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?

Fumigating is a really good idea. I do this whenever I move into a new house. Also my cats eat the small ones we have here in Somerset.
When I lived in Bedfordshire the size of the spiders there were epic. I swear they were tarantula hybrids.

I'm terrified too and live in an old Victoria house. There was a product called SpiderEx we used for years but for some reason it isn't for sale in the UK anymore. There's probably a Cruelty to Spiders lobby somewhere. Anyway NOPE is a good alternative and then a week late I spray peppermint a week later. We only find corpses now and TBH that's horrible too. The fear is absolutely primitive. Even a photo can spook me.

With regards to the last part of my post - there are people with phobias of dogs but if a random dog showed up in their house they wouldn't kill it and dogs are a hell of a lot more "giant" than spiders.

I don't kill any insects, I keep some as pets actually and find them fascinating. I just don't believe fear gives you the right to kill something.

I only kill the ones that come in the house, except for cellar spiders, everything else gets a dose of whatever toxic chemical is closest to hand.

OP I couldn’t read and run.

I understand. My last house was like this. It was derelict for a year before we moved in and renovated, and I’m convinced there was some sort of colony there. I wasn’t keen on spiders before we lived there, but had a full blown phobia by the time we left.

It was hideous. People who haven’t lived somewhere like that just can’t understand. It was most days - lift a towel from the floor and there’d be one there. Leave a drawer open and they’d be in your clothes. In your shoes. I had one in an open cereal box and it ran out when I tipped the cereal in my bowl. I could go on and on.

It makes you so incredibly on edge to live like that. I couldn’t watch tv after 9pm ish because they’d start coming out. You’d be on the sofa and one would suddenly run out across the floor. They were absolute monsters too. It’s making me shudder even now.

I have never lived in a house like that before, and if I did again I would move. Is moving an option for you?

You are absolutely not being unreasonable, weak, pathetic, irrational etc. People who haven’t lived in a house like this can’t understand.

And although MN might burst into flames if admit it, eventually DH had to start culling them. If we put them out they just came back. It was really awful, but not all houses are like this.

I really hope this season is better for you. The fumigation sounds good - get all the loft/roof space done maybe?

Another vote here for cellar spiders if you can manage to live with a few of them as they scare away the house spiders (witnessed :).

@Whatever555 I fully sympathise. I too am totally petrified and always feel nervous especially before bedtime in case there are any lurking around. I had a huge one run across the bed covers last summer and I think it's traumatised me for the rest of my days.

Oh God 😣 absolute worst nightmare!!

@Whatever555 I am just back from the spider friendly course in London zoo which I did there just last Saturday. It was absolutely amazing. I am exactly the same as you in terms of my phobia and I also live in a old house old Victorian house which I spend two months of every year being petrified to walk into a room or turn on a light. But by the end of the spider course on Saturday I was holding a live tarantula in my hand although I can honestly say that holding a tarantula was less scary than dealing with the house spider. I don’t think I will ever love house spiders and I think I will always be afraid of them, but I think after the course I am now going to be able to just get a glass and pop it over them and slide the cardboard under it and put them outside and that’s a massive step forward for me. I also used to find that the London zoo course was always booked up but then I signed up for their E Mail alerts by which you can get advance notice of the courses so once I did that as soon as I got the email I went straight on and booked my spot but yes I spent about three or four years constantly going online to see if I could book in, the only way to get it is to is to sign up and give them your email address and then you’ll get advance notice of the courses honestly do it. It’s one of the best things I ever did. It completely change my outlook and as I said it’s not like I’m completely fear free now but I feel a lot more in control.

I really feel for anyone living in a "spidery" house.

I couldn't do it. Especially not the big uns. I understand the fear and the vigilance.

We cultivated some populations of cellar spiders in our last (full of crevices, Victorian) house. It helped that some areas of the house were a bit damp. Not bad enough to need treating but you'd notice a little bit of paint bubbling etc

Anyway, after that I only saw dead ones. Still had to suck then up with the hoover, couldn't bear to get close just in case.

@Whatever555 You can sign up for priority or pre-notification when the London Zoo course bookings open. They are so popular they book up immediately. So if you’re interested in doing it, contact them and ask about this.

I had a spider phobia for about 30 years and did this course a few years ago. It’s been life changing. So I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. I am now not afraid of them, and can catch them in glasses and dispose of them myself. This was unheard of pre-course!

Another one here to praise the cellar spiders! I can't remember the last time I even seen a GHS but I've got a good few cellar spiders in every room. Wish they'd catch the woman moths too!

It helps having the eyesight of a mole too, except for when hoovering under things then seeing a huge cellar spider almost eye to eye. Viva La Cellar Spoods!

If anyone is considering using peppermint oil, Google its effects on dogs and avoid using it if you have them. I dab some onto a cotton wool ball and wipe it around my wheelie bin lids and it seems to deter flies, fwiw. Unlike my huge lavender plant that is supposed to repel the damn dirty flying things.

Oh wait - cellar spiders in every room? Is it a type of spider then? I thought you all meant cellar spiders = spiders in the cellar?

Ive got mesh in all my windows, but if one gets in its signed its own death warrant.

Palm sized is massive are you in UK

@BinfortheWin your post has given me a fear knot, how awful, I reckon you’re right about the colony.

yes palm size here too in Northern Ireland. Palm includes leg span, but the body alone is about 1.5 inches and legs at least an inch long too

Uuuugh with eyes on stalks as well !

The London zoo course with tarantulas would be useless for me. I’m absolutely fine handling a tarantula and have done so, but big house spiders freak me out.

My oldest dd hates them too so at the end of August we prepare - one spray with peppermint oil, one with citrus oil. Spray liberally and reapply regularly. Plus various sprays from Amazon. And a pile of conkers. We didn’t have too many last year thank goodness.

Have you thought about sleeping under a mosquito net for peace of mind while you sleep? You can just get a hook above your bed and a large net covers the whole bed area.

@bendmeoverbackwardsoh don’t get me wrong, before the Tarantula bit (which is at the end and totally optional) it’s all centred around the British house spider as that the most common spider phobia - they get us to put our hand near one first, then touch its leg, then let it run across our hand (if we dare, it’s not obligatory) and then the next stage is they get you to to the plastic container over a hpuse spider and slip the cardboard under easy so you can catch and release, once you’ve mastered catch and release you get your certificate. Not everyone opts to hold the tarantula

https://amzn.eu/d/0hPpbbLb

Make an appointment with a hypnotherapist. Get this phobia cleared once and got all.
research one that specialises in phobias.
And ignore people telling you horrible ways to kill them.

I used to live in a big drafty flat in an old listed building which meant a lot of spiders. I also have a phobia.

My late OH told me to put conkers around the house - in the corner of rooms, on top of the wardrobe etc. two or three per room in areas where they won't get disturbed.

It might have been a placebo or maybe it really worked but there was a lot less spiders after that. A couple of years later I got kittens and encouraged them with treats every time they killed a fly or spider. Now they see one and go rushing off to earn their keep.

Spiders aren't insects. They're arachnids, which are a different taxonomic class. If you're not interested in learning about the scientific classification system, you can tell insects and arachnids apart by counting the pairs of legs: insects have six legs and arachnids like spiders and mites have eight legs.

As to insects, I tend not to kill them, but you won't see me carefully saving aphids (insects). No gardener does.

And if it's ants in the kitchen, all bets are off.