WWYD: Giant armoured mum spider (assumed) with eggs has taken over my egg chair

[Flupitude]

For various reasons I didn't get a chance to use my super duper expensive double egg chair last year. On Saturday DH hosed it down and pulled it out into the middle of the garden, jet washed the cushion, left it out to dry.

DS had a quick lie in it just now and came in casually mentioning that DH had missed a spider. A shiny spider.

I've gone out to check and the spider looks like something out of Aliens. It's huge. It does indeed have a super shiny exterior, the longest legs, it has spun a protective layer over itself and it has positioned itself over a giant sphere, which I can only assume to be its eggs.

DH wants to jet wash it off and while I agree on some level, on another level it just feels quite wrong. It's mumming.

But I've waited two years to sit on my egg chair. I've rustled up my book and everything. What do I do?

What would you do?

I'm currently sitting in a camping chair next to my egg chair. DH and DS laughing at me. How long until the eggs hatch? Shall I just wait for them to hatch? We can jet wash them then no?

You could name her.
I think she looks like a Martha.

😂

Ok confirmed as a false black widow spider. I repeat! It's a false black widow!!!

Personally I would leave her to finish mumming. If you relocated them I'd be worried about them being vulnerable and encroaching on some other spider's patch. But I'm a big softie when it comes to these things, and did once cry when my fil washed my car and killed my wing mirror residents

Please let the spider and all her babies live 🕷️🕷️🕷️

😂me either, with the greatest respect

Personally, I don't think it's a quandry. You have young children. If it's a false widow which at first sight it looks like, a single sac will have about 100 to 200 eggs. This is not an endangered species but the bites are nasty and if you leave it you will have a load more in the locale and a single spider will lay more than one egg sac in a summer.

Don't bother with relocating it. It's daft, risks being bitten even if you wear gloves those things can move, and is pointless. If it's under attack, which it will be, it will be quick to seek flesh to bite to stop the attempt to move it. You definitely don't want your 80 year old mother having a false widow bite. Spray it with appropriate killing spray. Job done. Spiders are good and pest controllers but I guarantee you there will be hundreds of others in your garden of other species. The difference here is that it has a massive egg sac, is a species known for nasty bites and is in a place that you sit in. Your son has already been lying in the chair.

After seeing your picture… burn it. Burn it with fire. Do whatever it takes to end that bloodline.

Spiders have free rein in my house, they are beautiful creatures, you should let it be

My DH got bitten by one of these. It made a real mess of his hand. I'd evict it!

PS: if you do spray it, you will need the right kind of spray

"Spraying a spider egg sac with standard bug spray is rarely 100% effective because the silk is thick and water-resistant, making it difficult for standard bug sprays to penetrate. To ensure the eggs do not hatch,use an oil-based aerosol or physically remove the sac.

Oil-based Aerosols: If you choose to spray, do not use water-based insecticides. Instead, use a petroleum-based aerosol or spray designed for spiders, which is capable of penetrating the protective silk casing"

Bleach and Water: Create a solution of equal parts household bleach and water in a spray bottle. Spray the sac directly to kill the eggs inside, then safely dispose of it

I have had a few false widows in the house and a bite on one occasion (caught up in duvet when asleep- I saw it scuttle off and took a photo to ID it). I used to leave them alone but I don’t now since being bitten- it was a painful one and I wouldn’t want the kids experiencing it.

I really wish I hadn't read this thread. But I couldn't stop myself!

We have false widows in our loft. We paid an exterminator in the autumn but the loft looks like a halloween grotto again so we will need to get them back.I don't routinely kill spiders but I do routinely kill false widows.

I love spiders but honestly one bit my foot once and it was excruciating for ages and swollen and sore for literally weeks. Worse than when I broke my foot running. This one’s a monster. You have kids. Destroy!

Dear god I got a fleeting glance as I scrolled and nearly had a heart attack. Sorry but it would have to be exterminated if it was in my garden 😱

I’ve been bitten by a false widow and it took a while to heal. It swelled up over the course of the day after the bite and it took a couple of weeks to stop being red and horrible. Stung like a bastard.

OTOH, it’s your fault for having an egg chair. What else was this poor mummy going to do when she saw a chair that is all about eggs?

In conclusion: I dunno. I’m probably about 60:40 Team Spider:Team OP.

I don't mind spiders, but I evict them when they are in my way.

I would be questioning anyone who claimed to have cleaned the chair for me why he didn't do the job properly. A jet hose should have resolved this issue easily.

What is an egg chair?

Yeah your DH did a really shit job of that cleaning.

On the cleaning, yes I'd agree that this was clearly substandard... I think perhaps he just waved a hose at it rather than the actual jet. Then none of this would have had to happen...

To be fair though, it really has tucked itself into one of the folds of the chair. It really is a skilfully built spider nest...

Egg chair similar to this Dunelm one, but clearly not as beautifully styled, and with added, armoured, spider mum, and babies...

Double Egg Chair | Dunelm

oh fuck that - flame required
a false widow?! god no, they have horrific bites and we do not need anymore of them
I like spider and wont kill any others except these. I relocate them all except widows

My first instinct is kill it with fire. But if you insist on keeping them, then you need to buy a pig.

I think this might be my favourite response so far. A pig? A pig would eat the spider?

If you follow the methodology of the old woman who swallowed a fly, you need a bird, a cat, a dog, a cow and a horse in that order.

Could get pricy. I'd stick with cleansing fire.

I’ve been bitten by a false widow and had a horrible reaction and got cellulitis. I think I’d definitely have to move it somehow far far away.