Spiders only creep me out if the are on me and I know they are poisonous. I tend to not care much for that.

 I like watching the one on the porch build its web,they are really cool.

  I hope the black widow didn't have little spiders yet Bat.
 
Quantum effect-At least you tried.

That's pretty well put me off ever wanting to live in your otherwise fine country!

Black flag works well...and quickly. 

The brown widows are the males. Poor fellows..... they are not as big as the females and they don't tend to bite people. 

All spiders are venomous. It's just that most spider's fangs are not long enough or strong enough to get through the human skin. Of those that can, only 3 (?) have venom that is particularly dangerous to humans. Tarantula, Black Widow, Brown Recluse.  Many times a BW bite is not a big deal.... not that you want to get bitten to find out. depending on the amount of venom and the person's tolerance to it. 

Bat... several of the BW's around here have been pretty big. Of course.... it's like a fish story too... they tend to get bigger every time the story gets told. 

So far this year... I have only found one on my property. Black flag solved it. 

craigb

Bristol_Jonesey

Zonno


Do you guys know of any pets that will keep your house spider free?

Snakes?

Lizards, scorpions, frogs, some birds, even some cats have been known to find the spider a particularly tasty snack.

Ours used to, but just like his owner, he's grown too fat & lazy.

Your what?  Your lizard?  Scorpion?  Frog?  Bird? 
 
(Just curious...)

Our cat. Though we do have frogs living in the back garden, get visited by many birds and a friend has a lizard (full on Monitor)

Alas, no Scorpions.

Amazingly, even though we have a pond where most of the frogs congregate, we find them in the most unlikely of places, and nowhere near water.

The ones that freak me out are the spiders that are now constructing webs around the buildings and trees in the yard. They mostly stay up high.... but walking into one of the webs at night as I walk around the yard is cause for instant panic..... 

It's also about time here in NC for the Garden Spiders or "writing spiders" as they are commonly called to start building their webs. Those spiders are huge. Some I've seen easily have a 3" leg span and they are bright yellow and black.... easy to see. I normally let them be. And on occasion, for fun and entertainment value..... I will catch a cricket and throw it on the web to feed them. 

So how about those Iraqi Camel-Spiders?  Here's that now famous picture of one eating another...



I wouldn't want one of these crawling into my sleeping bag with me!

quantumeffect

My habit is to capture spiders I find in the house and carefully transport them outdoors. I can then feel good about not harming another living thing who's just trying to survive, just like me.

Several years ago we had a fairly involved construction project going on at the house (in NJ) that lasted several months.  As a result, I had to deal with mice.  To keep them from getting into the “porous” area around the house I went out and bought a bunch of these traps called the “Tin Cat”, essentially a have a heart style trap giving you the option of releasing or drowning the mice.

I caught 4 mice (determined that after I let them go) and brought the trap to a field away from any houses to let them go.  I opened up the trap and shook them out … it was at that point I wish I had brought a video camera … in a matter of seconds, several small birds came swooping down and grabbed them (I think a couple of the birds were cardinals and I think robins … is that possible?).  For a moment in time I just watched 4 mice flying away in the talons of these birds thinking to myself … man, what an idiot I am … but, of all the stupid things I’ve done, it does rank up there (at least visually) on the hysterically funny scale.

Circle of life Dave. Circle of life.

craigb


So how about those Iraqi Camel-Spiders?  Here's that now famous picture of one eating another...



I wouldn't want one of these crawling into my sleeping bag with me!

man!  those things give me the creeps just looking at the pic!

here she is.

Bats, 


Compared to the Iraqi Camel-Spiders yours seems a bit wimpy now, no?