# Spiders where are they coming from!



## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Were getting a real spate of large spiders here in North East England. Everyday I'm chucking out big 'uns. Unless its the same spider with its own key!
There was one just now about three inches across. This is very unusual. in nearby sunderland there have been many sightings of the False Widow Spider. Normally when my girls start screaming in another room I come running...not so keen now!


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Have you been playing any octets, that draws them out to listen, they are particularly attracted to the one of Mendelssohn I find. You need more low frequency organ music, give them headaches, not Bach though they love counterpoint.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

When it gets cool in autumn they tend to come in. If your home is tight, 3 inch ones have difficulty with that program.

Regarding a perceived trend toward big ones - none of them are vegetarians, so maybe their prey is getting bigger too. The only limits are design (as their mass increases, there comes a point where gravity messes them up) and the hiding-is-good intervention; they get big enough so hiding is difficult, but they aren't too big for their natural enemies to handle.

Next lecture Monday at 8.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

There are a few big fellas in my yard and garden, but they're just web builders taking care of pests. Haven't been many troublesome spiders in the house, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the Shoe of Mercy must be brought into play once more.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

We're starting to get the white spiders in our house because it's getting cool outside as winter draws nearer. I have such a high respect for those creatures, but god do they creep me out.

Some guy 6'6" tall, 300 lbs of pure muscle messes with me, I won't hesitate to try to take him down. But a little spider lands on my shoulder... and I'm screaming and flailing like an 8 year old little girl!

That's why they call it a phobia, because it ain't rational!

V


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I read a report that because of an over-abundance of prey some species of UK spiders this year are larger than usual. The few arachnids I've seen so far inside my place this year don't look particularly oversized compared to the ones I'm used to, but size-wise the creepy-crawlies that inhabit Britain aren't anything to write home about compared to the larger tropical specimens like the Huntsman Spider or the Asian Giant Hornet - imagine things like that popping in to say hello.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I came across a lace-web spider skulking behind some damp wall-paper the other night, which bothered me a bit. Wasn't there an item about a woman losing her finger with a false widow bite a few days ago? Scary!
But I never kill spiders, because of the old superstition. If they're big, I trap them in an old coffee jar and put them outside. 
A pity they can't all be as small and artistic as this one:


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> I read a report that because of an over-abundance of prey some species of UK spiders this year are larger than usual. The few arachnids I've seen so far inside my place this year don't look particularly oversized compared to the ones I'm used to, but size-wise the creepy-crawlies that inhabit Britain aren't anything to write home about compared to the larger tropical specimens like the Huntsman Spider or the Asian Giant Hornet - imagine things like that popping in to say hello.


My Australian friend has regaled me with harrowing tales of Huntsmen lurking by doorhandles, public toilets infested with angry bees, deadly spiders hanging precariously over public walkways. Eugh!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Spiders help control the amount of insects in the house. They are better than hiring an exterminator.

Just stop watching those "monster" spider movies where they grow to be 17 feet tall and devour everything in sight.

Better you should watch movies like "Little Women" instead.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

hpowders said:


> Spiders help control the amount of insects in the house. They are better than hiring an exterminator.
> 
> Just stop watching those "monster" spider movies where they grow to be 17 feet tall and devour everything in sight.
> 
> Better you should watch movies like "Little Women" instead.


But then we'd all be scared of ladies of diminutive proportions.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

You could import some centipedes from the tropics to take care of those spiders:


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Crudblud said:


> But then we'd all be scared of ladies of diminutive proportions.


Depending on the expression present, I already am. Part of that is that I am handicapped by extreme reluctance to strike a woman - so reluctant that I never have done so; even the few who may have benefited from the experience. As for spiders, I respect their space outdoors as long as they return the courtesy. Indoors they are in my space.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Ukko said:


> Depending on the expression present, I already am. Part of that is that I am handicapped by extreme reluctance to strike a woman ...


No handicap; glad to hear that there are a few gentlemen left.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

When I see spiders I just wanna squash them. But I'm careful if they are poisonous, then I use a spray can to gas it.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

quack said:


> Have you been playing any octets, that draws them out to listen, they are particularly attracted to the one of Mendelssohn I find. You need more low frequency organ music, give them headaches, not Bach though they love counterpoint.


