Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them than
sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...

Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them
than
sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv


If they're daddy-long-legs spiders - pholcus phalangioides

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/.../pholcus1.html

the ones that hang upside down from hammock webs from
the ceiling, or wherever they can sling their webs -


They're easily handled by scooping the spiders complete with
the web they're hanging from, from underneath in a suitable
sized container. Yoghurt pots of various sizes are ideal
for this task. The web strands attach to the rim of the
container along with the spider.

They can then be transferred by tipping them out somewhere
else, a wall or somewhere where they can start to climb. Or
failing that leave the container on its side and let them
find their own way. They're indoor spiders often found
in cellars or lofts so a shed or garage might be a good
bet. The spiderlings often hatch in webs on the corners of
ceilings and absail down.

michael adams

....

"michael adams" wrote in message
...

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...

Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them
than
sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv


If they're daddy-long-legs spiders - pholcus phalangioides

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/.../pholcus1.html

the ones that hang upside down from hammock webs from
the ceiling, or wherever they can sling their webs -


They're easily handled by scooping the spiders complete with
the web they're hanging from, from underneath in a suitable
sized container. Yoghurt pots of various sizes are ideal
for this task. The web strands attach to the rim of the
container along with the spider.

They can then be transferred by tipping them out somewhere
else, a wall or somewhere where they can start to climb. Or
failing that leave the container on its side and let them
find their own way. They're indoor spiders often found
in cellars or lofts so a shed or garage might be a good
bet. The spiderlings often hatch in webs on the corners of
ceilings and absail down.

michael adams

...



Ah! Thanks for that.

However, it's the victims that freak me out. The hairy ones that the link
you sent depicts being eaten by the long legged ones that oddly don't bother
me at all. The ones it says are responsible for arachnophobia. No wonder!

Seriously, i'm phobic and it's no fun having them around. Any ideas how to
'exclude' them from my life?

Ah! Thanks for that.

However, it's the victims that freak me out. The hairy ones that the link
you sent depicts being eaten by the long legged ones that oddly don't bother
me at all. The ones it says are responsible for arachnophobia. No wonder!

Seriously, i'm phobic and it's no fun having them around. Any ideas how to
'exclude' them from my life?



Apparently you need to have a dirty house, spiders don't like dirty
houses only clean ones. Sorry, doesn't help much if you like to live
tidily and cleanly does it?

We always get loads when it's daddy long legs time and they get really
fat too. Last year was horrendous.

Could you perhaps get used to them do you think? They eat the flies
and stuff like that after all.

We used to live in Oman in the Middle East and I once found a camel
spider on my stairs, infact the kids were playing with it. Ugliest
thing I have ever seen in my entire life and it was as big as my hand
(and I have big hands for a woman)! Funny, but since living out there
I kind of got more used to crawlies and stuff. I'm not so scared of
them as I used to be.

regards
Gail

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...
Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them
than sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv


Well as you have a Phobia which doesn't manifest itself when you are drunk
then the solution seems pretty simple to me:-)
As an alternative get the Phobia treated.

"louisxiv" wrote in a message:
Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them
than sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated
----------
Our two cats eat spiders, they're particularly fond of House Spiders, the
bigger the better. So, perhaps you should own a cat. If you already have
one, ask him or her why he/she is not eating spiders too.

MCT

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...

"michael adams" wrote in message
...

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...

Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now
..
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them
than
sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv


If they're daddy-long-legs spiders - pholcus phalangioides

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/.../pholcus1.html

the ones that hang upside down from hammock webs from
the ceiling, or wherever they can sling their webs -


They're easily handled by scooping the spiders complete with
the web they're hanging from, from underneath in a suitable
sized container. Yoghurt pots of various sizes are ideal
for this task. The web strands attach to the rim of the
container along with the spider.

They can then be transferred by tipping them out somewhere
else, a wall or somewhere where they can start to climb. Or
failing that leave the container on its side and let them
find their own way. They're indoor spiders often found
in cellars or lofts so a shed or garage might be a good
bet. The spiderlings often hatch in webs on the corners of
ceilings and absail down.

michael adams

...



Ah! Thanks for that.

However, it's the victims that freak me out. The hairy ones that the link
you sent depicts being eaten by the long legged ones that oddly don't
bother
me at all. The ones it says are responsible for arachnophobia. No wonder!

