Massive spider in lounge, shut the door and sealed with masking tape last night,now what?

[lightclock]

What do I do now? Never enter the lounge again?

🤣🤣🤣

Masking tape wouldn’t keep a dragon out!! In fact I don’t think anything would … maybe a steel door?

My children are adults and not scared of spiders.

Buy a spider catcher. Then transfer outside.

I have several spiders in my house. They each have their own space and have been there a week or so at least. Ive given them all names. When they move out I'll get some new ones move in.

You’re talking here as though all therapy is effective. That’s really not the case. It isn’t some sort of magic pill.

@lightclock I'm really sorry for laughing out loud at the first "burn the house down" comment. It was pretty funny, but some of us on this thread have been insensitive about your genuine fear. Apologies x

British house spiders, I just let them go on their way, even if I spot a hefty one warily tippy-toeing across the carpet near me when I'm reading in bed. I don't think they mean us any harm, and there's no way on earth we're all chowing down on spiders while we sleep as scaremongers say.

Wasps and bees, on the other hand, turn me into a wafting, flailing, spectacle (mocked by friends) because I have a mild-ish but still unpleasant allergic reaction to bee stings. Slugs: harmless to me, but I'm gagging and retching at the sight of them, even thinking about them.

Cats are fantastic spider-hunters and spider-eaters, but of course that's a big commitment.

I'd go with a big, large diameter glass (not an opaque mug) and a large, stiff postcard plenty bigger than the glass. Hold the card tight under the glass, transport the spider into the garden. If it's nighttime and you have a good large glass, leave the spider under it until it's daylight, so it's less scary for you.

But what then? I’d be terrified seeing them crawl about inside, plus if there’s a way in there must be a way out😱

Ah spiders don’t bother me, but I do have a terrible wasp phobia so I do sympathise.

It’s so embarrassing. My husband spends his life rolling his eyes at me about it (although he will happily deal with any that come into the house). It’s totally irrational as well, I’ve been stung a couple of times and it’s not even that bad!

Sadly I have passed this stupidity on to my children (which is why my husband gets a bit irritated with it - fair enough).

I accept it doesn't work for everyone, but I can guarantee that most of the people on here who scream and quake at the sight of a spider haven't even made an attempt to get professional medical help.

Have you found the beast yet? I can lend you a cat!
Thank God we dont live in Australia 😑

I do a spider patrol twice a day, l cannot stand the nasty things. I have a little hand vacuum. Very good as its long enough to reach the ceilings and covings. ...and zap, sucked up. I am a little paranoid, during the night l once woken up, itching my face, driving me mad. Put on the bedside lamp and my dh tells me, there's a massive spider dangling from my fringe....omg, that did it for me.l have spider spray, that doesn't cause damage to carpets etc , it is odourless. I spray, well not spray, more of a pump action, the whole house every three days. Obsessed? Yes l am..

You clearly don’t know what it’s like to have a debilitating fear of spiders then. Lucky you 🙄

So funny. Love this post. I guess the spider will love it - they've been trapped in a room with lots of lovely flies they can eat.

Remember, UK spiders are fine (yes they are, even the ever-so-slightly-mean ones just nip you. Ex aussie).

Not how phobias work. Rationality.

Im not phobic of spiders happily but have another ridiculous phobia which arachnophobics think is hilarious. Doesn't matter does it. Spider is no more likely to hurt you than the thing im frightened of, but its still a genuine fear.

nobody asked for your sympathy, love. and you might be interested to know that being unable to conceive of experience outside your own is a sign of being hard of thinking.

So cruel. I'm arachnophobic but would never torture a spider like that.

Op just get a long-handled spider catcher off Amazon and woman the hell up.

Agree. Anyone with a spider phobia knows that it is illogical,but that doesn't give other people the right to sneer and belittle them. I'm not keen on them myself, wouldn't say it's a full blown phobia though. I know a few people who have a phobia about rats and mice,but I wouldn't dream of trying to make them feel stupid about it.

The irony of having the education, knowledge, and behaviour of a child on a topic as an adult and thinking you have any place to judge

There's multiple spiders in the UK that can do more than tickle with a bite. Will just be a bit painful, bee sting level at the most extreme end, but still not a tickle so you aren't even right about that part.

What exactly do you think the masking tape will have achieved? Spiders aren’t known for their careful use of doors.

According to my entomology professor, it’s absolutely true.

You really don't understand phobias, do you? Often phobias are irrational fears. The person with the phobia can't help why they're scared, they probably know that the fear is unreasonable, but they can't seem to do anything to control their feelings. I've had my phobia since I was a small child, it doesn't get easier!
Some phobias you grow out of - up until I was 10, I had a massive phobia of ladybirds, I mean, I would scream the place down if one was anywhere near me - luckily I grew out of that one, but the spider thing, I've never been able to shake off.

How do you know I haven’t sought help?

You’re making a lot of assumptions about people, whilst knowing diddly squat about them.

I haven’t ‘learned’ any phobias. Nobody else close to me, has a fear of large spiders or needles. And my needle phobia came from a painful experience I had when I was very young. So what you ‘think’ is a load of bollocks.

You have no idea what you’re talking about, which you’ve demonstrated repeatedly on this thread.

Even wasps get a chance to live long and prosper under my benign dictatorship, so long as they don't continue to push their luck after several verbal warnings

This made me laugh, I have a similar policy towards wasps and can often be heard reasoning with them in the manner of a police officer at pub closing time giving the drunks a final warning to go home quietly. Flies, on the other hand…

@lightclock I’m fond of spiders but I suspect that’s because my DF briefly had a ‘pet’ one that lived in the corner of our shower when I was a kid. He named it Webster and used to sing to it in the shower 😁

A friend of mine is terrified of spiders and swears by the gentle spider catchers linked upthread - no harm to spider, no need for you to go near it!