Autumn weather beginning. . . Oh no! That means spiders will be coming in. . . .

It is said that having horse chestnuts [conkers] on windowsills etc., stops spiders from coming in. Since I don't mind spiders, I haven't tried it, but please feel free...

I absolutely love autumn- my favourite season perhaps. And I don't mind the spiders, they are welcome here. They are called 'Fred'. When they are toooo big, I put a glass over them, take a postcard to slip under and put them gently in the barn.

Such a shame for those of you who suffer. Do you remember when it all started and why?

I would definitely go for therapy if it was me.

Oh my Lordy
I am so stressed at the prospect of Autumn arachnids
i am currently abroad
I know they are waiting for me when i get home
The secret is keep,your house spotlessly clean .
And sorry they have to get squashed ASAP
Feel quite sick now
Serious arachnophobic

Found one in my bed the other day but he was just little so I put hi
M out of the window and he dropped on his web onto the ground to safety.

Sylvie1 - three inches ???!!! - that's big, really big.- Ugh !!!

missdeke - totally agree with you about not being so scared of a tarantula. They move pretty slowly,and although I don't think I could bring myself to hold one,they don't freak me out anywhere near as much as our native ones,which scuttle and hide.

We first started to get the huge ones a couple of years back. They come down the chimney and under the grate, just as we are relaxing in the evening the monsters (around 3 ins wide) run out onto the hearth. The first one this year came last week, apparently cinnamon sticks are supposed to work so there are now four sticks behind the grate plus a good spray of the spider deterrent and I am holding my breath. DH is hopeless at catching them so its always down to me and I am usually trembling with fear by the time I dispatch the monsters into the garden. Really don't mind the small/medium sized ones, its the ones you could put a saddle on that give me the shudders.

I am not terrified of them but dislike them intensely. Luckily I inherited my Mum's spider catcher. It is like a pair of plastic scissors with a large flat blade one side and a domed top the other, both transparent. You place the dome over the spider and then slowly close the scissors and the flat blade slides underneath. Hey presto spider caught!! I then take it outside and deposit it the other side of the fence. Lakeland's Spider Stop seems to work quite well too. Wish they did something like it for daddy longlegs. I really am terrified of them. My windows will be shut tight next week and won't be opened again for a few weeks. My DH was an ace at annihilating them for me but now I have to face them alone.

I.am not at all frightened of spiders because I hate flies. However a once had a very painful bite from a very tiny spider camping in France. You can get a spray from Betterware called Spider Stop.

Thankfully,our cat is a very efficient spider-catcher apart from when she brought a monster in from the balcony,she isn't the slightest bit bothered how big they are. Also,before we had our cat,we tried one of those plug-in spider repellent things. It is meant to give off a very high-pitched sound that is inaudible to the human ear,but scares spiders off. Unfortunately,my DD said she could hear it and it gave her a migraine!

Errrr, HOOVERS, even.

I share your fear! To the extent that I have TWO hovers with long attachments on standby- one upstairs and one downstairs at the ready. If I see one I just suck it up and then stuff the end of the pipe with a sock for good measure!

It's the speed with which they scuttle that creeps me to out. Take your eyes off one for a second and it's gone.

Ooh milkflake there were plenty around in my childhood and ever since, big ones too. Don't like them at all but have lived on my own and had to deal with them then, though I go helpless now DH can deal with them! What used to get me as a small child was the occasional appearance of a large centipede in my bed - that really did set me off!

I love autumn for some reason its my favourite - spiders are perfectly ok, as long as they are not in the house. Spider webs on an autumn day are beautiful - but hubby does not mind them so he takes them outside for me lol

I hate them too. It's only in the past 20 years or so that they first came into houses so much. Not only me that thinks that. I don't ever remember them in houses before that,maybe the odd small one but not these huge ones we get now

I am another total arachnaphobic to the ultimate degree - even find it difficult to say the word. We put conkers round last winter and will replace them when the new shiny ones appear soon. I hate tempting fate but so far so good ......My eyes are everywhere as September approaches. I have to know they are disposed of otherwise I cannot stay in the room. Revulsion, trembling, total terror. I have no problems with anything else but absolutely understand friends who feel the same about mice, reptiles, moths.

I am absolutely terrified of them.

Tried conkers until we found a massive spider sitting on top of the pile I'd put by the door.

Can't even look at a picture of one !

And yes, I know it's ridiculous !

Spiders don't bother me at all, it's frogs which I hate.

I was bought up on a farm and, as a child, never bothered about them.

It's the way they jump and startle you which makes me jump!

As all the spider haters are disliking the onset of Autumn, I'm feeling happier that during the colder months, there are no frogs about.

No 3 was lurking on the blinds in the bedroom as I went to bed last night I managed to flick it out the window YUK!!

I thought I was safe for a bit yet, but my husband informed me last night a big spider ran out from under his armchair. Why did he tell me! I'm on extra alert now.

I hate spiders with a passion and can't even bear the thought of a picture of them touching me when I fold a newspaper of magazine over so I can't see them. The revulsion I feel for them actually makes me retch violently so it isn't a pretty sight for anyone. Strangely enough though, a couple of years ago, I had to take medication for migraines which was a drug usually prescribed for epilepsy and the revulsion disappeared. As long as the spiders didn't touch me, I was able to deal with them without too much of a problem. However, when I stopped taking the medication, the revulsion came back even though I had told myself that I could obviously control it so the other morning when I awoke to the hugest spider I have ever seen waving it's legs around, I woke my husband up by retching violently as I flew out of bed. He didn't find it the most fascinating alarm clock he's ever heard!

I am terrified of spiders. We have a plug in pest repeller that seems to work quite well. Very rarely see one in our flat, thank goodness.

not at all bothered by spiders, big ones can make me jump if they suddenly move but at least it's not a mouse (not frightened of them either but I don't want them in the house despite what my cat thinks).

My DD however hates spiders - not sure where she gets that from!!!

Spider X spray. My SIL runs his own security business and they use it to stop spiders walking across sensors. My DD is also not keen on them so she uses it too