To be horrified there was a large spider on my babies head?!

[lavenderpekins]

Baby is 10 months, ds8 was playing with her in the living room then brought her through to me in the kitchen. He's holding her and there's a giant black hunting spider on her white blond hair (so extremely obvious)!!!! I brush it off, scream, it falls to the floor and I hoover it up.

My son didn't realise..
I don't think I handled it well.

But why do we have so many spiders at the moment?! My dh found its 'brother' the other evening. It was speeding around the carpet, I assumed it was a bit of fluff from a draft.

My house is fairly clean but we only moved in last Christmas when it was a total wreck but since we've put new floorboards down, plastered everywhere, new wiring/plumbing etc.

Aibu that I'm feeling quite shaken up and disgusted by them? Do I have a problem?

Anyone know a natural deterrent?!

And what was the thing doing in the living room at 8am in the morning?!

Advice please.

Oh god yes, it is the season. A massive one leapt out at me yesterday and then hid under a pile of magazines. I had to use BBQ tongs to move the magazines and then took my flip flop to it.

I have now sprayed spiderex all round the front door and various holes in the skirting, as well as the open chimney. It did work last autumn; I noticed far fewer than usual.

Oddly enough, I looked up the spiderex on Amazon as I bought it there last year, and found I had ordered it on the exact same day of the year. They're like fecking clockwork, those monsters

This year we moved from a high-up flat on a big road - no spiders ever, basically - to a first-floor flat on a quiet leafy street, and now we get huge spiders every damn day. Autumn is ruined.

I've rearranged my room after finding THREE huge scuttling ones hiding behind a box near my bed. There is now no furniture that isn't up on legs, so I do a quick scan each night and then seal myself into the bedroom by tucking a dressing-gown belt along the gap at the bottom edge of the door. I try not to think about the window gaps.

Never found the horse chestnut extract any use whatsoever. Is there any proof that any particular spray works at all?

It's a harmless spider. I'd your DH has a cat allergy does he stamp on any cats he sees?

I'm worried about any chemical sprays because I have a crawling baby?

Spiderex reviews on Amazon look promising but don't look at the pictures.

It was on my baby doormat!

The 'brother/mate' I spoke about earlier was across the road to a playing field. The only back thing dh kills are mosquitoes.

I hoovered the damn thing up because it was on my child!

I mean my dh took its brother/mate across the road in a glass.

Peppermint scent is meant to work. I bought it in oil form online and will see if that keeps them at bay

Do you mean a huntsman spider? If so, they're creepy but harmless. If you're in the uk odds are it was not a huntsman, but just a big house spider.
I know this doesn't help, but they're harmless (both huntsman and house spiders)

For reference this is a huntsman.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider
I've included a link with photos rather than a photo as I don't want to terrify anyone

chickenwithrice Thanks, but I think most people who are scared of spiders don't actually think the spider will harm them. It's a phobia, not a rational fear of harm - we can't actually help the way we react to them.

I am scared of certain types of spider - not even all types, just certain ones. Unfortunately, they're mostly ones that particularly enjoy living in houses, sheds and garages. I have nightmares about them at least a couple of times a week.

The nice big fat brown ones that you get in the garden, by contrast, are absolutely great! I love those. I also quite like the little furry black ones with the shorter legs that are about the size of a thumbnail.

House spiders, wolf spiders, huntsman spiders etc can, however, fucking do one. It's making me feel sick thinking about it.

They are the only living creature I fear. I actively like all other creepy-crawlies - except slugs and maggots, I suppose, which I find a bit gross but am not actually scared of (I'd happily pick them up with my bare hands).

By the way, the horse chestnut deterrent is bollocks - there were studies done that showed that it simply didn't work. They actually filmed spiders climbing happily over bowls of conkers...

I was at an interview a few weeks ago. Three interviewers and myself - I was nervously sipping on a glass of water.

In the middle of the interview this HUGE fuck off spider ran towards us. Everyone else nearly fell off their chairs and started backing up.

Me? I was James Bond. I drained the dregs of my water, bent down and casually scooped it into my glass - not easy cos it had gurt long legs

"would you like me to take it outside?" I said politely...

I got the job and start next Monday

Like James Bond I was. Really.

Just as well it wasn't a wasp though

Evil stripey Fuckers...

"Today 09:55 FV45

There was one in our bath this morning. For reasons I won't go into, there was water in the bath. There was also a sponge. The spider had climbed onto the sponge as was having a merry old time floating about on its little pontoon." hahaha! If you'd have filmed that it'd have probably gone viral lol

I have a massive spider phobia, only about those medium to large house spiders, I'm okay with smaller ones. It's such a fear of mine I really struggle with it. It's even affected my decision making re where to live, since I left home a decade ago (I spidery house) I've only lived in top floor new refurbished flats to try avoid the horrible spidery old houses and flats.

If you're actually phobic and it impacts upon your life OP you can have treatment for it with your local IAPT team, CBT for phobia.

I have one of those spider catchers that are like litter pickers and feel a lot safer now. It means I can grab one safely and without harming it at arms length up on ceilings and corners etc which means I don't have to get close with a glass. Such a good investment. If I see one I know I can grab the catcher and deal with it on my own without getting too close. Highly recommend.

My 6 yr old ds had a huge house spider running round in circles in the hood of his dressing gown while he was wearing it the other day. I had to flick it out and it ran behind the fridge. They don't bother me like they used to I remove with a glass and card if possible, if they are just the cellar spiders, I can pick them up. There is a no killing spiders rule in our house!

FV45
There was one in our bath this morning. For reasons I won't go into, there was water in the bath. There was also a sponge. The spider had climbed onto the sponge as was having a merry old time floating about on its little pontoon.

Brilliant

I keep a pair of shoes (ballet pumps specifically: bigger surface area, easy to wield) next to the bed so that I can whack the little bastards.

They seem to run out at night from under, or behind, the bed. I see a movement from the corner of my eye and it's one of them sprinting from the bed to the wardrobe. I've killed three this week, much to my husband's dismay. I might tell him about that spider nest story upthread. Am I the only one who now wants to empty every cupboard in the house wearing protective anti-spider gear?

I also upend and tap shoes together before I put them on, after a colleague told me about the time she put her foot into a shoe in which a spider had set up camp.

Peppermint oil. Spiders supposedly hate mint. They don't care how clean your house is they are coming in to find a mate at this time of year. I quite like them so I don't bother them but I'd certainly have removed the one from my babies head lol.

Serious question - why can't they mate outside?

Cos of decency laws and dogging.

Lol Apocalyptichorsewoman

I think it needs to be dry and warm for their babies so your house seems pretty ideal to them.

I'm mostly siding with decency and dogging laws in the spider world.

Well you can imagine how I felt when I went camping some years ago and just as I was coming out of the shower block, dh turned me around, escorted me back to the mirror and there sat the most enormous spider I have ever seen - on my head! I shudder to think of it now, as well as dh's cruelty for revelling in showing me in the mirror rather than swiping it off and pretending it was muck or something. At least babies haven't yet developed 'the fear'. Far worse for us adults!

I hope they do their sweet loving in discreet areas of the house, in that case. I don't want to see that on the carpet!

I've just had a giant one on my shoulder. It ran onto the cushion beside me, which I grabbed and did an Olympic sprint to the door with. No sooner was it shaken off onto the ground than the wee fecker scuttled straight back towards the house again! No you don't, Mr. Skinny Legs.