Is anyone else house being taken over by spiders??
Discussion
16th C Fishermans cottage built out of pebble = Plenty of nooks and crannies for them.
Those false widow buggers (or something very similar) like it in the disused chimney in our bedroom for some reason.
Got bitten by one just under my left arm in bed on Saturday morning.. Itched and stung like a motherfker. Stuck some antihistamine cream stuff on it and tried to forget about it. Hurt quite a bit and the area ached for two days. Still got the red mark, though its reduced to about 5mm diameter now.
Mrs1roll had a Dyson powered purge yesterday!
Those false widow buggers (or something very similar) like it in the disused chimney in our bedroom for some reason.
Got bitten by one just under my left arm in bed on Saturday morning.. Itched and stung like a motherfker. Stuck some antihistamine cream stuff on it and tried to forget about it. Hurt quite a bit and the area ached for two days. Still got the red mark, though its reduced to about 5mm diameter now.
Mrs1roll had a Dyson powered purge yesterday!
lufbramatt said:
Spotted a huge bd a few days ago, but it scuttled off before I could get to it. Finally found it last night, and trapped it under a pint glass. Released it back outside, although it probably followed me straight back in!
could hear it tapping against the inside of he glass
You'd tap too. Hello, hello - let me out. could hear it tapping against the inside of he glass
Went into the bathroom to brush my teeth the other night and turned to find a spider about three inches across on the door frame - I honestly stopped breathing for a bit. I'm quite happy to let the little ones be but the big ones make me feel sick and I have to find someone to put them outside for me
I've seen a few this week. All is fine, one of the dogs normally gets them before they get very far.
The one thing I don't get is I only ever see them in the living room. They pop out from under the fire then head straight over the floor to the couch on the other side of the room.
Why is that ?
The one thing I don't get is I only ever see them in the living room. They pop out from under the fire then head straight over the floor to the couch on the other side of the room.
Why is that ?
lufbramatt said:
Spotted a huge bd a few days ago, but it scuttled off before I could get to it. Finally found it last night, and trapped it under a pint glass. Released it back outside, although it probably followed me straight back in!
could hear it tapping against the inside of he glass
Keep them until you've got two and then put them under a glass mixing bowl = spider thunderdome could hear it tapping against the inside of he glass
I'm typing this now in bed on my iPad having (only just) emerged as the victor in a tense 10 minute battle with the biggest bd I've ever seen. I'm still a bit on edge now, my skin is still crawling and I'm itchy everywhere, just eurrrghhh. There ii was, lying on the bed, merrily swiping my way through the delights of Plenty of Fish, when what can only be described as Shaquille O'neals hand came flying up the side of the bed against the wall and shot across the white sheet towards me. I've never got out of bed so quickly or squealed like that before.... Knocked my tea everywhere and dented the iPad on the radiator in the process.
Unbelievable.... it actually went for me. I cannot believe how quickly it moved!! I reached for the nearest heavy object which happened to be a copy of Alan Sugar's autobiography and slammed it against the bd which was clinging to the side of the bed looking at me. But no, such was its strength that when I moved the book the bloody thing got up and ran under the bed completely intact! Dragged the bed across the room and couldn't see it, so went round the other side and it had done a full lap and was waiting back where it came from the first time. Alan sugar saved the say this time however.
I wouldn't normally be so violent towards an animal but that was one seriously belligerent Spider. Not even safe in my own bed
Unbelievable.... it actually went for me. I cannot believe how quickly it moved!! I reached for the nearest heavy object which happened to be a copy of Alan Sugar's autobiography and slammed it against the bd which was clinging to the side of the bed looking at me. But no, such was its strength that when I moved the book the bloody thing got up and ran under the bed completely intact! Dragged the bed across the room and couldn't see it, so went round the other side and it had done a full lap and was waiting back where it came from the first time. Alan sugar saved the say this time however.
I wouldn't normally be so violent towards an animal but that was one seriously belligerent Spider. Not even safe in my own bed
AnimalMkIV said:
Not sure what they are, but this year, the house seems to have been infested with spindly pallid things with thin, cigar-shaped bodies. They weave straggly webs all over and hang upside down in them. The kitchen, hallway and stairs are full of them.
Some cracking Garden Orb spiders outside although they don't listen to me when I tell them to stop eating the bees.
They'll likely be cellar spiders. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PholcidaeSome cracking Garden Orb spiders outside although they don't listen to me when I tell them to stop eating the bees.
Mabbs9 said:
AnimalMkIV said:
Not sure what they are, but this year, the house seems to have been infested with spindly pallid things with thin, cigar-shaped bodies. They weave straggly webs all over and hang upside down in them. The kitchen, hallway and stairs are full of them.
Some cracking Garden Orb spiders outside although they don't listen to me when I tell them to stop eating the bees.
They'll likely be cellar spiders. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PholcidaeSome cracking Garden Orb spiders outside although they don't listen to me when I tell them to stop eating the bees.
said:
Threat response
When the spider is threatened by a touch to the web or when too large a prey becomes entangled, the spider vibrates rapidly in a gyrating motion in its web and becomes blurred and difficult to focus on. For this reason pholcids have sometimes been called "vibrating spiders", although they are not the only species to exhibit this behaviour. Doing so might make it difficult for a predator to see exactly where the spider is, may be intended to signal an assumed rival to leave, or may increase the chances of capturing insects that have just brushed their web and are still hovering nearby. If the spider continues to be harassed it will retreat into a corner or drop from its web and escape.
Reaching into my darkened garage late last night to pout away some tools, one of these spindly devils was all legs and little else with the remains of a small woodlouse bound up with silk resting on the double light switch. Saw it was on my hand as soon as the lights went on and tried the drop trick escape straight into my other hand... Bad luck.... When the spider is threatened by a touch to the web or when too large a prey becomes entangled, the spider vibrates rapidly in a gyrating motion in its web and becomes blurred and difficult to focus on. For this reason pholcids have sometimes been called "vibrating spiders", although they are not the only species to exhibit this behaviour. Doing so might make it difficult for a predator to see exactly where the spider is, may be intended to signal an assumed rival to leave, or may increase the chances of capturing insects that have just brushed their web and are still hovering nearby. If the spider continues to be harassed it will retreat into a corner or drop from its web and escape.
I'm going to have a good clear out of my garage this coming winter. Bet I find a few hibernating lurkers there. Ideal weather conditions thge past year or so. Availability of food/prey means there are far higher populations of spiders now according to media reports. Some of the Orb Webs in my garden and even on the cars are a superb work of silk engineering. They like to use the car door mirrors to lurk and construct webs between mirror and door... on every car ... overnight even when cleared away each morning .. Those webs on the mirrors can survive a high speed Motorway runs undamaged.
Mabbs9 said:
They'll likely be cellar spiders. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae
Yep, them's the buggers. I'm not squeamish with bugs, but there's something slightly icky about them and if they eat other spiders then I'll be having a mass eviction at the weekend.Was outside the other night picking caterpillars off the mint and feeding them to the garden orb spiders.
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