Seriously, i'm phobic and it's no fun having them around. Any ideas how to
'exclude' them from my life?


If you're talking about house spiders. If they're on a wall the
standard technique is to place a clear glass over them, so you can
see what you're doing.* And then slowly slide a sheet of thin
stiff paper under the glass so they can walk onto the paper.
Like the moving pavemant at London Airport. Then when the
underneath of the glass is completely covered by the paper "floor",
remove the glass and paper taking care to keep them together
and decant the contents somewhere else. House spider prefer
indoors or a hole in a tree maybe. Or keep the spider as a pet
in an aquarium feding it on cat food. Keeping more than
one spider in the one aquarium at one time might induce
undue stress or simply mean there was only one spider after
about a minute.

* They can move extremly fast. IIRR the trick is to proceed
very slowly from above and behind the spider.



michael adams

....

louisxiv wrote:
Probably off topic but my house is full of really big spiders right now .
Normally I don't mind but on the rare occasions i'm sober i'm getting
freaked out by their presence in my bedroom.

How can i be rid of them? Humanely preferably, but i'd rather nuke them than
sleep with them.

Any solutions appreciated

xiv

I know this is not what you want to hear, but spiders eat considerable
amounts of creepy crawlies which are much much more deleterious to you
than they are.
Pholcuses are the skinny long-legged spiders which hang from the
corners of your ceiling. Tegeneria are what are sometimes called house
spiders, and they are big burly creatures with a large grey/brown
abdomen a bit like a tabby cat, somewhat hairy. The males have little
boxing gloves at the end of their pedipalps (either side of the head),
and the females are slightly bigger and don't have the boxing gloves.
I sound awfully knowledgeable, but that's simply because I asked
someone who is a long time ago: I happen to quite like spiders, and
find them quite fascinating. I must say that I have quite a few
resident ones in my house. I occasionally use a feather duster to get
rid of the webs, but I would alway rescue any spider which fell into my
bathtub.
On balance, they contribute very positively to the human environment
and the garden, and though they are welcome in our house, I have never
had any of them crawl over me - unless I put them into my hand. We
cohabit, but don't interfere too much with each-other - I probably
interfere more with them than they do with me.
It would probably be easier to get your arachnophobia treated than to
sterilise the environment of any spider...

Cat(h)

louisxiv wrote:

Seriously, i'm phobic and it's no fun having them around. Any ideas how to
'exclude' them from my life?

Someone I know is pretty phobic about spiders and wanted them gone from
his garage, so they wouldn't bite his leg off when he was working on one
of his motorbikes or something.

He bought some sort of sonic spider scarer off that new-fangled interweb
thing and swears that it works. Personally I have my doubts, but he
seems happy with it.

James

You could try putting up 'No Spiders' signs.

But really, the best way is to have a well sealed house. Don't leave windows
open at night.

Buy a long-handled spider-catcher to make the task of catching them less
horrific. I have three: one I use and two spare ones in case I break the
first one, which would be a disaster!

Leave an escape route from the bath and sink to avoid early-morning
shudders.

The anti-flea stuff you spray onto carpets (if you have cats) is an
effective way to keep them, down if all else fails and your moral standards
slip.

Androo

"Cat(h)" wrote
Pholcuses are the skinny long-legged spiders which hang from the
corners of your ceiling. Tegeneria are what are sometimes called
house spiders, and they are big burly creatures with a large
grey/brown abdomen a bit like a tabby cat, somewhat hairy. The males
have little boxing gloves at the end of their pedipalps (either side
of the head), and the females are slightly bigger and don't have the
boxing gloves.
snip

The latter sounds like the one living in the dark recesses of our
garage, and it's very VERY big (the spider that is, not the garage).
When it appears I don't hang around to measure, but I'd swear it's as
big as.. as.. the hand of someone who has much bigger hands than me!

My Other Half won't hear of it being evicted and claims it earns its
keep eating bluebottles. If the truth be known he likes to keep it
hanging around so I won't poke around in there to try and tidy up any of
the mountains of "stuff that might come in useful" (but hardly
ever does). The ruse works, because although with Michael's trick of
yogurt pot and card I can deal with most spiders, this one seems *way*
too big and hairy to tangle with.

