To ask if it's only my garden that's suddenly become spider central??

[Cantthinkofanythinggood]

Literally LOADS of webs have appeared around my garden with menacing looking spidees in them! I'm frightened to walk round have to check I'm not walking into their webs - has anyone else noticed this in their garden this week?

Aw it is nice to see some spider love on this thread! I've got a few spider friends currently living on my car wingmirrors, which means I can't put my car through the carwash.

I tend to put house spiders into my shed when I find them inside, because my cat likes to 'play' with them, which means its only a matter of time before I find a mangled spider corpse. Hopefully they survive in the shed.

@OrangeFluff, yes I have 4 cats so we don't see all that many spiders or cobwebs in our house, but enough to worry our 2 DDs.

Same here- I walk out the front door with my hands stretched out in front of me to stop getting webs all over my face

There's an article in the Daily Fail today about them...www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4822640/UK-weather-Bank-Holiday-weekend-SPIDER-invasion.html

One ran across my arm last week. It was massive

"Chilling" photographs

"Horrified" residents

"Traumatised" after "monsters" appeared in their home

"Must have come up through the plug hole"

I can read no further! That's the daily fail alright!

For anyone thinking they come up through the drainage/plug hole - they don't. They aren't aquatic.
The reason they're so often found in sinks/baths/shower trays etc is because they either wander in for a droplet of water, or they just happen to wander in and can't climb back out.

I had a spider's web on my new car within 1 hour of parking it! Feisty at this time of year.

(actually felt quite pleased that the spider picked my car)

I've got an infestation of false widow spiders. Their bite is harmless unless you are allergic, I'm definitely not because I've been bit several times over the last 8 years

I had to destroy a stripy spiders web the other day. The enterprising little fellow had spun an enormous web between the front of my car and the brick wall I'd parked near. I felt very cruel as I carefully reversed away, wrecking his hard work

RedGrape

Ha! Yes they certainly do make them in inconvenient spots sometimes!
One morning around this time last year my neighbour had parked quite close to the ass end of my pickup and I noticed a garden spider web from the top of the back of the pickup, down to the towbar, and back to her front bumper! Obviously couldn't just not go to work because of a spider but yeah it's a shame they do that.

Guess it figured it would be a great flight path to catch dinner in the previous evening!

We have false widow spiders in our shed.

My son was born at the end of August and during the autumn and winter of that year I was obviously up a lot at night.

The SPIDERS!! Unbelievable. Around the air vents there would be three or four giants just hanging out.

One night two biggies had a fight on the floor next to me bed while I was trapped feeding. They were rearing up at each other, then one jumped about a foot up the wall to escape.

I considered throwing my newborn at them to scare them off only half -kidding--

fallingorbit (if you're still on here!) do you know do any harmless spider deterrents you can put in your house?

Thinking along the lines of plug-ins? Chestnuts?

I'm not bothered by spiders, but a large spider crawled out of my cornflakes yesterday. I had eaten several spoonfuls by that point. Even I was a bit 🤢

Bacon

I'm still here! It's the most interesting thread I've read since the infamous cat shit one!

I'm not aware of any tbh, but it's not something I've ever looked into. Even though I'm a licensed pest controller!!

Chestnuts? Can't imagine that would work and I'm not aware of any plug in or sonic devices that would deter spiders.

Movement/vibration is probably the answer but there's only so much of that you can realistically create. What kind of house do you live in? Have you ever been up the attic? That's where they hang out year round. And also behind things that rarely get moved (TV, fridge etc) so if you really dislike them and can't put up with them I'd suggest evicting from those places first. But they will come in again anyway, you have to open doors and windows at some point.

It's just a fact of life really, they will come in if they aren't already (some species aren't allowed to live at "home" forever, in fact most of them don't) so they have to move house. Once they're in they're in.

But do be reassured they are harmless, as I've already stated.

I live in a fairly large house (not huge but not tiny) out in the sticks and it's only autumn I really see them even here.

NeverNic

Sharing is caring!! :D

FallingOrbit House spiders (including the giant) have evolved to live indoors and can't survive outdoors.

This came up on QI a while ago. Alan Davies suggested a spider cupboard was the solution - somewhere to put them all without killing them.

90% of the ones you'll see are the males on the hunt for some saucy spidery action!

This does not endear me to them! This is a feminist household and a female only safe space - I will not have randy male spiders wandering around as if they own the place!

Leave a bit of bog roll hanging over the side of the bath and come back in half an hour - spider will most of the time be gone.

Gone where???!!!!
Are you insane?
The only thing worse than seeing a spider is not seeing a spider when one was there a minute ago...

How about this little beauty?

The only thing worse than seeing a spider is not seeing a spider when one was there a minute ago...

Oh god yes! There's no fear like it

Annie that's like the big fecker that turned me into a gibbering wreck was in my sink yesterday! I've been a twitchy twat all feckin day!!!

I will not have randy male spiders wandering around as if they own the place!

You will! Almost guaranteed! When males are randy they are randy!

Gone where? Out of sight! They're just trying to survive, as is everything else, they just bugger off until you've gone to bed and then they can carry on spidering around and going on the pull! ;)

We keep finding these! Are they false widow spiders?

'False widows' are one member of a very large family of Steatoda species that all look very similar. You need to be an expert, or to look at them very carefully with a proper guide book, to tell them apart. The vast majority are wrongly identified as 'false widows'

Spiders are actually very beneficial. For every spider bite that hurts someone who is allergic to them, there are many, many people who become ill from food contaminated by flies. We should encourage spiders to stay in our houses and catch all the flies they can.

And for the minority of people who are genuinely spider phobic, rather than those who think it's fun to scream and shout when they see one, there are successful treatments available.

Annie! That's a fine specimen! Notice how it can't climb back out? Wan'ts to get away but can't. I know I'm not going to convert the terrified, I don't expect to, just offering the spiders side of the argument to the best of my understanding about them :)

How about this little beauty?
Annie, that looks like a male Tegenaria.

Be kind to him please and give him a nice wet tissue - they soon die of dehydration if kept in a box.

We keep finding these! Are they false widow spiders?

'False widows' are one member of a very large family of Steatoda species that all look very similar. You need to be an expert, or to look at them very carefully with a proper guide book, to tell them apart. The vast majority are wrongly identified as 'false widows'

Spiders are actually very beneficial. For every spider bite that hurts someone who is allergic to them, there are many, many people who become ill from food contaminated by flies. We should encourage spiders to stay in our houses and catch all the flies they can.

And for the minority of people who are genuinely spider phobic, rather than those who think it's fun to scream and shout when they see one, there are successful treatments available.

/\

This

What are the treatments? Because honestly, I get panicky and my anxiety (have MH anyway) gets a hell of a lot worse this time of year, especially when there's been one in the house. I'm desperate to find a way to stop my reactions.