martinpb

Can somebody please help me. SWMBO is absolutely S**T scared of the little 8 legged critters , I mean total Arachnophobe, and she is doing my head in every night scared to go in rooms without me going to check it out first.
Problem is , at the moment there are plenty of spiders coming into our house......not just small ones but bloody BIG onesthe size of your palm, the ones that go 'pop' if you hold them too hard in the tissue paper.
Has anybody got any ideas how to stop spiders getting into the house or is their anything on the market thta eradicates the bbuggers from the house?

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Johnnyc

Chestnuts or chestnut oil spray. I chest you not!

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Johnny

"Americans have different ways of saying things. They say "elevator", we say "lift" ... they say "President", we say "stupid psychopathic git."

Dave_Fox

*shudders* Bloody awful things..........I wish I knew how to stop them from getting in

stopan1j

I heard on the radio putting a conker in each corner of a room helps - not sure if it works but seems to tie in with previous post

heresmo

There are always many at this time of year (also March/April), presumably doing their thing before they hibernate. Can you work out where they are coming in? Doorsteps and windows are obvious, but gaps in the flooring around pipes are also suspect. In looking for entry points and gaps, think "brown ones on the floor, black ones on the ceilng".

You can spray Dethlac around outside steps and sills - gently. Also inside, even more gently and with the windows wide open as it pongs. It is a lacquer which sits on the surface and they will veer away from it (being deadly and all that).

Someone on the ants thread recommended peppermint cordial - don't know how long the effect lasts, though I reckon it would be equally as good against spuggies.

Never tried chestnuts/conkers - but it's certainly the right time of year for those also

Mo

PS A lot of insects don't like lavender - and there are plenty of airfresheners with that scent. I don't like lavender, so must mean I'm a bit insect

martinpb

thanks will try the chesnut one then if that doesn't work Dethcal, on't fancy the smell though. keep your suggestions coming, Im off to find a conker tree.

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MikeF

i just pretend i didnt see it
for example this is roughly the conversation we had the other night

She jumped up aaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh SPIDER look look (shaking me vigerously) look a massive spider just ran across the room

I cant see it

it went behind the setee

I get up and see this massive thing behind the setee and say, nothing there sweety, i'm watching this please stop messing

This went on for half an hour and then she went to bed too scared to look behind the setee!!!!

martinpb

Just found another one in the kitchen. not kidding you it was big enough to open the door itself. Shes even making me a bit twitchy now.if one gets awy in the house and we ....sorry I cant find/kill it she wont sleep!!!!! think I feel therapy coming on.

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beeftech

You Know in your lifetime at Least 10 spiders will walk across your face whilst you are sleeping!!!!

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jifster

Keep a large jar and a peice of card in the same place where as soon as you see one you can get the jar and catch it asap. I used to be very scared of them but figured catching them and putting them out is 1. better than having them in the house to grow even larger 2. better than killing them.

I have lots in here since it's an old cottage with fields and farms all around. I have come to realise I am living amounst them rather than the other way around and perhaps having a few around is not so bad. I don't even bother catching anything under an inch.

I moved a spider into the porch onto a large plant from the kitchen where it was absailing in mid air on a thread, then a while later I noticed an itsy bitsy spider hanging in the same place, almost floating. When I looked close it had the same two large front legs, like feelers of the one I just moved so I moved it to the plant. I just checked and it's on it's mothers back lol.

I feel like Dr. Dolittle.

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martinpb

Its possibly the reason why we are getting the big ones in ....We live next to a wooded area and some fields .....they are coming in so often they are even turning on the heating and making themselves at home!!!! LOL

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L-Y-K

i've felt one at night ....sorta sleeping and felt something tickling my face...i just wiped it off and turned on my bedside light and there it was on my pillow!!! litrally the size of an orange!!! was so put off...and uneasy lol i went to sleep in my living room!!!(i was 14 at the time)


but i *HATE* spiders...awful things oh and you swallow 8 out of those 10 a year


the trusty hoovers always at my side!!!

Johnnyc

One crawled across my chest while I was sleeping one night. i Just sqeezed it to death with the speed and accuracy of a highly trained ninja and went and washed my hands without looking at it. It felt like a monster though.

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Johnny

"Americans have different ways of saying things. They say "elevator", we say "lift" ... they say "President", we say "stupid psychopathic git."