--
Sue

Sue wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote
Pholcuses are the skinny long-legged spiders which hang from the
corners of your ceiling. Tegeneria are what are sometimes called
house spiders, and they are big burly creatures with a large
grey/brown abdomen a bit like a tabby cat, somewhat hairy. The males
have little boxing gloves at the end of their pedipalps (either side
of the head), and the females are slightly bigger and don't have the
boxing gloves.
snip


holey cow batman; that is well remembered :-)

The latter sounds like the one living in the dark recesses of our
garage, and it's very VERY big (the spider that is, not the garage).
When it appears I don't hang around to measure, but I'd swear it's as
big as.. as.. the hand of someone who has much bigger hands than me!

My Other Half won't hear of it being evicted and claims it earns its
keep eating bluebottles. If the truth be known he likes to keep it
hanging around so I won't poke around in there to try and tidy up any of
the mountains of "stuff that might come in useful" (but hardly
ever does). The ruse works, because although with Michael's trick of
yogurt pot and card I can deal with most spiders, this one seems *way*
too big and hairy to tangle with.

I used to collect spiders, despite them giving me the heebie jeebies.
Those big black hairy house spiders still intimidate me but these days
they seem to have been completely replaced by the Pholcus. When I was
a kid, Pholcus were only found in the most southerly Irish counties and
bottom 1/3 of UK. Now they are everywhere. I do not mind them as they
are relatively slow and delicate looking.
The big ones in yer husbands shed scare me though. I remember jumping
when I had to look at one down a microscope (to examine its naught bits
to identify it). You get used to it but I still ifnd it hard to pick
one up without a glass.


Des


--
Sue

wrote:
Sue wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote
Pholcuses are the skinny long-legged spiders which hang from the
corners of your ceiling. Tegeneria are what are sometimes called
house spiders, and they are big burly creatures with a large
grey/brown abdomen a bit like a tabby cat, somewhat hairy. The males
have little boxing gloves at the end of their pedipalps (either side
of the head), and the females are slightly bigger and don't have the
boxing gloves.
snip


holey cow batman; that is well remembered :-)

You wouldn't believe what I did... I remember being advised - by
another arachnophile of our acquaintance - to put one in a glass, and
then "tickle it around the ears" (sic) as this would make it turn over
and lie on its back. This would be by way of allowing me see its
naughty bits, and therefore identify it as a male or a female. I did
as I was told, but the spider just kept whizzing around the glass.
Maybe I was poking it in the eye instead of tickling its ears. It is
then that the arachnophile revealed the boxing glove thing. He could
have said that right away, seen as it doesn't even require a magnifying
glass to see, let alone arachnacrobatics. I still reckon he was having
me on. The other half had a good laugh.


The latter sounds like the one living in the dark recesses of our
garage, and it's very VERY big (the spider that is, not the garage).
When it appears I don't hang around to measure, but I'd swear it's as
big as.. as.. the hand of someone who has much bigger hands than me!

My Other Half won't hear of it being evicted and claims it earns its
keep eating bluebottles. If the truth be known he likes to keep it
hanging around so I won't poke around in there to try and tidy up any of
the mountains of "stuff that might come in useful" (but hardly
ever does). The ruse works, because although with Michael's trick of
yogurt pot and card I can deal with most spiders, this one seems *way*
too big and hairy to tangle with.

I used to collect spiders, despite them giving me the heebie jeebies.
Those big black hairy house spiders still intimidate me but these days
they seem to have been completely replaced by the Pholcus.

Not completely in the sticks. Though there used to be very many more
of them in my previous house. The house I bought three years ago is in
a more rural setting, and has far fewer of them. It sounds daft, but
it took a couple of years before I saw any, and I was chuffed as hell
when I found my first - it had fallen into the bath, and was carefully
lifted before being given the freedom of the house.

When I was
a kid, Pholcus were only found in the most southerly Irish counties and
bottom 1/3 of UK. Now they are everywhere. I do not mind them as they
are relatively slow and delicate looking.
The big ones in yer husbands shed scare me though. I remember jumping
when I had to look at one down a microscope (to examine its naught bits
to identify it). You get used to it but I still ifnd it hard to pick
one up without a glass.

I tend to pick them up out of the bath or sink by dropping a sheet of
loo paper on top of them, then delicately lifting them in it. Not that
they freak me out, simply I would not like to be bitten if they stress
out when grabbed - which I would not blame them for doing.

Cat(h) (sorry for this very off topic display of arachnofetishism)