Spiders!

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Outside the house, live and let live Mr Spider. In fact, munch away on my mortal enemy, the mosquito.

Crawl inside my house Mr Spider and it's Raid time. Remember Nicolas Cage and VX in the Rock? That's right - imagine every muscle in your body spasming uncontrollably until you turn into a ball. Crimes against Arachnids? Dr Mengle? Yeah probably.

Inside my house, the only good bug is a dead bug.

[Stormchaser]

I don't know why on earth I clicked on half of these links

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

If they are outside, I leave them alone but I won't stand for any bugs in the house.

I found the best way to contain and instantly capture any and all bugs (the most annoying for me are gnat infestations) is a powerful vacuum cleaner.

One summer I looked up at the wall beside my computer and saw that the entire top corner was full of hundreds of gnats crawling all over it. They must have just hatched. I was shocked at first and didn't know what to do but I grabbed the vacuum cleaner hose and just waved it all over the wall and sucked every single last bugger up without any effort or mess that might have been created by manually squishing them.

Doesn't matter how fast the spider is, how strong it's spider-man grip is, or how fast a fly's reflexes are. I've found a powerful vacuum will suck them up before they know what hits them. A vacuum hose is also the best tool to clean up pesky webs full of yucky bugs you don't want to think about. Point, close your eyes, hit the switch.

The one thing I've always wondered is if they survive getting vacuumed. When you open up your vacuum, do you find a bunch of insect carcasses, or some live crawly ones?

[core_upt]

I use the vacuum to get rid of bugs in the house too - works great and you never have to see them again. Dust buster by the front door handles everything that comes in at night when my wife leaves the hall light on and the door open (face-f$%^ing-palm).

A friend in Auburn Bay was just mentioning all the spiders in his yard too. One more reason to live inner city!

[Suzles]

Sorry haven't made it through the whole thread yet but here is something you can do. Spiders taste with their feet and hate the taste of citrus. So mix a tablespoon of real orange essential oil (not a smell or an essence - the real essential oil - you can buy it at Health Food stores) in a quart of water in a spray bottle and you can use this safely near pets and children and repel spiders at the same time.

[ernie]

Hate spiders. I'm happy to report I went on a brown recluse killing spree the other day as I cleaned out a couple of storage rooms in my lab.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Looks like an Alberta Jewel Spider, but they can get much larger than a jellybean. If you have the right 'spot' for one, they can hunt there for a long time. Don't walk underneath, they seem to like to suddenly drop with a thread right at you. I had one on my face once, even though I have dealt with spiders of all sizes for many years, that will always freak me out.

Yep - that's the one! I had heard them referred to as a few different things, but it looks like "Alberta Jewel" is the proper name. Thanks for clarifying while I wait for the third generation of my backyard light moth regulator to emerge!

[Jayems]

Update.

So I kind of forgot about this thread. I didn't do anything, I just let the spiders be. It was working great for a while, there wasn't all that many that I noticed. The mosquito population was significantly lower than years past, but now.. the babies and not such little babies anymore. Now, they're so big it's hard not to notice them.

Here's one from yesterday on my back siding. It looked like it was ready to drop some eggs, so I tried to kill it by throwing a soccer ball at it. After the third attempt, it fell on the grass and i scurried off, squealing like a little girl.

[4X4]

I have to go to Copperfield every couple of weeks to check on a house, and that house is always covered in spider webs. Sure, the house is vacant, but it shouldn't be covered in spider webs just because of that.
I think Copperfield may have an unusually large spider population. It's not like that in any of the other new areas on the edge of town that I've seen.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I have to go to Copperfield every couple of weeks to check on a house, and that house is always covered in spider webs. Sure, the house is vacant, but it shouldn't be covered in spider webs just because of that.
I think Copperfield may have an unusually large spider population. It's not like that in any of the other new areas on the edge of town that I've seen.

Spiders chose Copperfield as they can get to Downtown in like 20 minutes....

[Jimmy Stang]

My third generation Alberta Jewel spider is doing well on my back light. It is amazing how small they start out (he was barely noticeable a few weeks ago) and he has been growing a noticeable amount each time I check on him. I see no reason that we can't coexist like I have with his forefathers in years past - I'll attract the insects by leaving the light on, and you'll get fed. Just stay out of my house.

[jeffman]

Its not Copperfield, its Cloverfield

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I have to go to Copperfield every couple of weeks to check on a house, and that house is always covered in spider webs. Sure, the house is vacant, but it shouldn't be covered in spider webs just because of that.
I think Copperfield may have an unusually large spider population. It's not like that in any of the other new areas on the edge of town that I've seen.

As long as whats in the basement isn't covered in webs . .right?

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

My third generation Alberta Jewel spider is doing well on my back light. It is amazing how small they start out (he was barely noticeable a few weeks ago) and he has been growing a noticeable amount each time I check on him. I see no reason that we can't coexist like I have with his forefathers in years past - I'll attract the insects by leaving the light on, and you'll get fed. Just stay out of my house.

I have spiders that come and go from the basement and we have a common understanding. You guys get rid of the mosquito's and never venture up from the basement and I'll not scream like a little girl while killing you....

However if they ever make an appearance above the basement, oh I'll scream, scream like a little girl.

[undercoverbrother]

I got chased by one of these in South Africa. To me it didn't look that bad, but then I was nearly flattened by the lady that owned the game lodge as she ran passed me to get away from it.

[FLAME ENVY]

I love Spiders. If I find one in my home I will dutifully release it outside. They are great at keeping the "bad bugs" out of the garden.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

If you didn't fear these enough... now they have claws... 8 claws... sinking into your skin....





http://www.calgaryherald.com/technol...854/story.html

[Lil Pedro]

this terrifies me

[Nyah]

When we were in Indonesia last year, we got up at 3:am to hike up to the top of a volcano to see the sunrise. For about the first half hour, we hiked (with our guide) through tall grass & low hanging trees. Fast-forward to after the incredible experience of watching the sun rise at the summit, on our way down we kept seeing these MASSIVE spiders hanging out just above our heads in the trees. I'm an arachnophobe, so you can imagine how uncomfortable this was for me. Anyways, our guide explained to us that during the night these freakishly large spiders hang out a few feet lower than they do during the day. Something to do with hunting & heat from the sun...I didn't really hear or comprehend what he was saying because all I could think about was walking though those trees, undoubtedly brushing by these monsters without realizing it for 30 STRIGHT MINUTES. We asked him why he didn't warn us about the spiders, and he said he didn't tell people because he knew they wouldn't do the hike.

Here they are, when we finally got to the set-off point I was brave enough to take some pictures of these guys hanging between streetlights. They don't look that big in my photo, but to put it in perspective, most of the ones we saw would dwarf a spayed hand.

NSFW!

I don't know what kind of spiders they are, but I did some Googling, and found a couple more photo's to add to the creey factor (These aren't my photo's. Note the considerable difference in photography ability ):

NSFW!

NSFW!

[ComixZone]

Language.

NSFW!