That does it...Im burning my Marcel Poot records."



Ingélou said:


> Wasn't there an item about a woman losing her finger with a false widow bite a few days ago? Scary!
> [


Yep... four miles from our front door. She didnt realise until she was saying "goodnight" to her husband....


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Once ever in all my life I saw a black widow spider and it was pretty creepy. I don't recall if I squashed it or not, didn't want to get near it.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

It's cockroach season here, can I borrow some of your spiders?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

LOL. From out of doors, of course. The right weather, winter, spring, summer, a lot of rain, everything verdant, _and a lot of other insects_ brings its proportion of the higher-ups in the food chain, ergo, spiders.

If you've forgotten, autumn finds a lot of the smaller critters -- both insect and mammal -- wending their way to shelter, human shelter. There is often an annual mini-migration of ladybugs where I live, all coming indoors, all at the end of their lives, so, a bit poignantly, coming in to die.

The spiders are there looking for all the other smaller prey you may not have noticed. I tend to let them do their job, or get the glass vessel / sheet of paper to deftly re-locate them to the out of doors, where whatever their chances or fate, is more the natural place for it


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Of course you might need a bigger gun if the spider is really big
View attachment 52536


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Burn the house down--burn the whole neighborhood, in fact-- then salt the earth.

They're for coming for us!!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Where I live, spiders get very common in season. They're quite beneficial. But we have to watch for black widows and brown recluses, which are always feared though seldom seen. I suppose they're beneficial too, unless they happen to bite you...

Overall, not a problem. I just keep my sword Sting handy.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

When I was 29 yrs old, I was asleep on my couch, and I felt a sharp pain right on my knee. I was bitten by a black widow. I drove to the emergency room, tell them what happened. They gave me a shot of anti-venom and within 15 minutes, 90% of the pain had subsided.

I couldn't believe how painful a bite from such a small creature could be. It felt like someone sliced open the skin on my knee, lifted the skin flap up, put a bunch of small glass shards in there, put the skin back over it, then started rubbing it really hard from the outside. Plus a lot of redness and a bit of swelling. It was not fun. That was the last bite that black widow ever took.

V

PS: What is a "false" black widow?" Sounds like something that looks like a black widow, but is not poisonous. But I guess if you lose a finger from it's bite, it's definitely poisonous.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Then we'd need something to take care of the centipedes!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Crudblud said:


> There are a few big fellas in my yard and garden, but they're just web builders taking care of pests.


Good! I love spiders and they play an incredibly important role in the ecosystem.



Crudblud said:


> Haven't been many troublesome spiders in the house, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the Shoe of Mercy must be brought into play once more.


Noooo! You should never kill a spider, scoop him/her up and tip him/her outside. #jobdone


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Basically, the only insects I kill are ants, mosquitos, house flies, and nuissance wasps (those that try to sting you).


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Florestan said:


> Basically, the only insects I kill are ants, mosquitos, house flies, and nuissance wasps (those that try to sting you).


I don't kill anything, even spiders, unless they're near or on my bed in which case it's personal.

Since this is somewhat related, though not an insect or arachnid...

We got a baby possum in our rat trap a couple weeks ago, the kind with the glue they step in and can't get out. I felt so bad, he was so small, and kept looking up at me. He was trying to get into the dog food. My neighbor helped me unstick him with warm water, and even got him a box and put a bowl of water and some cat food in there for him. He ate everything, slept the next day, then I took him down to a possum rescue center where they said they'd look after him. I threw out all the other traps, too. didn't want that happening again...


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Outside its spider season here. Massive Garden Spiders, quarter sized abdomen's. You never know when a web is going to get in your way...but they are cool to look at.


