Any creatures found in my house uninvited are subject to immediate defensive action, ranging from ejection to summary execution. No arguments about being nice or not being cruel will be heard.
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... Spiders.
- Thread starter Chicory Blue
- Start date
Wow, I'm so thankful that spiders in my country are mostly harmless. Though mosquitoes here are something else...
I've used one of those spray bug bombs that you set and close the door. Of course remove pets, food, people from the room.
Spiders have biten me at night when sleeping.
But....I agree spider do good work in eating other insects.
Fun fact...ticks are related to spiders...
Spiders have biten me at night when sleeping.
But....I agree spider do good work in eating other insects.
Fun fact...ticks are related to spiders...
Grew up in western New York, moved to Texas 22 years ago.
Bought a home as soon as we got here, and we would come across a scorpion every couple of weeks for almost a year, that took a little getting used to.
In the first few months of living here, we went on a mountain bike ride (one of many) and I almost ran over the biggest rattlesnake I have ever seen, including on television or in a zoo!
He was six feet long and as big around as a grapefruit.
In the years we've lived here, I've had to kill two large rattlesnakes in the back yard so the dogs would not get bit, I have relocated a number of smaller ones.
We have black widows, brown recluse, tarantulas, big ol' wolf spiders, big banana spiders, rattlesnakes, coral snakes, copperheads, water moccasins, rat snakes, king snakes, millions of Mexican free-tail bats, feral hogs and bobcats in the neighborhood, lots of coyotes, mountain lions (not right in my neighborhood) and zillions of fire ants.
And much of the native plant life has thorns, needles or spikey tips.
Love it here, way more fun than New York, the only critter here that I would rather see dead are those damn fire ants.
Bought a home as soon as we got here, and we would come across a scorpion every couple of weeks for almost a year, that took a little getting used to.
In the first few months of living here, we went on a mountain bike ride (one of many) and I almost ran over the biggest rattlesnake I have ever seen, including on television or in a zoo!
He was six feet long and as big around as a grapefruit.
In the years we've lived here, I've had to kill two large rattlesnakes in the back yard so the dogs would not get bit, I have relocated a number of smaller ones.
We have black widows, brown recluse, tarantulas, big ol' wolf spiders, big banana spiders, rattlesnakes, coral snakes, copperheads, water moccasins, rat snakes, king snakes, millions of Mexican free-tail bats, feral hogs and bobcats in the neighborhood, lots of coyotes, mountain lions (not right in my neighborhood) and zillions of fire ants.
And much of the native plant life has thorns, needles or spikey tips.
Love it here, way more fun than New York, the only critter here that I would rather see dead are those damn fire ants.
Peppermint is the most effective oil to repel spiders. Besides peppermint and spearmint, essential oils for spiders include citrus elements like orange, lemon and lime. Citronella, cedarwood, tea tree oil and lavender can also be effective.
Interesting to hear about your infestation. I spent a month-and-a-half in Sydney and shared my bathroom with a redback. I’ve been an arachnophobe since I was a young kid so my first thought was that I should show this spider the exit. Instead I decided to observe it and, through doing so, quickly learned that I had nothing to worry about where this particular spider was concerned (granted I had already done some casual research on redback behaviour, so I knew they are a docile species). It would be great if more people took the time to learn a bit about the creatures we share our environments with. While I can’t say I’m totally over my arachnophobia, learning about the little critters has brought me long way.
A coworker found a black widow spider at home and brought it to work, because that's what we do and black widows aren't very common here. Anyways, as we're looking at it, it starts to do a Alien / chest burster thing and a parasitic worm of some sort exploded from its chest. We couldn't nuke it from orbit, so we used firecrackers, the next best thing. But anyways, I'm certain that we saved the Earth.
+1 on being cool with spiders.
I'm also a cyclist (as well as a bassist) and spiders love bicycles. That's why, when my bicycles are in the garage during the off-season I wipe them down every day or two so spiders know to set up base-camp elsewhere.
But, yeah, I'm cool with spiders because they don't cause property damage (like, say, carpenter ants), they don't spread disease (like, say, mosquitos), and they prey on the pesky bugs that do cause property damage and spread diseases. I feel similarly about centipedes. I have no beef with them.
Wasps, hornets, and yellow-jackets on the other hand, get zero respect from me. They don't make honey, they don't die when they sting you, and their sole purpose is to be a bullying nuisance.
I'm also a cyclist (as well as a bassist) and spiders love bicycles. That's why, when my bicycles are in the garage during the off-season I wipe them down every day or two so spiders know to set up base-camp elsewhere.
But, yeah, I'm cool with spiders because they don't cause property damage (like, say, carpenter ants), they don't spread disease (like, say, mosquitos), and they prey on the pesky bugs that do cause property damage and spread diseases. I feel similarly about centipedes. I have no beef with them.
Wasps, hornets, and yellow-jackets on the other hand, get zero respect from me. They don't make honey, they don't die when they sting you, and their sole purpose is to be a bullying nuisance.
These also repel moths so your winter woolens are not eaten up in the off season. That's why Grandma's chest at the end of the bed was made of red cedar, and one reason she kept pomanders about the house, in addition to smelling nice.
You have a new friend who loves bass! 
Rejoice because it's not so common. 
Rejoice because it's not so common. Me too.
So I get summoned to evict them.
There was that time I needed to evict a huntsman from the bathroom early in the morning. Did that old trick of trapping it with a plastic bowl, then sliding a sheet of plastic between the bowl and the wall to keep it in there. So far, so good - the thing's about the size of the palm of my hand, including its legs, so not terrifying. I head through the house with the intention of dropping it on the ground outside.
Turns out there's a thing these critters normally do in mating season, which is to anchor their front two pairs of legs to the ground and shake their abdomen like crazy, to flail their hind-legs against the ground. Not only did I not know this at the time, but I discovered they also do this in captivity, just as the door opened.
So there's me stark naked at 6am, shrieking like a teenage girl at a Jason Donovan concert, and just flinging the whole damn lot out the door...
That was over a decade ago, and my partner still hasn't stopped teasing me about the spider making love-calls at me.
Take all your instruments out of their cases, leave the cases open, and then bug bomb the room. Several times (spiders are pretty tough). This is why I pay good money to have a bug guy come by my house and douse it every three months. I have basses, some rare books and a wood frame house. Insecticide is your friend.
Fire ants are horrendous enough to make me believe in the existence of an actual Satan. Can't kill them, but they can sure lay a hurt on you, your dog, your kid. My relatives in the South deal with them all the time. One of many reasons I won't live there.
Of all the times I've been bitten, I've never once gained wall crawling powers or super strength.......
What a gip!!!!!
What a gip!!!!!
Jesus. If I ever saw a spider that big I'd shoot it. Seriously.
Not really, insecticide is toxic to humans too. I certainly wouldn't do it if I had kids at home.
I can't believe @Spidey2112 has not weighed in on this yet! ( I guess some guys still gotta work )
I am pretty sure I got fleas from the case of a bass I bought one time. Not sure what is worse...
You could get one of those silicon feedback blocking hole cover thingys.
Seal the spider inside. Rock on. When sufficient time has past have a ceremony and offer a sacrifice to Goddess Neith. Or just play that MusicMan in your avatar loudly enough to shale loose any remaining eggs. Finally, don't move here even though it is as awesome as you've been told. We have tarantula and it's mating season.
Seal the spider inside. Rock on. When sufficient time has past have a ceremony and offer a sacrifice to Goddess Neith. Or just play that MusicMan in your avatar loudly enough to shale loose any remaining eggs. Finally, don't move here even though it is as awesome as you've been told. We have tarantula and it's mating season.
