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any spider experts here?

asif786

asif786

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 17, 2004
1,027
0
London, UK.
hey,

so i've got a little question about spiders - perhaps someone can help?

a few weeks ago i noticed a spider in my room. i'll admit that i don't like moving or killing spiders, so i got some air freshener and sprayed it in the direction of the spider.

now i don't know if it's karma or something (heh) but in the past two days i've seen two HUGE spiders outside my room and another small spider on my ceiling. is it possible that the air freshener has had some sort of effect on the spider? i know it sounds too much like a movie (i.e. massive spiders from a chemical leak) but i'm getting kinda worried.

still, would be interesting to know too i guess - so people don't make teh same mistake as me and end up getting eaten by giant spiders..
 
Don't spray chemicals on them. :(

If they bug you, then place a drinking glass or a jar over them, slide a piece of paper underneath trapping them, then put them outside.
 
Blue Velvet said:
If they bug you, then place a drinking glass or a jar over them, slide a piece of paper underneath trapping them, then put them outside.
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No! Put them outside and they'll just get eaten by bigger ones, which will grow larger and then they'll get eaten by even bigger ones. Then they'll come after me!

When there are car sized spiders scuttling around eating people, don't go saying I didn't warn you... :eek: ;)
 
Jaffa Cake said:
When there are car sized spiders scuttling around eating people, don't go saying I didn't warn you... :eek: ;)
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But they are already... :confused:


shelob.jpg
 
Jaffa Cake said:
No! Put them outside and they'll just get eaten by bigger ones, which will grow larger and then they'll get eaten by even bigger ones. Then they'll come after me!

When there are car sized spiders scuttling around eating people, don't go saying I didn't warn you... :eek: ;)
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Imaginative are we ? :rolleyes:
 
Air fresheners don't typically have an effect on them. Spiders congregate where there are a lot of small bugs. If you have a lot of gnats and mosquitos in your area, then you will have a lot of spiders. This is a good thing, believe me. If you don't want spiders inside your apartment, then use a lemon scented cleaner to dust your window frames. Lemon seems to repel spiders because of its acidity. Don't worry about the ones outside of your window. They are only helping you.

As an aside: In general, if a spider has a web in plain lighting, they are not dangerous. The really poisonous spiders tend to be ground-hunters and don't bother spinning webs.

If you knock down a spider web a couple of times, the spider will typically move since it isn't worth their effort.

Hope this helps

Jim
 
jim. said:
Air fresheners don't typically have an effect on them. Spiders congregate where there are a lot of small bugs. If you have a lot of gnats and mosquitos in your area, then you will have a lot of spiders. This is a good thing, believe me. If you don't want spiders inside your apartment, then use a lemon scented cleaner to dust your window frames. Lemon seems to repel spiders because of its acidity. Don't worry about the ones outside of your window. They are only helping you.

As an aside: In general, if a spider has a web in plain lighting, they are not dangerous. The really poisonous spiders tend to be ground-hunters and don't bother spinning webs.

If you knock down a spider web a couple of times, the spider will typically move since it isn't worth their effort.

Hope this helps

Jim
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Knocking the webs has worked for me. I have one area of the house with a bunch of little moths.... and I only see spiders there. To jim's point about spiders being a good thing, the moth population has been shrinking as the spiders appear.


Perhaps taking care of the bugs that the spiders are after will help. And there are tons of friendly ways to kill bugs, although personally I am fairly mercenary with pests.


I live in an area with Brown Recluse spiders, Black Widows, and (some form of ) Tarantullas. I probably re-educate myself twice a year on scarry spiders 'cause it'd be a crummy way to go (or pay the medical bills for). This summer I found three tarantula type spiders (seee how extensive my re-educatioon is) in my garage. So I took precautions to make sure they don't nest or settle in. Cleaned the place, moved stuff around, made sure it was lit, and dust didn't settle - also made it open to pets, spiders hate company. They look for out of the way places (dusty from no activity). I appreciate jim's comment about the webs. Good thing to look for to telll the good from the bad.
 
Ugh, I hate spiders.

Yesterday, there was one on the cieling. Got out the vaccuum cleaner, put on the long hose attachment and sucked the little SOB up. He's either dead or suffering inside a vaccuum cleaner bag
 
i guess the 'bugs' explanation could be right - it was hot a few weeks ago and so we had the windows open - the place was filled with bugs.

i guess i just don't want them settling in. thanks for the lemon scent tips, Jim, i'll be sure to give that a try.
 
Kill them, no question. Squish them and leave their corpses outside as a message to all their little mates.

Spiders are horrible, vile creatures that deserve to be killed, awful spindly, hairy beady-eyed monsters.

They freak me out big time and always seem to come after me so I have to stop shaking and kill them. Mind you, with the spiders we have here it's either kill or be killed so there's not much of a decision to make.
 
Chundles said:
Kill them, no question. Squish them and leave their corpses outside as a message to all their little mates.
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Damn straight. Once they know what you're capable of.... :D They'll leave you alone for sure.. ;)
 
carpe diem said:
NEVER KILL A SPIDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I think Chundles might be talking about the Funnel Web spider. Nasty little critter. Aggressive.

I wouldn't hesitate to kill a Funnel Web, or a White Tailed spider (their bite causes some sort of necrosis - a flesh eating disease). I don't worry too much about Huntsmen spiders - they are large but fairly benign.
 
mcarnes said:
Dude, you took one too many swigs of the bubbly in your 'tar. :p
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More like one too many doses of spider venom in my veins. You're talking to somebody who has been bitten by a Whitetail and NOT been affected. These little bastards must die.
 
carpe diem said:
NEVER KILL A SPIDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Oh yeah? This will kill you within 10 minutes and is highly aggressive. It's also very common in my parts. I'd rather see it dead than me.

image_05.jpg
 
lewis thomas said:
so yeah, let the little spiders live. ;)
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In the UK ... no probs.

But Brits travelling abroad need to learn that foreign creepy crawlies are dangerous (I know several people here in Yorkshire who have travelled to Australia, left their shoes/boots outside, then put them on in the morning without shaking out the bugs). Risky stuff.
 
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