Spiders, tarantulas and millipedes!

[Hattie05]

Ok tell me i'm being stupid and to get over it.

I have a real phobia of spiders and generally don't like any insects in my house.
I woke this morning to see a millipede/centipede wriggling accross the ceiling above my bed. so got up pretty promptly, wishing i could scoop it up in a tissue and throw it (but i can't bear to) cos i know when i go to bed tonight i'll need dp to inspect every inch of the room for me

Then i get downstairs and find a dead (thank god!) tarantula by the back door (ok not a tarantula but the biggest spider ever). luckily dd loves spiders and thinks i do to, so i said oh look theres a spider why don't you put him in the garden to find his friends! she did and i am soooo glad she did.

Now i'm sitting at the table on pc with my feet up, because there is another big spider on the ceiling and i have to keep my feet up in case he drops on the floor and gets me!

Oh please its made me feel like crying writing all of this down but i am so genuinely terrified of these stupid creatures why do they all come in my house??? dd is watching tv and i want to get ready so we can go out, but too scared to look in shower in case theres another one there

sorry this is so long! help me!

Can you not do the cup and piece of card thing? thats what I do with spiders! moths however are a different thing altogether, if there's a moth in my house - I just won't go in!! lol

Evil nasty fluttering things they are

Its so silly isn't it, no i can't do the cup thing, cos i freak when i see them moving and then would drop it and if i don't know where its gone the house has to be evacuated and fumigated (sp?) they might attack me if i get too close you see?

Moths on the other hand aren't so bad, anything that flies i can just flap my arm and they fly away so i know they won't attack me.

I know i sound stupid, but that is my real feelings when in these situations!

I repeat to myself spiders don't attack. But it doesn't change how my imagination works when i'm close to them.

I can't bear it i keep feeling things crawling on me

I'm just the same, Hattie, and unfortunately it's that time of year. I've seen two spiders the size of Yorkshire terriers on the landing in the past week, so yesterday sprinkled Shake'n'Vac along the edges of the skirting boards where I thought they might have come from (delighted to have found a use for it, at last).

We've just moved into this house, and our last house was very un-spidery, so I'm wondering why some houses are more prone to them than others, and what you can do about it. If anyone holds the answers hopefully they'll pass them on!

LOL shake and vac? i have some in my cupboard never been used before. not sure how i'd get that on my ceiling.

My house is full of spiders, and you can't walk in our garden for cobwebs built every where. But they are ok cos i go armed with a stick to break them before i walk

Sometimes i get over this. Touching a real tarantula at a zoo helped me for a while. but not at the moment

I really haven't moved from this spot as i can keep my eye on the damn thing, the thought of getting up makes me really panic.

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LOL no i'm in England. This is one reason to stop me emigrating to Australia!

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I looked at some of the other insect killer sprays in the supermarket the other day-- for ants and things. Do you think they'd work? Or would we have to watch as first the cat keeled over, followed by the kids, before the hideous chemical cocktail finally saw us off too?

Have semi-seriously thought of pulling up a floorboard in each room and spraying something noxious into the spidery darkness, hopefully getting rid of them once and for all. Would do it today if I thought it would work.

We're really nice and friendly. Honest we are. And we eat all the flies and other insects.

Want me to come over and get rid of the millipede? Yum

Lord, I can't bear them either - I'd be huddled in a corner weeping by now, if I saw that many in one day!

I started collecting conkers, apparently spiders can't stand horse chestnut, so if you put conkers about it's supposed to deter them (and you can always throw them at the damn things as a last resort!), if that fails, there's always the vacuum cleaner.

My mum has the most spidery house ever, she was painting a room the other day, turned her back to fill the brush, turned round and one was walking across the fresh paintwork -that's how prolific they are!!!! Yeuk

LOL, i think it may be a tempory solution, but you'd probably have to do it weekly to keep up with them.

When i first met my dp and he was living with his dad. i was at the end of their garden when i noticed a giant one sat on my t-shirt as i wriggled and flapped it went down my t-shirt, so i freaked and ran through the house (passed dp's dad) ripping my t-shirt off to get dp to check it wasn't on me anywhere.

My mum told me the conker thing, but couldn't remember if you were supposed to keep them in the spiky cases, or if they would work naked...

yes please tarantula.

And vkone, that is always when i get attacked the most! when decorated because all their little hiding places have been disturbed.

I can't do proper hoovering/dusting behind furniture unless dp is in the house in case there is a spider . When he's not here i just kinda hoover the middle of the room and flap a duster around a bit

I am terrified of spiders, especially big spiders. I count it as big if its bigger than a 5p.

I can sometimes use a glass to catch them, then I throw them out of the nearest window (to their death I'm told by MIL)
If they are too big, I might manage to put a cup or bowl over them and leave them there for DH to come home and dispose of them. I can't just ignore them as I know they will turn up somewhere else in the house, maybe my bedroom

I am very impressed Hattie05 that you touched a real tarantula, if they even took it out of the tank, I'd be long gone!

Can't do the cup or bowl trick when they are on the celing though .

The tarantula was great therapy! didn't last though! I had a class of nursery children with me and i'm a very good actress when it comes to pretending to children that insects are nice (as i wouldn't want any of them to suffer like i do). So as the man was passing this tarantula round for everyone to touch, my heart was racing and i was sweating and my quivering little hand reached out and touched it and i thought i was going to faint, but then i realised how proud i felt! I came home feeling really strong and still now i don't mind the little spiders, can scoop them and throw them out. But these giant ones i have at the mo just can't deal with.
Thank you everyone for talking to me i feel really stupid but its still watching me

Would you consider putting a bowl over it if it was on the floor?

Kind of, but then there is the fear i cannot see if it has escaped. Maybe i would put a glass one over but ugggh the thought of makes me feel sick.

I have never done that as you can tell!

What about the hoover? if it's on the ceiling will your hoover hose reach it?
I used to worry that they'd get back out of the hoover, but have a dyson now, so if hoovering insects, go outside and empty it straight away! lol

Can't help, sorry. Can feel for you though. I am the same.

I hate the darn things. So much. I can't do the cup trick - have to get too close. I tried the hoover bit, but then couldn't go near hoover until Dh got home so he could check it couldn't escape. I know it is silly. I know they can't hurt me. But I can't do anything to stop the way I feel either.

DD just wanted me to help her on the toilet so i checked the shower an there are no spiders in there, so i'm going to brave it! then we can stay out all day until dp comes home cos he's on early shift today

No i don't think i could do the hoover, what if i missed and it just dropped on my head instead?? and no i don't think i'd ever feel sure that i could use the hoover again.

I can strongly recommend using a broom to knock it off the ceiling, it will run but when it lands but you can stand on a chair. Use a plastic or glass bowl to cover it so you know it is underneath it.

If you leave it where it is now, you will spend all day watching it and feeling nervous.

Kid where do you live? d'you want to come and do it for me