To be worrying about the size of the spiders that will be coming in when autumn comes

[Grumpyoldwoman007]

Do you think all this warm weather will have made them grow? Do I need to expect tarantula sized beasts? 😫

they dont grow bigger when its warm.

Our insect population is becoming smaller and smaller every year, which is spiders food source (they dont eat humans believe it or not, considering most peoples hysteria)

We will be lucky to even see a spider soon, because of this rate of destruction, and of course the lack of insects has many other knock on effects with pollination of flowers and birds, and then the animals that eat birds etc

Aren’t we lead to believe little boys love spiders?

Surely that's just a stereotype?

And "Screaming like little boys" is an absolute nonsense but crack on

Awww I love spiders! We need them to keep the flies and pests down.

My friend hates spiders. She has this plug in thing which deters them.

Missing the point
@Shumpalumpa - 'Toughen up people, don't be such little boys!'

What a stupid thing to say. Do you feel so fem-peaked now you've had a go at little boys?
Stupid, stupid person. Off with you.

As for the cellar spiders, we call them the Friendlies as it has been my strong belief that the keep the Big Hairy Ones out. We have a huge and very, very old house, therefore impossible to spider-proof it as massive gaps and nooks everywhere, but mercifully, have seen very few Hairy Ones. My money is on the cellar spiders, bless their little eight spindly legs.

I'm arachnophobic and my house receives quite a few huge spiders in Autumn. I get my sister to move them if I see one - even then I'll feel shaky entering the room for a while afterwards.

WFT did I open this thread?????

I can just about bear those spindly ones that seem to live in corners of rooms and have teeny-tiny bodies and long spindly legs. Just about, note. As for the other types: FML. I remember a thudding one when my DSis and I were children. We have never recovered, and never will do.

My DS had one on his bedroom wall when he was a toddler. I kid you not, it was the size of a dinner plate. Needless to say, DH was working away. I said: fuck me that's a sodding fuck off massive spider and I am going to run for the hills Ooh look, DS, that's a jolly big spider, you just keep an eye on it while I fetch the Dyson. Its bones crunched as I sucked it up. I had rubber gloves and full protective gear on, just in case. I need therapy, honestly.

I hate Autumn anyway as a harbinger of Winter, and spiders are the last straw.

Interested to read that what I call Spindlys are also known as Cellar Spiders. I think I may have to encourage them, if they deter the fuck-off massive dinner-plate types.

My mother used to keep pet spiders in the kitchen. It didn't help, believe me.

I am over-invested in this spider thread, evidently, but this really is my final word. One reason I didn't leave XH until he became actually abusive was that I couldn't face dealing with Spider Central on my own. Sad but true.

Oh god, this thread has me very alert for spiders now. But has also been eye opening.

We have lots of those cellar spiders in our kitchen. Not in any other room. I've always left them alone mainly because I'm too scared to do anything else but very good to know they eat the big black ones!
I'm also terrified to move the sofa to clean now. Yesterday I was very brave and hoovered under the cushions but that's as far as I can go!
i have some of that spider repellent spray - does anyone know if it works, I haven't used it yet because all the spiders are already there! Does peppermint oil actually work?

I found a massive one and a baby one this morning. I hoovered them up with my dyson but the big one was still alive so I let them go outside. Really need to hoover the whole house and spray peppermint about.

Lizzie48 same here ,spiders don't bother me in the least. I live in an old house so am always seeing them. But wasps now they terrify me .We had a wasps nest in our eaves could hear them buzzing when you had a bath .Had to have the nest dealt with as they started coming in the house and didn't want our DC's or pets stung .

@supermum still alive after the Hoover?? Thats not what I wanted to hear

After hearing that those spindly ones eat the scary ones we call them spider bros and they live contentedly in our house which is a massive deal.
My fear of spiders is pure instinct. 0-100 on the flight or fight scale.

I don’t get these threads spiders eat flies. Flies are disgusting. Flies sit in poo. Flies did this to my leg. Spiders have never hurt me! Long live spiders! 🕷

I think people whip each other up into hysteria about spiders and think its funny or desirable to kill such valuable parts of our ecosystem.

I don't care if they're big enough to put saddles on and ride, I'll be so happy this bloody weather is over I'll throw a special welcome party for them!

I have really high ceilings and always find spiders, both spindleys and big fat ones all over the place. I don't mind them tbh, and considering my neighbour was posting on Facebook the other day that she is thinking about buying shares in raid I'm just grateful for them.

Not sure if it's an Old Wives Tale, but I keep little bowls of cookers in every room and it seems to work for me (obviously well out of DS reach!)

YANBU! X

I don't like spiders and I've been known to give a little shriek when I find one in the house (although I try hard not to do that in front of the DC) bit why kill them? They're only going about their spidery business and, creepy as they are to some people, they're not actually malicious and don't want to hurt you - most of them aren't even capable of hurting you even if they wanted to. It seems very cruel to kill something purely because it exists.

I have a totally irrational fear of spiders, I really do but I never knew the spindly ones ate the big fat ones!!!

I don't mind so much am absolutely terrified of the spindly ones etc if they just sit quietly in a corner and don't come near me but I turn into a screaming banshee if they don't!

I also absolutely hate it in the Autumn when you go outside and there are invisible webs everywhere with those horrible brown spiders seemingly hanging in mid air that you walk through!

Urgghhh.

Read a story in the Metro this morning that some bird eating tarantulas have escaped in Derbyshire (where I live)

That is not what I wanted to hear!!! I live just over the border in nottts 😱😱😱

Yep, apparently the Brazilian salmon pink bird eating spiders with a leg length [faints] of 25 cm.
The largest spider in the world.
There needs to be a petition to put the eejit who brought them into the countery against the nearest wall, together with the double-eejit who lost the beasties.
Would they be able to make babies with local hairy ones....
Are we to expect sturdy local cross-breed arachnoids size of small cats?
?
?