Spiders

Earwigs I have a real fear of, but DH does not like daddy long legs and calls for me to put them out

Back in the olden days when I was an au pair girl in Vienna, we were all staying at the family's country house in Mauerbach in the Vienna Woods. I was home alone, having a shower when the men came to empty the septic tank. They must have disturbed the creepy crawly wildlife, because a huge hairy legged spider climbed up the shower plug hole. I screamed and fled to my bedroom, not realising that the passageway wall was entirely windows. The men got an eyeful, which I realised halfway down....

I dived into my bed and buried myself in the covers till i was sure the men and the spider were safely gone.

The family were puzzled henceforth, as to why the septic tank men started coming every week instead of every month...I didn't enlighten them.

Thank you, Joan. It's good to start the day with a laugh! Especially when it's so obviously autumn - cold, wet and windy .

Ah yes but spring for Joan. Lovely story Joan, it's good to brighten up the lives of those who do yucky jobs

Spiders can be expensive! A neighbour went on holiday leaving us their key . Their burglar alarm went off 3 times in quick succession. Eventually my husband had to call the security firm who found a spider in the sensor.The technician taped up the hole in the sensor and left a bill for £90!

I am actually fine with spiders and the one who has traditionally "saved" everyone. I'll pass on the conker tip. However snakes just terrify me and I am not much better with worms..... My grown-up children recently put a toy snake in my tent when we were all camping. Even though I knew it wasn't real, I was almost tearful with fear. Totally irrational. Must get my own back on them some time with fake spiders!

glassortwo - I have a phobia of daddy long legs as well. Embarrassing. Was watching tv late the other night - bare footed - and the most monstrous garden spider you can imagine ran across my foot and disappeared behind the log basket. Ran out again last night and has clearly set up residence there. We've called him Horace. But I can imagine someone with a phobia having nightmares about him. But I don't kill anything because of my irrational fears - it's not their fault if I am a wuss . I don't even kill daddy long legs despite my phobia. They get sucked up in my spider catcher and put outside.

My grandmother and mother were terrified of spiders. As a very young child I was chased by a boy who had fished an enormous spider [plus it's web] from a chest in a farmyard. When I worked in a wee shop in Cornwall, a customer refused to enter the shop [because a HUGE spider was sitting on my shoulder!] Every autumn I am on constant spider-watch. I am truly frightened of the large specimens. We do have a spider-catcher and always send the captured creature on it's way with our best wishes. We've NEVER knowingly killed a spider. I agree - they are the "goodies". I wish that I could cure myself of this unnecessary dread.

I like spiders, but we never have them in the house for long. My husband hates them (says when he was in Libya the were enormous) It is a funny site to see naked husband with slipper jumping on the bed to reach and splat a spider on the ceiling. My daughter had one in the bathroom she nicknamed George until it got into her bedroom, then Splat. Takes after her Dad.

A few years ago, I went with my grandson on a nursery trip to a local butterfly centre. Inside one section they had a tarantula spider, and people were being asked if they wanted to hold it. No volunteers, then a young woman boldly stepped forward and held her hand out. The man put the spider onto her hand, and she very shakily said "Oh my G-O-O-O-O-O-D!", then very quickly asked him to take it back again! I bet she doesn`t do that again in a hurry.

Our cat used to be scared of the massive spiders that trudged across our floor. It used to peer at them, then creep through the catflap.

numberplease and greenmossgiel the hairs on the back of my neck are twitching. Eeek!!!

When out walking I rescue stranded worms. My husband laughs as I place them in my pocket and transfer them to a spot of loamy soil. On one occasion I picked up a slowworm from the road and took it home. I then found it a cosy nook in the rockery. It will have liked it, I'm sure.

I encountered the biggest spider in the world last week in my sister-in-laws bath> Huge fat bodied monster with long legs. I'm not a natural killer, mostly out of squeamishness I'm afraid and I tried to sweep it down the plug hole,but it didn't want to go and in the sweeping it lost a leg. This filled me with guilt and remorse, so I tried to coax it down gently with a huge yellow rubber duck. The plan went horribly wrong and I'm sorry to say, it got very squished in the process. So I left this very dead and mangled body in the p0lug hole, having tried unsuccessfully to flush it down with water. When I returned, it had risen from the dead and was in the middle of the bath looking not very well. I had no option but to put it out of it's misery with the aid of some tissue, and flushed it quickly down the loo. It took me some days to get rid of the feeling that I am after all, a heartless murderer.

GoldenGran you are obviously not a born killer! I try my utmost to be careful with any creature, no matter how disturbing I may find them.

I love spiders - and snakes. Yes I am weird!!

Our two boys found a slow worm(legless lizard) on the cliffs near Tintagel a few years ago. It was a beautiful little thing, and they were most upset when I said they had to put it back where they`d found it, they wanted to take it home!

No problem with anything APART FROM SPIDERS - my daughter (really really scared) has trained her cats (?) to KILL on command - really.... A little warning tho - my husband's firm have had an safety briefing email going round about a dear little creature called a False Widow Spider which apparently has invaded the south and east of England and specifically Surrey. The female is up to 15mm long (the male up to 10mm) and she bites. Apparently you don't feel the bite but within a short space of time a local burning sensation is followed by radiating pain (far more severe than a bee or wasp sting). They don't look very nice either!!!

Whole new bag of conkers all in place now. My neighbour and hubbie woke to find the bloody remains of an ex-large black hairy one in their bed and she too has gone off to get her new supply. In fact conker gathering is becoming a very popular event in our village these days!

With all the building that's going on around - and with the promise of more - the spiders and other creatures are presumably on the lookout for cosier premises. I just wish they'd stay in our garden which is quite large and I'm sure their fellow octopods would happily accommodate them. I too don't mind any other creepy crawlie including snakes. What is it about spiders that sets my heart a-thumping?

I don't mind spiders but I hate meeces to pieces!

You people with arachnophobia will be delighted to hear that all spiders bite and all spiders are poisonous. The good news is that most of them, including all the native spiders in Britain, cannot bite through human skin, nor want to.

Baggy...goody goody!!

I couldn't care less whether they bite or not it's just seeing them run about in My Space that sends me into screaming hysterics.

Himself thumped one to death as it ran across our bedroom floor last night knowing that if it escaped there would be no sleep .......

I'm not scared of any animal except spiders and they just terrify me.I have to catch them with a glass and stiff card and put them outside. There's a lovely picture book called Aaaaaaaaaargh! Spider! about one which wants to be a family's pet.