Spiders and I have an agreement: don't spin webs at people height. Spiders get the corners, ceilings and anywhere we don't walk. If you try to spin a web on the bananas, RIP.
As long as the size doesn't bug you, you'd probably enjoy huntsman spiders. They prefer eating other insects and even other spiders, and generally leave people alone, even run away from us. They dont spin webs, they eat any bug they can get, including venomous insects. They love eating mosquitoes and cockroachs. If for some reason you feel like attacking one, dont, not only are they helpful, they can jump quite a distance and are faster than you at their peak speed.
This post was made by the Friends of the Huntsmen.
That’s a no from me dog. If I saw that in my house, I’d move. As in, move fast to the door and never look back. He can have the house, and all my shit. I’m taking my dog and getting the fuck out of dodge.
Just don't move somehwere that has any really venomous spiders if you're uncomfortable with the Huntsmen, because the smaller spiders Huntsmen scare away like recluses, funnel webs, and black widows are venomous enough to kill both of you.
Oh I understand. It’s more of a reflex instinct than anything else.
Case in point, I have a lot of spiders around the outside of my house. The other day I was trying to examine a flood light that was not working correctly, and of course there are a lot of webs (and cobwebs) around it. I go to step up, and in a split second I noticed I’m literally face to face with a spider in a huge web. If I had taken one more step, we’d have been kissing.
As much as i fear spiders, I am usually ok with being in their presence – assuming I can readily avoid them if need be. But this time, well, it was very upsetting to me. Maybe to it too, because by the morning it had packed its web up and left. 🤣
It's kind of funny you mention that because some of the worst injuries caused by spiders that generally avoid humans are the startling reactions to seeing one where you're not expecting one, like while on a ladder or even driving. Don't mistake my meaning of advocating for these spiders, I'd be suepr freaked out too. It's hard to have any other kind of first reaction.
This is why I love jumping spiders.
I’d be terrified of a huntsmen spider, but I love jumping spiders i leave them be whenever I see them, knowing that they will snack on all the fruit flies, moths, and mosquitoes that make it into my house.
My wife is arachnophobic, but likes jumping spiders. Most of the phobia seems to be in the legs, since they have such stumpy ones.
My area doesn't have huntsmen unfortunately. We do have wolf spiders though which are similar I think. They're lil guys though.
I've walked through so many spider webs over the past few weeks. I do find them very rude. And it's just like, man, if you put your web where I'm going to walk through it then it sucks for you too, then you gotta go rebuild it.
I still don't kill them, though. Just relocate them to somewhere sufficiently far away that hopefully they don't build their next web in the same place.
Except for one spider that I maybe killed. I walked into its web and it stood on my arm and bit me so I flicked it away. No idea where it went or whether it survived. But honestly, what a jerk.
Tourist version -
Me - here's your chalet. Remember, it's very well insulated for the winter weather, so in summer just keep the windows and doors closed during the day and it'll stay cool inside for the same reason, then you can open the windows in the evening. Otherwise it'll just be boiling hot and full of flies. There's no need for AC.
Guests - ok that makes sense
Guests two days later - MY CHALET IS BOILING HOT AND FULL OF FLIES YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT I NEED AC
Me under my breath - seriously fuck off you stupid cunts
Meanwhile, the spiders I have begrudging let live have caught nothing because they take up residence behind the toilet and inside an unfilled cabinet (that was fun to discover)
The flies are operating freely! I'm gaining nothing from this ceasefire!
them staying in out of the way places are the reason I like them. If they are alive then their bellies are full and they are catching something.
I had a spider in a web right over the fuckin hole in the wall where all the ants enterd. This fucking guy did nothing. Just sat there watching food parade in and out all day all night. Like, come on!
You'd be surprised at how frequently cockroaches hide behind toilets.
o7, spider
Spiders won't eliminate your bug problem either. The presence of predators in an environment doesn't imply all of their prey will soon go extinct.
You eliminate bugs by preventing their entry, reducing or removing their food and water sources, and/or interrupting or preventing their mating cycles. Or occasionally deploying something that kills everything in an area (though if you don't also do the other steps above, they'll eventually return).
