Massive spider in lounge, shut the door and sealed with masking tape last night,now what?

Not much. And certainly I'm not afraid of something harmless thousands of times smaller than me. I'm afraid when things happen which can cause death or serious illness to me and members of my family or irrevocably change lives for the worse, that's it really.

Pathetic

Glass over it, paper slid under the glass. Pop it outside.

@Calliopespa your resident Mr Hairy Legs is dusting off his glad rags as it's almost September when he needs to find himself a Mrs Hairy Legs.

It's no longer safe to sit on the floor, especially with sharp objects (experience), as he likes to charge around.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/spiders/giant-house-spider]

Some interesting facts about spiders yes I googled it so what.

Spiders exist in nature to control insect numbers, feed other animals, and keep ecosystems in balance. They act as vital predators in every terrestrial environment.Controlling Pests and DiseaseEating insects: Spiders eat hundreds of millions of tons of bugs globally every year, including flies, aphids, and moths.Stopping sickness: By hunting mosquitoes and roaches, they help stop the spread of dangerous human diseases.Protecting plants: They keep pest populations low on farms and gardens, which lowers the need for harsh chemical bug sprays.Supporting the Food WebFeeding wildlife: Spiders are a major food source for birds, frogs, lizards, and small mammals.Nesting materials: Birds and other animals often use strong spider silk to build and hold their nests together.

What are you afraid of?

I don’t think it’s a reach at all. You’re asking someone if she’s an adult simply because she called someone she could rely on to help her with something that terrified her. She might roll her eyes at your rat story and think to herself that you could just get some pre emptive traps/poison set down and stop being so melodramatic about it because they’ll just eat your food and piss all over your worktops. Nothing you can’t clean. It’s not like they’ll gnaw your face off in your sleep.

Personally, I completely agree with why rats in your walls would have bothered you. But do you see the point I’m trying to make? Spiders don’t bother you. Rats might not bother someone else. It doesn’t diminish either fear, so why would you try to make someone feel small about something that makes them shudder?

Well you needn’t have bothered then

A friend of mine once refused to come in my house when I opened the door and there was a spider crawling on the floor in front of me. 🤣🤣🤣 I would do nothing there's lots of spiders living quite happily in my house. They eat flies I would rather have a spider in my house than a fly. Yeah it's annoying finding the odd cobweb. But they are part of our ecosystem.

Call child line.

I don't see my fear of spiders as being self indulgent. I really wish I wasn't scared of them.

I can deal with them, mostly. I live alone and have no choice. I have a spider catcher and remove them humanely. Occasionally I can't reach one or it evades the catcher and runs off abd disappears. Not knowing where it has gone is the worst.

But I am still irrationally terrified of them and hate autumn when I see more of them. Small or spindly ones, ok fine. Huge ones not.

People saying we should grow up or are being self indulgent clearly lack awareness of the fact phobias are a thing and really exist.

If only it was as simple as reading some of these comments and coming to the realisation that I'm indulging myself and need to stop being scared. If it was so easy I'd do that right now!

"We all eat a few in our lives in our sleep" -

prove it 😨

It's 2026.

Spiders lives matter.

I have no advice. I was once ambushed by an unfeasibly enormous beast, it ran across my leg while I was watching Eastenders. I rationally tore off all my clothes whilst screaming then grabbed the Henry Hoover, sucked it up then locked the hoover in the kitchen and lived on takeaways for 3 days because I was convinced it was still alive and would come out driving the hoover like a Spider Tank, and kill me.

So I’m not much use. Sorry.

I have a horrific phobia of spiders, once slept in the car overnight because I found one in the living room and one in my bedroom.

Im sure they’re getting bigger every year. I go full nuclear and spray every inch of the house with whatever spider killing spray I can find. The Doff one is really good, they die in seconds.

That’s a reach. Not harmless spiders though. When next door was empty and rats got in my walls, I’d have nuked the house if I could. I don’t even mind fancy rats but on the walls 😬.

Whether it's recognised still doesn't stop it from being an embarrassingly pathetic phobia.
A phobia such as fear of flying is something that's more understandable as planes can crash and you can die. But in the UK being afraid of spiders is self-indulgent stupid behaviour.

Sid the spider lives in our shed! As long as he stays in the hole in the brickwork and doesn't go near my bike I won't freak out. The day he does my shed will be nuked!

Is there really nothing on earth that frightens you? Lucky old you.

This sounds insane but the things that helped my fear of spiders was talking to them. So if I’d see a massive spider I’d say ‘oh hello Dave? On your way home? Hope you’ve had a good day at work!’ Then I’d imagine this spider was just off home to his wife and kids. Now I can cope with being in the same room with a spider, even if one was say, in the bath whilst I used the bathroom I’d be fine. Wouldn’t be able to touch one though!

Call Zendaya and tell her to get him out of your house.

I’ve got better as I’ve got older but not long after we got married OH went to out to watch football one night and within minutes of him leaving one appeared on the stairs. I managed to put a glass over it and there it stayed until he got back hours later. Every so often I’d go and have a look to make sure it was still living.
Nowadays I’m much better with them, but once I know there’s one around it has to go. OH is happy to let them be and I’d put good money on the fact that if he sees one he doesn’t tell me.

Yes they do. I’ve seen one do it.

The British Arachnological Society say “It is, in fact, impossible to rid an area of spiders for any length of time because new spiders soon recolonise a house if the original inhabitants are killed off. They will constantly 'top-up' the house by entering through windows, doors, drain pipes, over-flow pipes, air-bricks, chimneys and in items brought into the house. During the autumn, many even fly on strands of silk, a process known as ballooning, and can drift indoors through windows or open doors”.

So by virtue of the fact that some come inside the house, they have to have come from outside the house.

Spectacularly ignorant comment from someone who has no idea about phobias

Grow up?