Help fighting the spiders

reply to post by Versa

Good luck! Hope that kitty helps!
I have definitely turned my kids into big bug phobic children......i tried I really did but I am bad!
I already nixed the outdoor wedding idea with bf, cause if a bug flew near me I would be squealing and making a scene!

Lady Versa:

I, too, need help in fighting the spiders, and for good reason.

I was in the SE US at the time, and I got multiple Brown Recluse spider bites at one time in a wooded lake area. At the time, I thought nothing as I'm outdoors-gal in any spare time and assumed they were mosquito or gnat-type bites at first.

I went to a PA, and she suggested I was suffering from West Nile Virus, so she gave me a mega-dose of a strong antibiotic and sent me on my way.....

Well, long-story short, my co-workers started complaining about my bulls-eyes looking wounds on my legs ( I was wearing short skirts--and they were like: "these don't look right.") . I felt better from the fever and body - aches; apparently the brown-recluse spider bites need to be cut out--which is what a surgeon did--as they were starting to eat my flesh! Very few scars now; I guess that happened 5 years ago, and though friends argue the benefits of spiders, I just can't risk going through that torture again....in the meantime, I will smack them in the actual house.

Thanks for your thread on possible preventatives--I am willing to try any concoction to get them to stay away from me!

in the spray bottle mix the last thing was a 1/2 of dishwashing liquid. 1/2 what teaspoon,half capful half cup????? please want to know.this year in northwestern MN the spiders are just crazy there everywhere and there different from what i normally see some of these things are tan and look aromored and sit like a little dot (that dosent even look like a spider)in the middle of their web. and they are the most taught web i,ve ever seen,when you blow on the web really hard it almost reminds my of the movement of the cone of a speaker,very fast frequency vibrations.it's just not something i've ever seen.others are very brightly colored which here they are normally plain brown or black. and now i've seen alot of black spiders with larger abdomens with different red ,yellow,orange and white color combonations and patterns no hourglass patterns thankfully

Originally posted by IDONTBELIEVEMYSELF
reply to post by Versa
[mor TURANTULAS ARE U MAD
IM Talking about spiders creepy crawly things NOT Giant aARGH things
This is a wind up right?

actually I first got the tarantulas to try to help me get over the fear of spiders, well it sort of worked, Im not scared of tarantulas now at least, just nasty little house spiders!

reply to post by BurningSpearess

sheesh! that is awful! I hope some of the methods that come up help to keep them out

reply to post by Versa


I love those little guys! Have they swarmed you or something? You know most bites are harmeless, like red ants right? And they eat flies.

CJ

reply to post by ColoradoJens


No they haven't swarmed me or anything but they always start marching into houses in Autumn and for whatever reason I don't like them.

I've tried to get over it by keeping tarantulas (result-not scared of tarantulas any more but still don't like house spiders). Now I have a 3yr old daughter and the last thing I want is for her to see me react badly to a spider so I want a way to just keep them out!

these guys

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9f51286e6b3e.jpg[/atsimg]

They get big and they run fast and I just don't like them!!!!!

reply to post by Versa


That is a big spider! Holy moly RUN!!

CJ

I was bitten by a spider in May this year:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I was on antibiotics, and still have to apply antibiotic cream on the bite, since it inflamed twice more, and the area is still red and has a little hole.

We have these large rain-spiders that sometimes come inside in winter, and they are huge, but harmless.
It's the small buggers that you want to avoid.

I don't muck about anymore: it's hoovering, dusting and spraying insect repellant.
Get a repellant that lingers, and spray in corners and along door and window ledges.
I'm usually quite allergic, but the supermarket spray hasn't affected me at all.

The irony however is that the spider probably climbed into my shirt while I was outside, and had it lying on the table while I was skipping and lifting weights in the garden (although it could have happened anywhere, I didn't feel the initial bite and woke up with the sore, which means it could have been in bed).
But still, you can never be too sure.

My advice is:
Spray and pray!

Originally posted by Versa
I really really don't like spiders and I'm dreading the Autumn when they start marching into the house like they own the place.

What about skunks or badgers, spiders are ok,they spin webs and eat flies.

Several people have suggested scattering Chestnuts about the house because apparently spiders don't like Chestnuts (Horse Chestnut I assume). So Im defiantly going to be festooning the house with Chestnuts ASAP. Im worried that this wont be enough though

Won't that attract Squirrels ?

Does anyone else have any amazing tips (that actually work) on keeping spiders at bay?

You could try reverse psychology on them spiders. ie move in with them,eat all the bugs,trapped in they're webs
or eliminate food sources and hiding places.

reply to post by halfoldman


thank goodness we don't have biting spiders in the UK (well actually they do bite but arent poisonous)

Originally posted by The Utopian Penguin

What about skunks or badgers, spiders are ok,they spin webs and eat flies.

I'm not scared of badgers or skunks and these spiders dont spin webs, they march about!

Originally posted by The Utopian Penguin
Won't that attract Squirrels ?

Again... Its only Spiders that Im bothered by!

reply to post by automata

good point! Im guessing its half a cup

reply to post by Versa

There are a dozen native species of British spiders that can cause a nasty poisonous bite.
www.nhm.ac.uk...

Apart from that, there are several species spreading with a lax system of shipping control, and a supposedly warmer climate.
Consider that in Japan they had a sudden plague of Australian red-backs, and the related black widow is already in the UK.
news.bbc.co.uk...

Spray and Pray!

reply to post by halfoldman


Well Im even less happy about it all now

Originally posted by automata
in the spray bottle mix the last thing was a 1/2 of dishwashing liquid. 1/2 what teaspoon,half capful half cup????? please want to know.this year in northwestern MN the spiders are just crazy there everywhere and there different from what i normally see some of these things are tan and look aromored and sit like a little dot (that dosent even look like a spider)in the middle of their web. and they are the most taught web i,ve ever seen,when you blow on the web really hard it almost reminds my of the movement of the cone of a speaker,very fast frequency vibrations.it's just not something i've ever seen.others are very brightly colored which here they are normally plain brown or black. and now i've seen alot of black spiders with larger abdomens with different red ,yellow,orange and white color combonations and patterns no hourglass patterns thankfully

1/2 cup of dish washing liquid.

Just killed a bloody great big spider..... I had no idea how GOOD that would feel.....

I'm not one for needlessly killing animals but the stress that catching a spider and putting it outside causes me is ridiculous.....

If I happen to come back as a spider in retaliation for that and I get killed then FINE, I never wanted to be a spider anyway.

Small tip - keep the plug in the bath plughole to stop spiders climbing up into the bath.

I used to be terrified of spiders until I caught one in a shoe box. Instead of threatening me like they usually do this one cowered in the corner of the box.

It made me realise that he had far more to fear from me than I did from him. All that bravado we usually get from them is just so we don't cop on that they're terrified of us. They know we can whack them and it's 'goodbye cruel world'. Poor little sods.

I agree that tarantulas are far less scary - they just about count as cute and furry. But, honestly, it's only a small step to overcoming your fear of the little ones. Just see them as tiny and scared.

It helps to talk to them, too. I always say 'if you don't scare me I won't hurt you'. I know it sounds daft, but it puts you back in the driving seat and so long as you're concentrating on getting the thing out of the house without hurting it, you don't stop to be frightened.

The spiders in my old house had a trick of hanging down from the ceiling and dangling right in front of my computer screen. I'll swear I felt their disappointment when I failed to be frightened by their silly antics