Spiders

I read a,few months back that Chester zoo, I think it was, have successfully bred and released some species or other of very big spider.
Whoopeee, I thought.

I hate spiders and they hate me. Last year I was bitten twice under my eye, very painful, and recently bitten twice on my hand. The doctor said if not treated the bites could turn nasty. Never saw how big the spiders were, as both times I woke up in bed with the bites.

Thanks nanna8.
I reckon our house spiders aren't far off that size now.
.I'm sure they're bigger than they used to be.

Did nobody else see the scientific paper about spiders published several years ago?

It suggested that there were fewer coughs. colds and other lung infections in homes where spiders were left alone. They reckoned that the webs acted as sticky air filters so fewer bacteria and viruses survived

We don't get many colds at all My husband talks with affection of spider #29 in his bathroom

I keep two spiders in my apartment Bill and Ben. I let them build small webs to catch flies. I loathe flies

MissAdventure

What's the biggest size you're likely to encounter, nanna8?

Huntsmen would fill the palm of your hand ( including legs) . The bodies are around an inch across. They are not as deadly as some of the others, fairly harmless but very scary. Especially if you get one in the car whilst driving !

I’d rather have a spider in my glass of water than my neighbour’s false teeth. Popped in to see her the other day - offered me a cup of tea and I said , ‘’no thanks, I’ll have a glass of water, if you don’t mind”. Off she goes to the kitchen, brings me a glass of water. Not looking, I took the glass and put it straight to my lips and as I took a sip, my eyes caught something pink - horror of horrors, it was her husband’s false teeth. Her husband was taking an afternoon nap. This is a true story, I promise.

A couple of weeks ago I woke in the night, took a swig of my water .... and got a mouth full of spider!!! No idea how it got in my water. I spat it out back into the glass but needless to say, I didn't sleep for thd rest of that night ... and I now have my bedside water in a sealed container !!

I think so.
We had some flash floods, with uncleared drains, and our litte lake overflowing.

My neighbour went out for a wander, to see how everywhere looked.

At the lake, she felt the bite, so I presume the spider was living in the grass there, and cross it's home was flooded.

I'm always wary of bananas in supermarkets.
But they've settled here now, haven't they?

Shocking, isn't it?
My neighbour was bitten by one and it took around a year to heal, and left an awful scar.

😯

On the nextdoor site, in my area, there is someone who lost half of her foot due to a false widow bite!!!!

nanna8

Spiders are fine outside but not indoors. Many of ours are venomous and I don’t want to end up dead or in hospital so if I see one indoors I either trap it and put it outside if it is a great big huntsman or kill it if it is anything else. We don’t get many inside, thank goodness.

if I see one indoors I either trap it and put it outside if it is a great big huntsman
One bit me. It was outside. Thankfully it wasn't too large and must have died of fright soon afterwards.

What's the biggest size you're likely to encounter, nanna8?

Spiders are fine outside but not indoors. Many of ours are venomous and I don’t want to end up dead or in hospital so if I see one indoors I either trap it and put it outside if it is a great big huntsman or kill it if it is anything else. We don’t get many inside, thank goodness.

I have nothing against spiders, small or big. They're not going to hurt you, well not in this country. Climate change will now determine when they appear, other insects as well, though spiders aren't insects. I noticed last summer almost the complete absence of bees and wasps.

I used to put conkers on shelf to keep them out. Spiders were bigger than the conkers!

My parents were ok with spiders but nevertheless I grew up to be absolutely petrified of anything bigger than a money spider. DH is not a lot better but will catch it in a cup if he can, and put it out. I can do that with small-medium ones but not the bigger ones. 40 years ago when DH was working abroad I encountered the biggest spider on earth on my lounge floor. I phoned my friends but no-one was in. I simply had to kill it. I did this by dropping the giant family bible on it - and the bible stayed there for 3 months till DH got home.

Despite all my efforts to not show my fear to my DDs they have both grown up to be as terrified as I am.

Last night I found a wasp in the en-suite bathroom. Bright and lively. It went out through the open window.

I'm not afraid of much (except big unpredictable animals like cattle and horses) but if it's smaller that me (apart from slugs) I say live and let live, although phobias are overwhelming. A friend of mine was so phobic about snakes she couldn't even say the word, and said "snooks" instead. She always made sure that anywhere she was visiting had no snakes as decorations or children's toys. "If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive".

Mice are much cuter, but I don't want them in my flat either.
At least I'm not afraid of mice, though.

Spiders are fantastic beasties. Leave them to do their thing. They used to live in caves but there's not a lot of those around anymore so a house is a good compromise. Live and let live. 😊.

There were huge spiders in my narrow boat. They’d sit under the hatch cover, and come out at night. I often wondered how the first invaders boarded, creeping up the mooring ropes?

One of my shocks on moving south to Devon was the size of the spiders. I now use clothes e oil and never see them. Do few cotton wool balls with some clove oil sprinkled on them and put them where spiders liked to be. Some popped under a mat by the French windows, some on top of wardrobe etc. It's worked a treat.

Heavenlyblue11

Our spider's have names they work hard

Oh that’s good to hear. It’s lovely to know that not everyone would like to annihilate our 8 legged little creatures on sight.
I’m not afraid of spiders although I don’t name them I’m happy to co exist with them in the house.
My dd on the other hand is petrified of them. I don’t know why as she doesn’t get it from me.
She is improving as she gets older and will even catch the smaller ones in the spider catcher.
Well she had to do it when I was in hospital and to her credit she’s carried on.
I feel sorry for people with a spider phobia it can’t be easy never being able to totally relax in your home for fear of them popping up.