About the spiders?

[BreadZeppelin]

Arrived on holiday today at an 18th century countryside cottage. All absolutely charming until it was time to go to bed and between me and DH we found 17 of those horrible skinny spindly spiders on the walls and lower part of the ceiling. Very tall sloping ceiling though and plenty of nooks and crannies for more of the buggers to hide in. My skin was crawling at the thought of sleeping in there so I'm relegated to the (thankfully low-roofed) nursery where hopefully all spiders have been evacuated by very patient DH.

Obvs it's nothing in the grand scheme of things but I have emailed the letting company to ask them to come sort it out tomorrow. AIBU given that we're in the countryside, or do I have the right to expect a bedroom that isn't dripping with spiders?

Brilliant! My boys had a spider sanctuary in the garden a couple of years ago, and I tried to gradually look at them properly, but they all wandered off in the end

So if I put the spindly ones outside will they die of cold? Although tbh I tend to let them be ba as it's the fat Autumn ones that I really hate.

Gah! Why did I read this thread!? Somewhat arachnophobic and had no idea what these spindly spiders you were on about were. No, Google images, NO.

I have lived in both the spidery bit of Australia and rural British countryside and the spiders still nope me out. I actually have a plethora of spider horror stories.

We now have two indoor cats, the first one was meant to be a foster but at 10 weeks old she chased one of those big squashy ones across the bathroom and chomped it. She never moved out and I haven't seen a spider in yonks. I'm not entirely sure of the logic of not feeling OK squashing the bastards, but allowing my cats to hunt them. Hey ho.

For future holidays, bring a cat?

This is our girl and her new babies. I HATE HATE HATE spiders but our last house was very rural and covered in these. They were removed every week with the hoover and their families always came back. Eventually we got so used to them hanging around in the corners and in cupboards we just left them (though ones in our bedrooms or ones that got too big or too close got evicted). PPs are right, they do eat the hairy fuckers and as a result we never saw them or if we did, we watched spindly spiders attack them (it was oddly fascinating).

New house doesn't have spindly spiders but has loads of giant ones that could eat our cat!!! When we found Mrs Spindly and others in our furniture from the old house we left them. Now the babies will grow and keep us safe 😂😂

I've been watching two big spindly spiders making webs in the corner above DDs dads head for the last hour. I've never been scared of them but now I think I love them even more.

I loath spiders. But I always leave the spindly ones alone. I love them. They kill the nasty big hairy ones that terrify me.

If the spindlies get rid of the nightmare awful ones, then this thread is pure, life-changing gold.

I'm not a spider fan.

Missing the point totally though - how the feck do those spindly daddy long legs things eat the giant Fucker aka the house spider?

I didn't realise just how good hunters these were until DH and I watched a fat hairy spider come in through the window and walk al over the living room ceiling. We sat there for an hour, tv paused, just mesmerised, watching him run around the ceiling terrified and the spindlies came out of their corners to try and kill him. The big spindly bugger over the fireplace won. It was gross and yet fascinating.

I did have to kill one once though when it crawled over my shoulder from the back, like a big creeping hand... no no no! No matter how many hairies it eats, it's not allowed to touch me!!!

@youarenotkiddingme, I think they kill them before they manage to grow big. They must be very poisonous as they kill/subdue the biggies quickly. The long legs help, holding it at a distance.

@I usually catch them with my special 'spider shoe'.

Those spindly babies are weirdly cute.

There are videos of spindly vs hairy spider fights on YouTube. They are fascinating.

I'm terrified of those big hairy house invaders, but don't get any of those spindly looking ones.
After working with 2 who 'lived above my head' I don't mind them.
Can I get any from anywhere?!
I live in a total rural remote and get big hairy fuckers big enough to eat my young children! And unfortunately most don't meet a happy ending.
If I could put one of those (or two) in each room, I'd be able to sleep soundly!
Someone sell me some!!

Also have cats who are fucking useless!
Ate these spindly looking things better than cats I should have added!

Spindly cellar spiders are not indigenous, they are from the tropics which is why they can't survive outside.
I personally think of them as an invasive species as any house they inhabit soon seems to be void of any other spider. To me that is a sad thing even though spiders do creep me out!

I did have to kill one once though when it crawled over my shoulder from the back, like a big creeping hand...

Well. There goes my chance of any sleep tonight.

I didn't know the spindly spiders eat the big ones. That's really interesting. How do they catch?

They do... I've witnessed it (funnily enough the day after expressing disbelief of the same on an MN thread)

The big fat hairy one got caught in one of the spindly one's messy webs... the spindly one then wrapped it up in more web and the hairy one got completely eaten.

I used to get rid of the spindly ones. Now I leave them alone, including their babies. They just sit there, in their corners, making their messy webs.

Literally not had a house spider since 🕷

I personally think of them as an invasive species as any house they inhabit soon seems to be void of any other spider. To me that is a sad thing even though spiders do creep me out!
I feel just the same way about them, although I love spiders. It's the same result as imported grey squirrels pushing out the reds, even though the actual mechanism is different.

Just about to go to bed and probably shouldn't have checked this thread!

Fuck off with your big creeping hand. People with a way with words should NOT be allowed on spider threads.

Spindlies kill fat bastards? This is a game changer.

any house they inhabit soon seems to be void of any other spider

I get your point, honestly, but as an arachnophobe, it's still music to my ears!!

Thanks for the detailed description of the death of the fat hairy spider Fergus. Interesting, but not sure I'd be hanging around watching that any time soon. Think I'd just quietly close the door and leave them to it. Sounds gruesome.

I think it's unreasonable to ask for somebody to sort them out 😕

I clean a beautiful holiday let that is in the countryside and always do my best to get rid of them because I know some guests won't like them. Obviously you can't get rid of all of them but that's the countryside for you.
I even have a couple of resident spiders that I have named in my house, they don't bother me because they stay in their own little area. I used to be scared of spiders but I'm used to them now. Although I do have to make sure I don't announce the presence of some to dh, he has issues with bugs weirdo