Xref: 127.0.0.1 aus.gardens:20131


Hi,
I was wondering if anyone else has the problem of spider webs
everywhere. These are quite big spiders, like huntsmen, and i always
thought that they were harmless. (i was amazed the other day watching
one, which was probably down on its luck after i'd removed it's web,
being attacked by a penny lizard, half its size).

We're always walking into their semi-transparent webs, a horrible
feeling, and they come back religiously. On the way home last night i
went the long way and walked through one between the neighbours
(presently vacant) fence and the tree.

Does anyone know how to control them? I don't want to drive them inside
on any account!

--
::::~~~~rOOth~~~~::::

g'day ruth,

they sound like orb spiders quiet common around gardens etc.,. they
catch and kill lots of insects so are very beneficial, doubt they
would move to inside your house they like the open areas between trees
and things.

not sure that orb spiders won't bite given the right circumstances,
i've encountered many in my life of gardening and never been bitten,
just need to be looking where you are walking of a nightime, carry a
stick and when you walk into a web stop and walk backwards this will
help clear the web from your head are, then just use the stick to pull
down enough of the web that you can pass by.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://hub.dataline.net.au/~gardnlen/

"ruth" wrote in message
...

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone else has the problem of spider webs
everywhere. These are quite big spiders, like huntsmen, and i always
thought that they were harmless. (i was amazed the other day watching
one, which was probably down on its luck after i'd removed it's web,
being attacked by a penny lizard, half its size).

We're always walking into their semi-transparent webs, a horrible
feeling, and they come back religiously. On the way home last night i
went the long way and walked through one between the neighbours
(presently vacant) fence and the tree.

Does anyone know how to control them? I don't want to drive them inside
on any account!

--
::::~~~~rOOth~~~~::::

LOL. Sorry, but you just reminded me of last night, when we were at a
friends house and saw some people across the road walking with their kids,
when suddenly one burst into what I call, the "dance of fear".
This usually starts with running your hands through your hair quite
vigorously, at the same time doing a full 180degree turn. Then walking
backwards while picking web off your face and hair. Finally the dance ends
with asking your partner/friend to check your back for a spider.
I can laugh, I do it too, and hate spiders.

As len has mentioned, they are orb weavers, and I to go a little further in
naming, Garden Orb Weavers. They can bite, and when they do it's quite
painful, and repeated biting if you don't get the spider off quick. They
aren't poisonous, and I don't think they can give nausea or vomiting, like
a huntsman can.
I had an ex boss who tried to show me they are harmless by letting one bite
the back of his hand. It was like it had a biting frenzy. Funny though, he
cringed and flinched at the biting, and quickly brushed it off.

There webs are quite sticky, and large and as you say they keep coming back.
During the day you can find them neatly tucked away in or under a leaf or
under the eaves of a roof. Found at one of the attaching points of the web.

You could try relocating them to a different area where their web won't
affect anyone. Try getting them on a broom or stick, then move them.

As much as I hate spiders, they are beneficial. I have relcoated a few.
Sadly though I have seen many bees caught in their webs. I keep them away
from areas of the garden that attracts a lot of bees.

They will not make their way inside, unless they get on you or your washing,
they are outdoors only. So one inside will probably die, or try make a web.

If you want to get an awesome photo, take one of their web closeup, early
morning with the dew on it, or after a light mist of rain (or water from
hose). Getting the spider in the picture too is even better.

Good luck.

On Sat, 04 Jan 2003 06:28:52 +1100, ruth wrote:


Hi,
I was wondering if anyone else has the problem of spider webs
everywhere. These are quite big spiders, like huntsmen, and i always
thought that they were harmless. (i was amazed the other day watching
one, which was probably down on its luck after i'd removed it's web,
being attacked by a penny lizard, half its size).

Huntsman spiders don't spin webs.

We're always walking into their semi-transparent webs, a horrible
feeling, and they come back religiously. On the way home last night i
went the long way and walked through one between the neighbours
(presently vacant) fence and the tree.

Does anyone know how to control them? I don't want to drive them inside
on any account!

Carry a stick with you and hold it in front of you to take out the webs.

BTW, the Golden Orb Weaver can be trained. Last year I had one that made a web
across a path. I broke it. It remade it so I broke it again. The next day it
spun a new web much higher so I left it alone.

"Just a little bit" wrote in message
...

BTW, the Golden Orb Weaver can be trained. Last year I had one that made
a web
across a path. I broke it. It remade it so I broke it again. The next
day it
spun a new web much higher so I left it alone.

I noticed a couple of mine doing the same thing.

Have you ever tried making a spider web print? I've heard that if you spray
paint it then press a piece of paper against it while the paint is still
sticky.

Good luck,

Susan

This has nothing to do with the original query but reminds me of one of
those 'aint kids cute' storties.

My 7 year old daughter's teacher saw me one day and amidst a gale of
laughter told me about something she had said...

