Arachnophobia…

I think I'd have a heart attack if any of these things happened to me. Just the thought of it turns me into a gibbering wreck. The sight of a spider running can cause me to vomit. The feeling of revulsion is unbelievable. We were thinking of moving to a bungalow...now I am having second thoughts.

I quite agree celialillian but then, much as I dislike them, I don't have a real fear of them as some people seem to.

I have a plastic dish and cover in every room to catch them, but if they are very big I have to call OH to do it. And some of them move so fast ? My fear is always that they will disappear and I will know it is there but not be able to find it ?

In Sydney I saw a huge Huntsman spider on the wall just as I was leaving for work. I had to catch it and get rid of it before I left, so picked up a huge plastic dish and magazine and had to chase it all over the flat. It was so fast I was completely knackered (are we allowed to say that?) by the time I caught it. And I could still see it running round and round the plastic dish on top of the magazine. I was worried about picking up the dish and magazine in case it escaped again so decided to leave it till I got home then I could take it for a walk and get rid of it. When I got home it had gone. It must have run around so much it moved the plastic lid off the magazine slightly. So I spent the rest of the evening looking for it but never found it and didn't sleep a wink. The next day I was introduced to my first cockroach and the spider paled into insignificance ??

Poor spiders are hated so much and they are no threat whatsoever in this country. Spiders have a very important role in your house, if you didn't have spiders you would have a lot more illnesses, they spend there lives eating the bacteria and mites that are everywhere in your home. Microscopic creatures that we all bring into our homes on shoes and clothes and objects. Remove them if you must but never kill them, they are an important part of ecology. British people have become so sterile with everything, spiders are protecting us from ourselves.

Sorry last bit intended for OP, Shinamae!

Amberone, I use a nice ex-marmelade jar with a lid for overnight drinking water! Not ever had a problem with spiders personally, more worried about flies and moths dropping into it during the night. It may be better value to shell out a few £££ to get CBT or NLP or something from an expert in desensitizion to phobias.... I used to do this way back before I retired and you can get help without having to face severe anxiety - the scariest bit is probably making the appointment!

I don't mind spiders but feel truly sorry for those who do, as this time of the year is impossible. There are spiders everywhere and webs too, and the variety we have here DO NOT catch flies indoors, as we have oodles of them!

Sara1954

Those gadgets to catch them involve getting far too close to them, I could never do that.
In extreme emergencies I have used my vacuum cleaner, but then I have to leave it at the bottom of the garden for hours!

With the Lakeland gadget, my hand is at least 18 inches away from the spider which I can just about cope with! It reached up to the ceiling and in the corners where the daddy long leg type ones seem to linger.

With the fat furry ones, if they are not moving I do tend to use a heavy object to hit them but the suction in this gadget is strong enough to suck one in if I put it close but not actually touching it.

NotTooOld

Teacheranne - yes, that is what I am looking at. Was it about £12.99?

That seems about right - very effective, I’ve had mine for three years now.

My friend is using the plug ins and say they have helped a lot. She is terrified of spiders, she found one in her bed one night and her husband was away with work so she got in her car and drove to her caravan as she couldn't stay in the house. I have a utility room in my garage and they are constantly congregating in the sink and some are huge, but thank goodness they don't freak me out.

I think the best method is peppermint oil round the window frame. I’m not a fan of the big hairy jobs, but I do try to rescue the ones with small bodies and long legs. The only trouble with that is that as soon as I touch them all their legs seem to fall off. Not keen on daddy long legs either, but I’m so glad not to live in a country with huge cockroaches.

The specialist spiders in our house have very fine spindly legs, some are so fine you thing it's a hair - Yikes! I've never seen spiders like these before, they can grow quite big, but still very fine and fast movers!!

I bought one of those spider catchers that look like a load of bristles. I also use the spider repellant. I don't want to kill them either but I will if its a last resort. My other half used to deal.with the spiders but unfortunately he's no longer with us. So I'm going to have to manage. Hopefully my at might assist in this.

I know that I cannot monitor every space that a spider might be hiding in,for instance behind the wardrobe and I have enclosed a photo of my utility room where God knows what could be hiding up there and in my attic I dread to think what’s up there but I am just grateful that they don’t seem to want to be seen so to a certain extent out of sight out of mind….

