbour of mine used to eat spiders.

If ever I was out of the house and Mrs DT spotted a Cardinal, she would knock next door and he would come round, pick it up, pop it in his mouth and chew and swallow the bloody thing.

He was an ex copper though, so I’m thinking zero tolerance with spiders in the house, and zero tolerance with chavs on the streets – I like that way of thinking :)
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What a weirdo.
 
Mythopoeika said:
What a weirdo.
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On the contrary Myth. He was a very down to earth and decent man. Bloody good neighbour too boot. He just had a strange sense of humour, which probably went with his job.

Few years back when the world cup was on, and me and the kids were screaming at the TV, he knocked on our door, with a large saucepan on his head asking if everything was okay – it was his way of telling us to keep the noise down a bit :hahazebs:
 
FunkyTT said:
Yes harevestmen are the skinny ones. I didn't know we are not supposed to kill them now,.... Got me feeling guilty now !
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The 'skinny ones' could be cellar spiders, which are actual spiders, or harvestmen, which are a different order of arachnids. Both are known as 'daddy longlegs' in different places, although in the UK that name generally refers to the insect otherwise called craneflies.
 
PeteByrdie said:
The 'skinny ones' could be cellar spiders, which are actual spiders, or harvestmen, which are a different order of arachnids. Both are known as 'daddy longlegs' in different places, although in the UK that name generally refers to the insect otherwise called craneflies.
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Yes, cellar spiders have multiple body segments

Cellar-Spider-2-body-parts.jpg


And harvestmen have a single body segment.

leiobunum-harvestmen-daddy-longlegs.jpg
 
Nosmo King said:
Yes, cellar spiders have multiple body segments

View attachment 44189

And harvestmen have a single body segment.

View attachment 44190
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Strangely, neither of these creatures set off my arachnophobia. Also, both of them 'dance'. Sometimes, if you knock near to a harvestman, it'll dance, and sometimes, if you disturb a cellar spider in its web, it'll rapidly vibrate for a while. But the weirdest thing some harvestmen do, I think, is gather together and pretend to be hair.

 
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