Puddenchucker

There was a study done a few years ago that estimated that there were, on average, 80-90 spiders per square metre in the UK. The area of the UK is approx. 241590 Sq. Km, so there are approx. 20,535,150,000,000 spiders in this country.

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MrBump

I used to hoover them up too, but swmbo's cat seems to like them as part of a calorie controlled diet...

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JRHartley

Yep, can recommend a cat for spider disposal...they seem to love munching on the little b*ggers...and appear to actively look for an eight legged snack.

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Carsten

I agree

A cat will do it. We´ve got two of them and I saw only once a spider
in our flat. ( just a few seconds before he it has been smacked into bits
by a pair of fluffy claws )

Go and get a cat (... from the anymal shelter of course, so two very good things can be solved at once )

lozgti

Cats...agreed.Love spiders.

I always tell Jane that she is an awful lot bigger than the spider,the spider is deffo not chasing her and thirdly the spider is not armed and therefore not dangerous.

Doesn't work though

ap0gee

Like these, you mean? (That's a 1/2" radiator pipe next to it to give you some idea of scale)



The day after we first saw it, it appeared from under our sofa while Mrs Ap0gee was doing her nails. She jumped, knocking the nail polish remover off the table and all over the spider. She was actually quite upset that she'd harmed it, and despite her fear, put out some tissue for it to crawl on "to dry itself off" ( )

I reassured her that it would be fine, but needless to say it was dead in the middle of the floor next morning.

Personally, I go by what Old Wives say, and will never kill one or even flush one down the plughole because I'd rather a spider than a fly or a moth or a daddy-long-legs or any other kind of creepy-crawlie. At least I suspect this particular one may have died happy, ripped to the tits on the acetone!!!

The ones in your house will be looking for somewhere to hibernate, as someone's already said, so you're unlikely to have them around for more than a day or two before they go off and do their thing. I suspect this may be where the 'effect' of the conkers comes in, as most spiders will appear and then disappear in fairly short order at this time of year... House spiders stay active and visible most of the year of course, but they're a lot smaller, and tend to keep more out of the way, anyway...

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ag.morley

Do the conkers need to be soaked in Vinigar and baked in the oven for 24 hours. mmmmmmmmmmmm Spiders playing Conkers

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heresmo

Handy Tips

1. Keep pot of water in the room. A ceramic plant holder is decorative, or a bucket with handle for the squeamish. Then you can tip the spider into it and it will float and not run away, nor be lost en route to the front door!

2. Water itself won't harm it, but chucking a house spider outside is almost certain death anyway. All spiders have a home and will find it again, so disposal at a distance is an idea.

3. A dustpan with a hooded top that they can run into can be an easier way of catching the big ones (to be tipped straight into the bucket of course) than trying to aim a jar over them when they are running. Most spider catching is a two-person job of course

4. For the dangling ones, hold an empty tissue box underneath, as harder to run out of. If necessary, break the thread with a coat hanger, or piece of dowel rod kept discreetly lying around and use it to wrap the remaining thread. They always seem to be at face level

5. I found the best way to overcome the fear was to learn as much as I could about them, such as their having homes rather than being vagrant wanderers, and realising that they have as much right as we do - as said, we live amongst them.

Also as said, that it's much less stressful to leave them alone than it is either to suffer the panic whilst trying to catch them or worrying that you have harmed them, even if it does mean a night on the sofa (or not, as the case may be).

Regards
Mo

JRHartley

A LYNX aerosol and a cigarette lighter does the trick (unless you have a lot of soft furnishings) and creates a crispy nutricious snack to replenish energy expended in the chase....

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philc

They don't bother me, but Mrs C is terrified of them. I usually unleash the cat on th ebigger ones or grab 'em and chuck 'em out of the window. I had one the other night that was a real bu99er to catch -I caught and it wriggled free several times!
The worst one was a real monster that we found in our room in Cyprus. I went and got a beer glass and a postcard to evict it, and it's legs only just fitted inside a pint pot!
When it hit the concrete path 15 or so feet below, I definitely heard a thud. Then it got up, shook itself, and slowly walked away into the night.......

Phil

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heresmo

If I'm not mistaken, Lynx keeps anyone and anything away - I'm waiting to see a spider crossing it's fingers (legs) into a cross sign and saying "Back! Back!"

Good tip I.e. forget the chestnuts, just put a Lynx aerosol can in every corner of the room

LOL
Mo

MikeF

feed them, once full they will go home