Oh good, it's big spider time.

[BlueDream]

Just what we needed as the nights draw in/more lockdowns happen.

Yay!

Does anyone remember a programme called Spider House? I watched it to see if it would offer me any tips.

Im sure I heard the spider expert man say they will absolutely not go near your face when you’re in bed.

That spider man was a lying bastard.

Oh God, I’ve had one on my arm as I was carrying my toddler downstairs - took all my willpower not to drop toddler and do the spider dance. Years ago one crawled off the towel I’d just wrapped my hair in post shower and onto my naked back. I couldn’t think what was tickling my shoulder until I looked in the mirror

Yes I can tolerate those thing spindly ones and I tend to leave them because I have heard they eat the other ones. There are a few of the thin ones in our house.

I've got some peppermint spray but not sure how that works if they are already IN the house This thread is frightening.

they're huge this year!! luckily I don't mind them so much (slugs on the other hand...) but I came in last night after dark and saw at least 5 of the fat sods sat in holes in the brickwork, just their great big legs on one side visible. the security light made them into shadows and the effect was pretty damn creepy!!

@Itsmybirthday19

Yes, one is currently "at large" in my bedroom after surprising me by being inside the SHIRT I WAS PUTTING ON.

How we laughed.

God that is the worst.

When DS was about 3 or 4 there was one crawling up his chest towards his bare neck (no idea how it got there) and I totally freaked - grabbed my slipper and whacked it. Good job it wasn't near a window as social services would have been right at us !!

I did have one crawl from under my pillow earlier this year but managed to flick it onto the floor and firmly stamp on it. And I had to rip DDs bed apart one night during lockdown as she saw one crawling down the side as she was going to bed - never did find that one ......

I just don't understand the "put it outside" brigade - these are monsters

They are GIANT this year. Maybe it's Covid trauma, but I don't remember them being this size in previous years and so many of them.

@justasking111

Two daddy long legs tonight they also give me the heebie jeebies.

Us too! They are essentially spiders with wings to me. I screamed last night when one flew into the front room (where hubby and I were sitting watching tv). Hubby thought I'd suffered a life threatening injury whilst also being able to leap across the room in a single bound. I scared the crap out of him

@StopChelping

Does anyone remember a programme called Spider House? I watched it to see if it would offer me any tips.

Im sure I heard the spider expert man say they will absolutely not go near your face when you’re in bed.

That spider man was a lying bastard.

Hahaahaaaaa!

I'm hoping to train my giant spiders to kill the 'Devil Slugs' that terrify me and stop me going out in the garden!

I have got much better at dealing with them myself.

I can catch a daddy long legs by one leg or wing and put it out the window.

The other evening I was just about to get in bed and a big hairy house spider ran out from under my pillow, across the top of it and I grabbed a handful of tissues and grabbed him, threw him and the tissues out the window.

They are essentially spiders with wings to me

Yes!

But spiders are still worse...

The slugs are a bit grim too but at least they mostly stay outside

Ugh... shudder...! They are monstrous this year. I’m up a lot with my newborn at the moment and it’s when they seem to creep out and run across the bedroom when I’m powerless to do anything and then I know they are there but they have disappeared... the worst !!

Give them names. We had an enormous visitor last week, he even tried to get in the shower with me. I just scooped him up in some tissue and popped out of the bath.

Hes still scampering aroung and occasionally runs across the living room in the evenings.

Hes just looking for love, hes lonely

Why did I read this thread 😭😭😭😭

@bananabob

Why did I read this thread 😭😭😭😭

I know! I’m sitting on my sofa and now terrified to move.

I am totally freaking out at the several - SEVERAL! - different accounts of spiders crawling out from under pillows?!?!?! What fresh hell is this?!

(I also can’t cope with the fact that if you even type the S-word, an emoji of the hideous creature appears as an auto suggestion on your phone. I want to flick it away in panic every time).

They won't do you any harm. And for those who fear them crawling over your face, I think you're pretty safe because they generally don't seem to like crawling on human skin. I keep tarantulas and if you try to get one on your hand they will general take a step on then try to reverse and find another way to avoid touching you. I think they know we're a big creature! They're just out looking for ladies and they mean you absolutely no harm.

I despise them. It's guaranteed that within seconds of being in the house when returning from a holiday, one will be skipping merrily around the place like it bloody owns it.
If my neighbours don't know that I've returned from a holiday, they will do within a couple of minutes of me walking through the door, simply hearing me screaming at my husband to get it. 😂
Cellar spiders i tend to leave alone as they kill and eat the big hairy wolf spiders and huntsmen etc.
I have a cellar spider in my hallway at the moment who I call Wilfred and I've told him in no uncertain terms that if he fails in his role, he will be evicted.
If I saw one crawling about on my bed, or worse, from under my pillows I swear I'd have a breakdown on the spot.
I once took a couple of towels off the radiator that I had put there to dry and I put them over my shoulder as I removed them.
I spotted a movement on my chest and that was a bloody big wolf spider.
My husband came running in to see what I was screaming for, he seriously thought I was at least being murdered and saw me dancing around with flailing arms while I screamed my head off. Apparently I looked like a string puppet on speed whose strings were being yanked by a drunk. 😳

We have quite a lot of the wispy spiders, and I can just about cope with them. Do they really eat the bigger ones?

We are moving house soon to a house I suspect will have lots of big hairy house spiders, so I might take some of the wispy ones with me!

Giant house spiders- The ones you’re seeing are usually the male spiders looking for a female. These are quite harmless. Whether they succeed or you kill them, they are doomed. The female kills the male after mating and then eats him. The females can live for years.
It’s the female ones you need to watch out for, they are bigger, hairier and although they rarely bite humans if they do it can cause an allergic type reaction in some people. However, they often trap themselves in bathtubs because they’ll come out looking for a drink of water (after all that spider sex) and then be unable to crawl back out.

You can blame the Romans’ for them if you like. They brought them with them when they colonised Northern Europe.

My cats earn their keep this time of year!

@Ethelredonagoodday Yes, it's well documented and quite something to see.
If you have a cellar spider in your house, leave it be. ( Or wispy spider as you say 🙂 )