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Global warming is bringing a new threat to our back gardens - poisonous spiders (oh good)

78 replies

Tutter · 03/05/2007 17:04

Global warming is bringing a new threat to our back gardens - poisonous spiders.

The False Widow spider first arrived in banana shipments from the Canary Islands in around 1870 and is now growing in numbers thanks to increased temperatures.

The good news is the spider's bite will not kill, although it can cause swelling and severe pain.

Michael and Pam Willis recently found one in the garden of their home in Verwood, Dorset.

Mrs Willis, 62, said: "It was black and shiny, not like a normal, hairy spider. It's terrifying if numbers are rising. I'm worried about our grandchildren."

Stuart Hine, of London's Natural History Museum, said: "There has been a dramatic increase over the last seven to ten years; no doubt due to global warming. They survive winters to mate."

He added: "There are probably tens of thousands. In a few years they will be in every garden in the south of England and more will be spotted higher up the country."

"black and shiny"

OP posts:
JonesTheSteam · 04/05/2007 09:41

Am very confused about the loofah thing?

Are you just not mentioning the 's' word?

(Otherwise might have to get DH to deal with the loofah that lives in my shower!)

twinkleinthesky · 04/05/2007 09:49

I knew there was a good reason for me to be scared stiff of the things...

filthymindedvixen · 04/05/2007 09:56

Jones, certain Mnetters are severely arachnophobic, the the point where even seeing the 'S' word will upset them mightily. So the word loofah is used instead....

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 09:57

butterflywings.
I would die on the spot if there was a tarantula in my house. It's my worst nightmare (after anything to do with dses' safety).
I need to get to the hypnotist fast if we're going to see an increase in big spiders.
I also use a spray (Raid) to kill spiders. They drop dead within seconds.

JonesTheSteam · 04/05/2007 10:01

Thanks FMV

I won't admit that I googled loofah just to see if it was some breed of exotic poisonous you-know-what!!

Boco · 04/05/2007 10:07

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod

This thread has totally ruined my day.

Lionheart how did you not collapse with terror and revulsion? I couldn't do the washing the other day as there was a web with a bundle of wrapped up babies waiting to hatch and i thought they might go in my eyes and teeth, so had to wait for dp to come home and remove them.

twoisplenty · 04/05/2007 10:08

If you use spray to kill them, doesn't that mean you have to get quite close to them??

I sometimes have the bravery (!) to suck them up the hoover nozzle, so I can stand 3 feet back, but even that is a struggle!

filthymindedvixen · 04/05/2007 10:11

boco, i feel your pain, really I do, but PMSL at them 'going in my eyes or teeth'

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 10:12

You have to get within a few feet. I just spray and run and when i come back they're curled up in a ball on the floor, stone dead. I fear I'm passing my spider phobia on to my dses. A big one ran out from behind the toy box the other day and I screamed and ran and ds1, seeing mummy do it, also screamed and ran. Think I'll book that hypnotist now...

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 10:14

also pmsl at eyes and teeth. Teeth!??!!!

ruty · 04/05/2007 12:05

aw you don't have to kill them if they are not poisonous. I mean they do us a favour remember. Leave the poor little [or not so little] buggers alone. and this is from a woman who grew up in a victorian house where spiders regularly hid under the toilet seat.

GreebosWhiskers · 04/05/2007 12:23

Ummm . . . a few years ago we had a really bad summer where the 'loofahs' were coming into our house in droves & some of them were almost as big as a baby's fist (I kid you not). Dh tried to squash one in a bit of loo roll & it escaped & ran up his arm. He shrieked like a girl & ran away & me & the dc couldn't help him 'cos we were creased up with laughter - dh is 6' 4" & fair enough it was a big one but still . . . He was yelling to me 'get the pool cue, get the pool cue' & it took 4 attempts with the cue to stop it. I damn near wet myself

Wasn't so funny by the end of the summer tho' when we were actually using a hammer to dispatch the buggers & even then you sometimes had to swing twice!

Boco · 04/05/2007 15:26

I've never killed one - i couldn't. The only things i could kill on purpose are nits, and even then i have guilt.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2007 15:28

I have one of those suck up thingies for spiders.

You suck them up and then put them back outside.

No need to kill them.

Lakeland sells them.

Boco · 04/05/2007 15:30

That sound brilliant i need one of those.

mumto3girls · 04/05/2007 15:33

what is a loofah?

expatinscotland · 04/05/2007 15:35

here:

dontkillspiders!

Jomist · 04/05/2007 15:37

so come September I'll be sitting of an evening with the hoover, cans of Raid and flip flops by my side. Actually from September to October I always have the hoover plugged in and ready to go just in case!

I read about these fake black widow spiders and I can tell you I am not happy, not one bit. I have no problem with spiders in the garden, that's fine, gets rid of the flies, not a problem at all. But I do not want them in my house. I do not need them in my house, and heaven forbid I found one under the toilet seat, I would never find another because I'd die on the spot!

ruty · 04/05/2007 15:38

what a brilliant idea. i could have done with one of those yesterday when i was about to fall off my chair coaxing a false widow spider off my ceiling into an evian bottle [or directly onto my head]

ruty · 04/05/2007 15:39

i meant the trap thing, not Raid.

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 15:46

I've got one of the spider hoover things from lakeland and they're fine for little spiders but i can't get near enough to the bigs ones to suck them up, even with the extension. i can stand further back with my can of raid. And there's nowt wrong with killing spiders - one less in the world is a Good Thing imo. much prefer flies.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2007 15:54

Those 'big' ones here aren't even big!

Black widows aren't bad because they're easy to spot.

it's those brown recluses that are seriously dangerous because they're also pretty small.

TwoIfBySea · 04/05/2007 23:18

But the problem with hoovering them up is that it then heads towards you! And they survive in the hoover, it doesn't kill them.

Chestnuts at the windows is the answer, they don't like it, ha. I never moved to Australia because of my fear, my uncle there once had a funnelweb spider in his house and when he went to hit it with a broom it scuttled up the handle towards him. And that story alone would make sure I never go!

One of my good friends was born in Rhodesia and remembers that the big tarantula spiders seemed to like lurking around their dining room. She was more scared of the snakes in their swimming pool but oh the thought. She is moving to Australia soon, thinks I am daft.

Loofah indeed, I was beginning to wonder what you were all drinking!

lyrabelacqua · 04/05/2007 23:20

My DP used to live in South Africa and regularly had tarantulas in his kitchen. The very thought makes me feel ill.

rowan1971 · 04/05/2007 23:21

WHY HAVE YOU TOLD ME THIS