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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to have put this spider in a jar?

62 replies

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 12:49

Sitting here minding my own business, late night MNing in Australia, feel something tickle my leg. Brush it off, feel it scuttle. So I switch the side lamp on, and then see a shadow on my sofa. Tis a spider! but which one?

So I get more light, directly on it - can't decide if it's a grey house spider or a white tail - so now it's in a jar with the lid on so it can't escape.

I still can't work out whether or not it's a white tail, and despite all the reassuring research that says their venom isn't really all that dangerous and you are unlikely to get an infected bite, I still don't want to take the chance.

I'm not into bashing spiders of dubious reputation (although I'll happily kill a redback) - so what shall I do with it? I'm not releasing it in the house, it's the middle of the night here, will it be all right in the jar until the morning and then I can take it down the garden and chuck it out for the birds.

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RoundOrangeHead · 16/03/2011 12:50

this is exactly why I will never live in Australia

2littlegreenmonkeys · 16/03/2011 12:52

I take my hat off to you for being so calm about a spider (any spider) as I am rather freaked out by them. Personally I would leave it in the jar not sure what would happen to it though could you make some small holes in the lid for air. Or can you take it outside and dispose of it now?

PurveyorOfWoo · 16/03/2011 12:52

Of course it will be alright in the jar, do you think it's going to die of starvation or claustrophobia overnight!

Give it a name, you might find you can't bear to part with it. Colin the spider - there see it's less scary already.

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 12:52

don't blame you

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MissVerinder · 16/03/2011 12:52

can you chuck it out the window (ground floor)? TBH though I'd think it'll be ok till morning. So, YANBU; especially if it might be a biter.

TrinityIsABunnyMunchingRhino · 16/03/2011 12:53

I second roundorangehead

and just squish it

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 12:55

no no, spiders are always either Boris or Fred. Colin just wouldn't work although I could call a cockroach Colin. I'm not scared of it per se, I just don't want it running around loose if there's a chance it's going to bite me.

monkeys - no I am not going outside now. It is nearly midnight. God only knows what is lurking out there and I'm not letting it loose within 10 metres of the house!

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KnittedBreast · 16/03/2011 12:56

how big is it?

2littlegreenmonkeys · 16/03/2011 12:56

Argh can see you point then. Still think you are very brave I would have squished it or sucked it up with the vacuum Blush

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 12:57

Can't chuck anything out of the window, all windows have gauzes over them to prevent entry of more beasties of unpleasant nature. Whole house is ground floor anyway.

I'm not squishing it if it's a house spider - they eat the mozzies!

Wish they'd eat the cockroaches too - would you believe one was hiding in my wine glass earlier? There was a small amount left in it, I went to top it up and it appeared to be bubbling - fecking cockroach swimming in it!! Shock

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WassaAxolotl · 16/03/2011 12:57

Make sure there's ventilation. I accidentally asphyxiated an incredibly large spider a few years ago by putting a container over it for the night.

KnittedBreast · 16/03/2011 12:58

urgh!!!

im never going to oz!

geordieminx · 16/03/2011 12:58

Just make sure the lid is on tight.... And maybe put a book on top of it...... Just incase like Grin

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 12:59

Ok, I might punch an air hole in the lid then. I'm not going to kill it unnecessarily.

Although, are you sure you killed it, axolotl? (great name, btw) I thought I had killed a black beetle in the UK by leaving it under a glass for a day or so but when I took the glass off it started moving again! Bloody thing was just playing dead.

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kreecherlivesupstairs · 16/03/2011 13:00

You are being very kind. I don't kill spiders and have slowly taught DD that not all spiders bite (thanks for that school).
I did once find the most beautiful beetle on the wall of our house in Muscat, I got it in a glass and put it in the freezer because I was convinced it was a new species and it would be named after me Blush
I hauled my 37 week carcass to the local natural history museum and showed it to a very nice young lady on the front desk. She took me to the head of insects who gently told me they would keep it to replace one of the ones in their display that was looking tired. It was very common.

LessNarkyPuffin · 16/03/2011 13:03

Shock Beetle freezer.

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 13:06

Kreecher, bless her for being so nice to you! Did she offer to put a little placard in that said "kindly donated by Kreecher" as well? :)

Sadly for us, while living in the UK I would have been more than happy for DS to have got to know the spidery inhabitants of our house there - never killed them, always let them do their job.
But here - it's a different matter - you can't teach them to differentiate at 3, so ALL spiders are "Don't Touch!"
We have a LOT of biting spiders, not all are venomous but they still bloody hurt.

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gotobedsleepyhead · 16/03/2011 13:13

Oh thumbwitch am vomiting at thought of cockroach in wine!
I just found a cane toad sitting outside our back door (looking like he was waiting to be let in) - eeuughh.
I wouldn't put a hole in your jar for the spider - they are very cunning & it will probably find a way of squeezing out.

When we asked an Aussie friend how to tell which spiders were safe, she said she works on the basis that ANY spider around her child is a bad one & they must all be killed set free immediately.
We bought a spider catcher with us from Lakeland in the uk (vacuum tube contraption) but sadly no spider here is small enough to be sucked up. They just swat it away without even breaking a sweat.

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 13:16

oh me too, gotobed - thank god I saw the damn thing swimming, if I'd taken one sip I'd have thrown up for hours!!

lol at spiders swatting away the spider-catcher.

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gotobedsleepyhead · 16/03/2011 13:20

I think you are very brave for catching the spider. I would be in the car & down the road if one had actually touched my leg. Is it still in it's jar? Waving at you?? It's thinking 'just wait until thumbwitch goes to sleep and then I'll just flip the lid off this jar, hop out & help myself to her lovely wine'. [shudder]

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 13:23

it's still in the jar. I think I may have blinded it by shining the head torch onto it while trying to work out what it was!
No wine left this time Grin

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jasminetom · 16/03/2011 13:45

I never kill things, ever...except the bloody family of biting camel spiders who live in my house. One of my cats has been bitten and now I take them next door to my Australian friend who stamps on them. I use a spider catcher from Lakeland, the best present I have ever had.

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 13:50

HOLY FUCK! They're evil nasty big jobs! Have you seen this one??
I'd have a job getting near anything that big!!
WARNING - do NOT click on link if you are arachnophobic or of a nervous disposition

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jaffacake79 · 16/03/2011 13:51

Oh blimey, I'm getting braver and can catch and release them now, but big Australian spiders - errrrrrrr maybe not.

Apparently, and it's a bit of an old wives' tale, conkers are meant to repel spiders. (According to my Mum!)

thumbwitch · 16/03/2011 13:52

OMG - they can run at about 10mph. I suspect that's faster than I can run. I am NEVER visiting a desert region where these things live EVER.

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