I had two huge spiders in my lounge 2 nights ago. I had been doing a lot of gardening and just assumed they had come in with my bags of clippings (I live in a terrace house with the only access to the garden through from the front door). Anyway I just put a towel over each of the, and scooped them up and then outside. They might be creepy but they are harmless, and do eat some bugs.

www.healthing.ca/wellness/science/spider-web-mechanism-can-trap-and-kill-viruses

Read the article and be thankful. Since I read something similar years ago we haven't gone overboard in getting rid of spiders.

Result We still don't catch cold but as my vision deteriorates I am sometimes 'garotted' by the increasing number of webs I

I have mixed views on spiders: I don't enjoy their running around (the sitting room in September will have one very large spider scuttling from under one sofa to another-as if we wouldn't notice).

I awoke one night with a sore toe and found two puncture wounds which were sore for a week. I had obviously moved in bed when a spider was on my foot......

On the other hand (not foot!) spiders catch 'bities' and I don't kill them for this reason as I react badly to a mosquito bites.

At the moment I have a friendly (well, so far) spider on a small web in my bathroom. Actually it must be a killer as 'it' was brown but is now black and it has moved it's web so I guess this one killed (and ate?) the previous occupant. As long as it enjoys eating mozzies, it can stay.

I was looking at an outside alcove yesterday wondering if we’d be able to fit a tumble dryer in there. I vaguely thought “ there’s a lot of old spider webs there.” But didn’t think any more about it.
You lot have just made me go and clean it out, I don’t mind spiders too much but just the thought of lots of little spiderlings coming into the house makes me shudder.

Actually there seem to be a lot coming into the house already despite yesterday’s temperature rising to 31°.

Every year I read hopefully about ways to get rid of spiders, and I can never find a foolproof method. I am absolutely terrified of them and hate this time of year because it's spider season. It's no good saying they are harmless, eat flies, etc. I know my phobia isn't rational but I can't help it. My body reacts in fear before my brain has processed what is happening. I live in dread of seeing one or, worse still, touching one.
Makes me shudder to think about it.

I have looked at the tubes in Lakeland but I would have to get too close, particularly as you have to pop the cap on. To be honest, I want a laser gun that destroys the spider but not my furniture. It's not that I want to kill them - I am happy for someone else to take them outside - but I can't get anywhere near them.

It worries me that, if my DH dies before I do, I will be alone and will have to deal with spiders. I know it's silly but it's something that worries me.

At least they aren't dangerous here. My DD was bitten by a brown recluse spider (a fiddleback) a few weeks after moving to the US. The skin around the bite turned black and then developed into a deep hole near her spine. She was really ill and was lucky to survive.

We've always had a 'Resident Spider' wherever we've lived - but strangely enough, we don't seem to get any 'other intruders'. Maybe the 'Resident' is territorial and chases the others away . I much prefer the BIG spiders - at least you can actually see where they are . The little tiny ones are so quick, that you can't work out where they've run to. The current one has a habit of running across the Alarm Sensor - very naughty of him .

My other half is a massive 'Who' fan, so they ALWAYS get named 'Boris'.

For the uninitiated - www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMOzsAMaUFo

You can buy an electronic device which plugs into a mains socket and emits a certain frequency of noise through the mains wiring which keeps spiders, mice etc away.
Bought one for our daughter when she had mice in her flat above an empty retail premesis and it seemed to work so we bought one for our downstairs as we would have spiders coming through the air vents under the floor and finding their way into the room.
We bought hers from amazon and ours from Wilko.

Conkers placed in the corners of rooms are local remedies to deter spiders where I live in Co. Durham. Must try and find a horse chestnut tree and start collecting as I found a massive spider in the kitchen last night after leaving the back door open when I went out to the bin. What worried me was where it’s mate was hiding???

I don't mind them and have watched the garden variety, those with the beautiful markings, catching prey in their webs. Truly fascinating and ferocious little predators!
We did have one of the large brown ones living in a web in our bedroom for a while which didn't bother us (no, I'm not house proud!), until the night it overstepped its boundaries and ran over my bare shoulder in bed. I'm afraid it was rounded up and evicted out into the great outdoors and the web demolished. It didn't come back.

If you can find it, watch Phill Jupitus on spiders - hilarious!

You have to keep up with the mint. Do once a week. I live on a narrow boat and spiders congregate in the cratch. I regularly spray round the bow door to keep them out.

How is it, with all these spiders around, I am still plagued by flies?