Picture this... my daughter racing into the classroom yelling...

"Miss Thompson...Miss Thompson.... there's a husband spider in the toilet"

Such a simple confusion of words created such an innocently funny moment.






"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...

"Just a little bit" wrote in message
...

BTW, the Golden Orb Weaver can be trained. Last year I had one that
made
a web
across a path. I broke it. It remade it so I broke it again. The next
day it
spun a new web much higher so I left it alone.

I noticed a couple of mine doing the same thing.

Have you ever tried making a spider web print? I've heard that if you
spray
paint it then press a piece of paper against it while the paint is still
sticky.

Good luck,

Susan

Spray paint them bright yellow, so you can see them in the dark.

Just a little bit wrote:

BTW, the Golden Orb Weaver can be trained. Last year I had one that made a web
across a path. I broke it. It remade it so I broke it again. The next day it
spun a new web much higher so I left it alone.

so they're beneficial to the garden but can trap bees, called golden orb
spiders, can bite repeatedly and it hurts but it's not dangerous, and
nest in turned over leaves and places; so try to keep them away from
walkway areas by removing them with a stick for a while... thanks all
:-)
--
::::~~~~rOOth~~~~::::

Leanne wrote:

This has nothing to do with the original query but reminds me of one
of those 'aint kids cute' storties.

My 7 year old daughter's teacher saw me one day and amidst a gale of
laughter told me about something she had said...

Picture this... my daughter racing into the classroom yelling...

"Miss Thompson...Miss Thompson.... there's a husband spider in the
toilet"

Such a simple confusion of words created such an innocently funny
moment.






"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...

"Just a little bit" wrote in message
...

BTW, the Golden Orb Weaver can be trained. Last year I had one
that
made
a web
across a path. I broke it. It remade it so I broke it again.
The next
day it
spun a new web much higher so I left it alone.

I noticed a couple of mine doing the same thing.

Have you ever tried making a spider web print? I've heard that if
you
spray
paint it then press a piece of paper against it while the paint is
still sticky.

Good luck,

Susan




sarcasm Wow.....Hillarious. You should send it in to Womans Day.
/sarcasm

--
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission, hypocrisy, brutality,
the elite.... All of which are American dreams......

"ruth" wrote in message
...

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone else has the problem of spider webs
everywhere. These are quite big spiders, like huntsmen, and i always
thought that they were harmless. (i was amazed the other day watching
one, which was probably down on its luck after i'd removed it's web,
being attacked by a penny lizard, half its size).

We're always walking into their semi-transparent webs, a horrible
feeling, and they come back religiously. On the way home last night i
went the long way and walked through one between the neighbours
(presently vacant) fence and the tree.

Does anyone know how to control them? I don't want to drive them
inside
on any account!

--
::::~~~~rOOth~~~~::::

The method I use is to walk along waving a stick in front of me chanting
OMMMMMM.......

The chanting doesn't do anything to the spiders or the web but it makes
you calmer so that when you miss a web with the stick and walk into it
you don't feel so bad.

David

len brauer writes:
they sound like orb spiders quiet common around gardens etc.,. they
catch and kill lots of insects so are very beneficial, doubt they

I concur. There are golden orb spiders and silver orb spiders, depending
on the sheen of their web in the sunlight. Often, a smaller spider will
construct its web between lines of the larger web of a larger orb spider.
Sometimes there can be a 3-dimensional tenement, with as many as 20 spiders
all piggybacking on the generosity of one giant orb who has built her web
high up between a street powerpole and a nearby house gutter.

i've encountered many in my life of gardening and never been bitten,
just need to be looking where you are walking of a nightime, carry a
stick and when you walk into a web stop and walk backwards this will

Even better, wave the stick up and down and 'round about in front of you
to clear out any web in the space you are about to pass through.

There are three types of spiders that seem to build in Sydney gardens. One
of these is a green or brown colour, and has a solid body but short legs,
and after constructing its web it usually goes and hides under a leaf but
keeps one of its feet on the web so it can feel tremors of any catch. It
usually eats all of its web by sun-up, stays concealed under its leaf all
day, then spins its web anew at dusk. If it is building in a particularly
difficult location it might leave just one or two crucial lines out all day
to ease the effort required to start the next nights work! Its web is very
very sticky, but backing out of it is usually successful. The orb spiders,
which have dark and light bands of colouration to make them stand out, leave
their web out all the time. There is another spider that spins a dense white
cross at the centre of its web, then hides behind the cross by spreading its
legs grouped in pairs along the four arms of the cross. I colloquially refer
to it as my St Andrew's Cross spider, but I'm sure it would have another
name. It rebuilds its web after something gets caught because the web
gossimer is weak and gets badly ripped apart by the struggling insect.

Then there is a fourth spider species. It lives underground and between
rocks, but is not so benignly regarded. I won't mention it here. ;-[
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")