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

I can't help the poor souls in Australia who have to contend with truly monstrous brutes, but for those of us who only have to deal with House Spiders (Tegenaria species) the solution is to encourage Cellar Spiders. If you don't know what a Cellar Spider looks like run google pics for Pholcus phalangioides. You will agree they are not scary at all. You should be able to sleep easy abed with one or two of these in the room. They are common throughout UK and Europe and most US states and are probably on your ceilings right now. Despite their weedy build they prey on Tegenaria and other large spiders. I took this pic in my kitchen a few days ago. The Cellar Spider (on the right) is attacking and killing a much beefier Wolf Spider. It can kill much bigger prey than this. So don't hoover them up.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Florestan said:


> Basically, the only insects I kill are ants, mosquitos, house flies, and nuissance wasps (those that try to sting you).


I don't go very far, ants, sure, because they're legion, always. Most else I glass vessel / paper bottom slid under for lid, catch and toss, or otherwise shoo -- out of doors.

What I will go for, abandoning anything remotely like mercy (and it is wholly non-Buddhist -- or name your compassionate merciful faith with respect for life) _are those who want to suck my blood._ Unh, uh! Squash them suckers (literally) right dead, I do, and while doing, happily know that when I kill a biting mosquito, I'm killing a pregnant female.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

senza sordino said:


> Of course you might need a bigger gun if the spider is really big
> View attachment 52536


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Chris said:


> I can't help the poor souls in Australia who have to contend with truly monstrous brutes, but for those of us who only have to deal with House Spiders (Tegenaria species) the solution is to encourage Cellar Spiders. If you don't know what a Cellar Spider looks like run google pics for Pholcus phalangioides. You will agree they are not scary at all. You should be able to sleep easy abed with one or two of these in the room. They are common throughout UK and Europe and most US states and are probably on your ceilings right now. Despite their weedy build they prey on Tegenaria and other large spiders. I took this pic in my kitchen a few days ago. The Cellar Spider (on the right) is attacking and killing a much beefier Wolf Spider. It can kill much bigger prey than this. So don't hoover them up.
> 
> View attachment 52599


Not the photo you had in mind.


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2014)




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## Guest (Oct 4, 2014)




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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)




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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Chris said:


> I can't help the poor souls in Australia who have to contend with truly monstrous brutes, but for those of us who only have to deal with House Spiders (Tegenaria species) the solution is to encourage Cellar Spiders. If you don't know what a Cellar Spider looks like run google pics for Pholcus phalangioides. You will agree they are not scary at all. You should be able to sleep easy abed with one or two of these in the room. They are common throughout UK and Europe and most US states and are probably on your ceilings right now. Despite their weedy build they prey on Tegenaria and other large spiders. I took this pic in my kitchen a few days ago. The Cellar Spider (on the right) is attacking and killing a much beefier Wolf Spider. It can kill much bigger prey than this. So don't hoover them up.
> 
> View attachment 52599


Speaking of Australia, the land where every dangerous scary critter is twice as big, twice as fast, and twice as poisonous, there's a particularly aggressive and poisonous spider found there: the funnel web spider.








I know the wiki article says they're not 'normally' aggressive, but I've heard otherwise.

 I'm thankful for living on the other side of the planet as those things.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

Chris said:


> I can't help the poor souls in Australia who have to contend with truly monstrous brutes, but for those of us who only have to deal with House Spiders (Tegenaria species) the solution is to encourage Cellar Spiders. If you don't know what a Cellar Spider looks like run google pics for Pholcus phalangioides. You will agree they are not scary at all. You should be able to sleep easy abed with one or two of these in the room. They are common throughout UK and Europe and most US states and are probably on your ceilings right now. Despite their weedy build they prey on Tegenaria and other large spiders. I took this pic in my kitchen a few days ago. The Cellar Spider (on the right) is attacking and killing a much beefier Wolf Spider. It can kill much bigger prey than this. So don't hoover them up.
> 
> View attachment 52599


I marvel at those spiders. Those are the only spiders I see in my wood shop where fine saw dust goes everywhere. They're always in corners and I never see any prey in their webs. I always thought they were stupid because they always go where no other insect is. I only see them in dirty and/or dusty areas. Good to know they eat the bigger spiders. I've never been freaked out by them or daddy long legs.

V


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I spoke too soon. Found a big bugger in here today.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

trazom said:


> I know the wiki article says they're not 'normally' aggressive, but I've heard otherwise.