As someone who can’t tolerate most insects in his home: Spiders are welcome. Always have been. And since Adrian Tchaikovskys Children of Time, I started naming them.
Are they all called Portia, Fabian, Viola and Bianca? (That book was so good)
Yes, actually. That one gigantic one on my balcony is named Portia. The one behind my bathroom mirror is named Fabian. So is the one next to my kitchen fan. I just figured they’re both male. Probably.
I'm listening to book 2 in the series at the moment. So good also!
Spiders are not technically insects so you are consistent
yes. they keep to themselves in nice corners or nooks and weed out the pests.
The longleg spiders in my house stay around the ceiling near one of the windows, plenty of moths show up every once in a while. Also a bunch of tiny, pencil lead sized flying things.
Meanwhile, the ants all run around the floor.
You need to bring her offerings.
House centipedes (Scutigera coleoptrata) are equally as beneficial as they are creepy.
Every time I see these, I remind myself they don't want to be around me and they eat cockroaches, bed bugs, and termites (and other yucky stuff I don't like).
Damn they give me the heebie jeebies though.
I'll take the ants and flies, thanks. If I have this in my house, it's likely I loose my home to fire
Nah screw that, flies actually buzz around you, ants steal your food. I'll take these silvertales any day, thank you!
As the one time owner of a 100 yo house in the Midwest I say this: fuck no.
The creepiness increases tenfold when you encounter one for the first time and it is as scared of you then you are scared of it. Those little guys are very fast.
When I learned that they are harmless to us humans I started to tolerate them. I mean they really try to get out of our way.
I live in an area with those fuckers, but also brown recluses and black widows. As a kid I always though we were lucky because we didn’t have any house centipedes, but now I realize that the houses with centipedes don’t have the widows and recluses. It’s like a turf war and I’m in the more dangerous neighborhood.
Except people don't say that ..
They say " I don't want BUGS in my house"
Any spider smaller than a quarter is welcome in my home. Any spider larger gets served a non deadly eviction notice
Spiders are just an indicator of how bad the problem is - you've got buffet level infestation. Time to look for things to seal, trim back plants from House, vacuum, etc.
The only spiders I want gone are the ones that can kill me, and the ones that get too close to me.
If I see one setting up a web in the distant corner? Hell yeah Bro catch all the pests you can.
Crawl toward me less than a foot away? Sorry smash but you sealed your own fate.
This summer I'm stepping on the scorpions, because I've seen them several times killing spiders.
I always worry that the spiders I leave alive will have ten million spider babies. Is that not a concern for any of you?
It's not .
Most of them will just go outside due to their territorial nature.
Not sure why someone would downvote you for this. Spiders are territorial and will cannibalize each other if they’re unable to spread far enough apart. They’ll never reach the insane population densities of social insects like ants or termites.
I’m quite okay with spiders as long as they stay …over there….
Interestingly, they’re also smart enough to recognize this arrangement. They don’t bother me. I don’t bother them. Wonderful roommates, really.
(Also, for people wondering how to get rid of ants… clean your house. They’re coming in because they find food and shelter. Get rid of the food and they’re less inclined to stick around. Same for flies. Especially house flies. Though there’s always going to be some fruit flies- they come in with the fruit.)
You smash spiders to get rid of bugs.
I smash spiders because they bite the fuck out of me.
We are not the same.
Get a cat and solve both issues
I keep telling my cat to be a hunter, and all she does is roll around on the floor and go "merop? Mrrrrr? MEROWP!" as the insects dance around.
Mine stare at them, maybe do a light paw and meow like a maniac at them, they're not good pest control.
Luckily, the gratuitous amount of spiders seem to do their job, there's a lot of lake flies!midges/gnats but I've never seen them or ants in the house, just spiders.
I have 3 cats. Luckily they don't hurt the spider. Sadly, they won't attack the flies though.
I'm late to the party, but I don't see this linked yet Can I introduce you all to Travis? This guy does deep dives into the spiders you might trip over in your house and has recently started also doing general spider knowledge as well.
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