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?

Totally understand. One of the main reasons I got married was to get my spiders dealt with. I don’t like to kill them though and now I have a wide mouthed jar I can usually place over the offending arachnid,then slide a stiff card under and remove it that way. Shudders.

Of course it's an animal.

You've clearly not go a spider phobia.

It baffles me how anyone in the UK can be scared of a house spider, it's not going to kill you. Just leave it be.

😆

Sorry, OP, I would come over and rescue both of you from this situation, but I don't know where you live!

A spider, especially a large one, out in view in the middle of the day, definitely does not want to be there, either. It could be injured, or ill, or was wandering around last night looking for a mate, and lost track of time. If you leave it alone, it will wander off as soon as it thinks it's safe, and hide in the nearest hole in your skirting boards. It doesn't want to interact with you as much as you don't want to interact with it!

You haven't said what kind of large spider. If it's one of those "daddy longlegs" that are basically transparent, then they belong in your house, and will try to eat all your other spiders. If it's a large Tegenaria, then it's also a house spider, but they will also live in sheds or fences.

If you can't wait, just carefully put a glass over it, slide a postcard or something underneath (careful of its legs), and throw it outside.

It's waiting for you to go away, and until it doesn't feel any more vibrations, it will stay still and pretend you don't see it. That's its only defence.

Please don't kill it.

I love spiders. Especially tiny jumping spiders.

ed. for spelling

Grow up?!

Why not make a noise like a juicy fly and when it comes to investigate grab it with a Tupperware box ?

I misread this the first time. I thought you said they all eat a few of our sheep... and I thought... God they must be massive 😂

You need to make sure you are well clothed, trousers tucked into socks.

1. Open a window wide
2. Get a large mug and put that over the spider
3. Slide something thin and stiff eg a baking sheet or piece of card under the mug to trap the spider
4. Carry the covered mug to the window at arms length and throw the spider out
5. GIN

I have lived on my own for the last 40 years and this is my technique. The only time it failed was when I had a spider so big, none of my mugs would have fitted over the top of it. I had to use a pudding bowl.

These days, I've got quite blase: I put a sock over my hand and pick it up.

Agree with you. Spiders don’t bother me in the slightest, but the contents of my shopping bags ended up all over Morrisons car park because a wasp decided to join me. I’m really trying to get over my phobia by learning about them, but they terrify me 😱

I assume you aren’t in the UK and it’s a deadly species?

Good grief.

People have insect phobias, the same as some people have phobias about blood or needles. No need for the sarky response.

If my DH isn’t home (resident spider catcher) then it gets a hoover-ectomy

Do you know what's really pathetic? Grown adults who don't know what a phobia is.

This is why I have a cat. Spider = tasty snack for kitty.

Posting this in AIBU was bound to get the mockers who wilfully fail to understand phobias. I don't like big house spiders but I find the types of people who whinny on about how they wouldn't be scared, or patronisingly explain how spiders won't hurt you, are much less happy with a variety of creatures I'm very comfortable handling, from rats and bats to slugs. Or they're not keen on tight spaces in caves, or swimming with jellyfish, but I don't lecture them back.

I've already done the supposed phobia cures and found none of them work permanently. If you go to the zoo programme you'll be able to catch spiders after breathing exercises in the company of other people, but probably won't feel the same about one in your bathroom at night. Hypnosis is a semi-con and has a habit of failing when the initial conditions change. An honest psychologist will tell you genuine phobias are often intractable but can be managed.

The way to manage big house spider phobia is to buy a powerful cylinder hoover, switched to maximum power on its longest extending tube and hoover them up quickly as soon as you see them - the suction vortex kills them immediately, you can get at them anywhere. They aren't endangered. Do it and don't pay attention to anyone who doesn't feel the same. The one you shut in will probably have disappeared but prep a hoover for if / when you see it again.

Realistically, it’s very unlikely to be sat in the middle of the room waiting for you. It will have tucked itself under a piece of furniture, or gone out the window or squeezed itself through a gap or a crack and you will never see it again.

House spiders don’t go outside. They live in houses. They die outside.

It's not a daddy long legs type spider or a cellar spider, they are fine. It has thick legs, I've haven't seen a bigger one in the UK. I don't kill spiders.

Some people have been so lovely and helpful, thank you.

I'll ignore the horrible comments. Everyone is different, people have different fears and phobias.

Another vote for burning the house down 🔥

Knew you’d get loads of idiotic replies from wankers who don’t know what a phobia is 🙄

Assuming OP is in UK and it’s not a Brazilian Wandering Spider or something. Even if in UK it could have arrived in the bananas! Assuming it’s a house spider or cardinal or similar, get someone to catch her and put her out.

Rocket launcher through the lounge window!