Yeah, the snake people in California are always saying rattlesnakes won't bite you unless you irritate them. Yeah, like coming around where they are, or wearing last year's styles, or the wrong deodorant...whatever!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

The spider eggs they used to fill Beanie Babies are finally hatching!

This is true folks.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Where I live, spiders get very common in season. They're quite beneficial. But we have to watch for black widows and brown recluses, which are always feared though seldom seen. I suppose they're beneficial too, unless they happen to bite you...
> 
> Overall, not a problem. I just keep my sword Sting handy.


Orc killer! (15 chars)


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Florestan said:


>


Didn't know spiders could be Russian.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

I have a true case of arachnophobia. Big spiders are the reason I will never go into a pet store, or move to northern Latin America without a machine gun. Even a picture of one makes me want to smear black ink into the page or screen.

No matter how much I tell myself that they are not evil, just animals, I still have the fear response.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

marinasabina said:


> I have a true case of arachnophobia. Big spiders are the reason I will never go into a pet store, or move to northern Latin America without a machine gun. Even a picture of one makes me want to smear black ink into the page or screen.
> 
> No matter how much I tell myself that they are not evil, just animals, I still have the fear response.


I would likely have much more active fear of them, but that I rarely see more than the occasional tiny brown house spider where I live. I once saw a black widow when I was on a trip and it was really creepy.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

There was a video on Yahoo yesterday where two captured spiders of the same species had a fight - one released all these babies once they started grappling.


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## Musicforawhile (Oct 10, 2014)

Apparently we are going to be 'invaded' in the UK:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/giant-spiders-set-invade-uk-4275507

And I have myself seen one that could have been 3 or 4 inches across, hiding behind a flower pot, but by the time I found my camera it had disappeared.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Repeat after me: 

"Spiders are good: they are the best insect control a house can have. Leave them alone to do their thing and they will leave you alone."

"It is irrational to think a 3 inch creature would willingly take on someone who is five to six feet tall."

You can do the metric conversions for any anxious spiders living across the pond who may be perusing this.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I hope some one has explained that to the spiders.!
At my mothers house at the weekend, I got a face full of web as I walked in the front door. It was like a fake
hollywood web from a movie.! I think the little buggers are getting sarcastic!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Musicforawhile said:


> And I have myself seen one that could have been 3 or 4 inches across, hiding behind a flower pot, but by the time I found my camera it had disappeared.


Heck, I caught a spider last week moving stuff out of our spare bedroom into the hall. Seems it wanted some elbow room in there, and since spiders have 48 elbows, that's a lot of space.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Musicforawhile said:


> Apparently we are going to be 'invaded' in the UK:
> 
> http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/giant-spiders-set-invade-uk-4275507
> 
> And I have myself seen one that could have been 3 or 4 inches across, hiding behind a flower pot, but by the time I found my camera it had disappeared.


I wouldn't bash it with a camera if I were you: those are expensive to replace.  I would use a big hardback dictionary with a sturdy binding that won't break even when I stamp on it a few times. Liddell & Scott's Greek Lexicon is my personal favourite for this purpose, since I can't imagine having to consult it again any time soon!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Didn't know spiders could be Russian.


Only in Hollywood movies where they are the villain!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm rooting for the spiders. Bet the spiders could do a great job on the Chopin/Godowsky etudes with all those "hands".


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

For those of you folks still scared of those itzy bitzy spiders:
Play Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Leave the front door open.

It's not that the music itself is scary, it's just like practically everyone and everything else on this cursed planet, outside of TC, spiders dig mainstream pop music.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> I wouldn't bash it with a camera if I were you: those are expensive to replace.  I would use a big hardback dictionary with a sturdy binding that won't break even when I stamp on it a few times. Liddell & Scott's Greek Lexicon is my personal favourite for this purpose, since I can't imagine having to consult it again any time soon!


I'll pretend I didn't read this. Spiders were as welcome on Noah's Ark as any other creature to survive the great flood. God's will.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

hpowders said:


> For those of you folks still scared of those itzy bitzy spiders:
> Play Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Leave the front door open.
> 
> It's not that the music itself is scary, it's just like practically everyone and everything else on this cursed planet, outside of TC, spiders dig mainstream pop music.


I think they are particularly fond of this guy...


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