To be scared about the spider season this year

[Whatever555]

Had a bad time last August-October. I lived alone back then in a very old house which was riddled with giant house spiders, on the worst night I had 4 palm-sized ones in the house in the same evening, they'd just run out across the room. It was horrible coming home and seeing them every single evening and having nobody to help me out.

I ended up paying someone
from pest control to come round and fumigate the house, they found a nest in my kitchen. It worked for the rest of the season as I didn't see any more living ones. I also went around with sealant and eliminated every gap I could find. I didn't see a single one again for 6 weeks after that before I moved, but it made me anxious for a while. It sounds dramatic but I had frequent nightmares, I hated being there alone especially at night and I was constantly inspecting rooms.

No longer live alone and not had any huge ones here, just a couple of smaller ones which I can manage better. I've got some Indorex which I spray round every month, I have looked into the London zoo spider course but it's always booked up.

I've used apps to try and improve things but I don't think it'll ever fully go. Even if I can get spider catchers or whatever your home is meant to be your safe haven, and it doesn't feel like that when they're around. Anyone else feel this way, or got any tips?

I thought it was just me, but at the time I'd ask friends/colleagues if they got this many or this big and most of them would say 'Oh I hardly get any/I never get any that big, why do you get so many that's not normal'

I completely understand I’m the same. We’ve got a cat and it’s been a lot better. I just find dead ones on the floor when I get up in the mornings instead now.

That's great to hear! My cat last year just completely ignored them. However got a second cat now who constantly chases bugs so hopefully this will help.

Palm sized spiders in the UK? How cool is that?!!
The biggest I’ve had are about an inch, maybe an inch and a half.

I recommend a Henry Hoover: gets you quite far away from them and can reach to most ceilings. Hetty Hoover and I sit together from July to September on an evening and I have yet to find one she can't handle.

Is this in the UK? I've had multiple which were the same span as a chocolate digestive biscuit sadly

That's a great idea. It's horrible when they're in the bath too, I think it's because they stand out more against the white

It's a lot easier to wash uninvited bath guests down the plughole if you haven't got any kind of hair catcher or similar in there. I keep the plug on the side and just put it in when I want to have a bath.

Oh dear. I’ve gotten used to so many spiders but those huge house spiders are too much.

Yes, they're so fast too. I can tolerate smaller ones, even cellar spiders at a push but the GHS are horrific

I don't have any advice, but I want to offer my sympathies, as I lived in a house like that for a couple of years when I was a child. It gave me a lifelong phobia of spiders.

You had to leave the lights on when you went out, otherwise you'd come back to huge spiders on the walls. None of our next homes were like it, thankfully. Which I suppose is a useful piece of advice in itself.

Keep a clear plastic or glass jug handy, plus strong but thin cardboard to slide under it. If you’re prepared you might feel less worried? If you get the jug over the spider then there’s no rush, you can leave it there until you’re ready to slide the cardboard under the jug, flip it and chuck it outside. If you’re not ready then in the time it takes to find the jug the spider can hide again which isn’t good.

You have a cat otherwise peppermint spray is brilliant - if your cats don't go in the bedroom perhaps use it in there. And get yourself a pet cellar spider as they eat the big ones!

The amount of spiders in the house atm is crazy….more than ever b gore. They seem to disappear as quick as they appear though so…..don’t bother me.

I use Indorex every year and spray it around thresholds, skirting boards and carpets. Definitely helps.

Peppermint spray? Do you make it with peppermint essence and ?water? And just spray randomly or in specific areas?

@Whatever555 can you tell me what you mean by a nest ?

Four giant ones at one time would send most of us to the edge .
That sounds horrific .

Op don't forget the false widows are smaller but much more nasty.

Unfortunalty with the summer we have had I think it's been boom season for spiders and lots of food for them.

I couldn't get near enough to get a jug.i have also worried with the hoover because if you mis time it it may run up the hoover shaft

Raid ant spray also works and is cheaper from the supermarkets. I originally bought it to stop the ants coming in and slowly realised I rarely had a spider problem. So every spring I clean the windows and spray around the openings and doors. It's bliss.

My brother used to be designated 'rescue Rachael from spider' person. He kept a plastic cup and old beer mat in his room for such occasions. Now it's my husband. We used to get huge ones in the flat, most of the ones in our house are smaller but no less scary. We had a huge beast hanging out on the outside of our lounge window last year, I refused to allow my husband to have the window open til he put mesh up in case it tried to come in.

YANBU they’re horrible. I found my first giant one of the season last week in our bathroom and it was bigger than anything I’ve ever seen before (in the UK). I’m scared of more encounters over the next few months.

You are not alone! Hence the user name X

Find this thread really sad actually, spraying toxic poisions to kill off essential parts of the ecosystem just because you have an irrational fear is awful. You can't just kill something because you're afraid of it.

People with spider phobias are really something else.

Not going to be turning this into a debate over which phobias are 'acceptable' or not. No, we're not 'something else'. Phobias ARE irrational, we're fully aware. Complete lack of empathy and understanding there.

Anyway..

I know they don't 'nest' as such, I meant an area was discovered where a number of them were congregating.