Shock, spider in my bedroom this evening!

Beautiful!

Sara1954

I cannot be in the house with one, my husband has on occasion had to drive home from work to deal with one.
Totally irrational I know, but I’m totally terrified!

The thing is Sara1954, you will have been in the house with more than one, many many times! Probably right now! But never fear. We seldom see them. They prefer dark corners and crevices as a rule in winter.

My parents fostered children and we had a child who stamped on a spider which was actually outside. Of course all us children had a fit of the vapours as we'd been brought up to do no harm to spiders

The child stayed with us for 12 months. When he left us his phobia had disappeared as he'd have been a nervous wreck due to the amount of spiders both in and out. Grew up to be a fine spider loving man!

I grew up in a large, very old house, Pudding123. There was a stream and maybe that sort of lifestyle means any spider phobias have to be dealt with as we saw plenty. We couldn't access our garage for months due to a spider having weaved the most wonderful web that we all allowed to nurture. And of course the fabulous photos we have of numerous webs in hedges during frosty times. Beautiful things. To think that these creatures can make a thing of such beauty yet not be appreciated.

Now we live in another large old house and my parent's teaching stayed with me and my children/grandchildren are totally unconcerned about them.

Maybe it is a case that the more you see the less likely a phobia.

But phobias can be beaten and spiders are worth a chance to continue their work

Give spiders a chance!!

There is no way I could ever get close enough to a spider to catch it in a glass or tube.

Perhaps if the tube was a mile long...

Pudding123

I wish I hadn't seen this thread as I am terrified of these things but I don't wish them any harm..for those of you that have seen them in your houses this month can I ask do you live in old houses in very wet areas?
I did a six month season in Llandudno when I was 18 and I have never seen such massive hairy beggars.

My bungalow was built in 1954 so not very old but it is in an area which used to be marshland and was a stream running where my boundary hedge is. I have a 6 ft space underneath the bungalow which is designed to hold any water when the flood table rises. I expect it is flooded under there at the moment! One corner of my garden is regularly under water so it is possible that spiders are more frequent in my house because of the damp.

When the area was developed in the 1950’s, the builder was not permitted to build two story houses, only bungalows and that remains the case today. If a bungalow is being renovated, planning permission is not granted for a second story, only dormer bedrooms.

rockgran

I keep an old yogurt pot and postcard for such an occasion. I scoop it up and put it outside. ( I know they come back but it will take time.) You have to have the gear ready or it disappears while you are looking.... and then you really can't sleep.

I will keep one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. My lounge carpet is a sort of black current colour very very dark so even if a spider was sat right now looking at me I would not be aware and that can only be a good thing about…

I keep an old yogurt pot and postcard for such an occasion. I scoop it up and put it outside. ( I know they come back but it will take time.) You have to have the gear ready or it disappears while you are looking.... and then you really can't sleep.

Riverwalk

There was a large spider in my bath yesterday - I don't like the buggers but no longer flush them down the loo.

I have a homemade catcher - it's the cardboard tube from aluminium foil with one end closed. I scoop up the pesky thing and hold a piece of card over the top then take it outside and let it go as far away from the door as I can, then close the door so it can't stroll straight back in!

Thank you for that excellent idea, I shall save my next cardboard tube and make a spider catcher????

I wish I hadn't seen this thread as I am terrified of these things but I don't wish them any harm..for those of you that have seen them in your houses this month can I ask do you live in old houses in very wet areas?
I did a six month season in Llandudno when I was 18 and I have never seen such massive hairy beggars.

LullyDully

I find it interesting that some people seem to loathe spiders while others are not bothered. My son and his children are terrified of even the smallest ones. So it's always me with the glass and the slip of card.
I have a fascinating spider who spins her web on my kitchen window with such skill. I am loath to spoil her good work as she is a joy to watch.

I had great pleasure in watching a spider last summer spinning a lovely Web on the glass of my French doors and I too did not have the heart to destroy it until winter came. I’m a little scared of them but would never kill one deliberately I try to catch them and put them outside on a plant.. or if I’m upstairs I’m afraid they have to abseil out of the bathroom window…

Yell for my father (not tell)

I did have a moth phobia and if one started fluttering around my bedside light I would tell for my father to come and deal with it while I dived under the bedclothes.

Teacheranne. My sister shared your phobia. As a little girl I thought it was funny. She was constantly convinced she could see spiders on the ceiling in our bedroom and my parents would carefully brush the ceiling every night before we went to bed to reassure her. Then when in my teens, I saw her reduced to whimpering tears of real fear by the sight of large spider and realised how frightened she was and after that always tried to protect her from them.

I do not have a problem. DH picks them up in his bare hands and throws them out of the door. I use a drying up cloth or towel.

He who desires to live and thrive
Should let a spider go alive
Anon

I like your spider catching invention Riverwalk
I’m going to pinch that idea for catching wasps.
I’m always scared that the cat or dog will try to catch them in their mouth

I cannot be in the house with one, my husband has on occasion had to drive home from work to deal with one.
Totally irrational I know, but I’m totally terrified!

I love spiders and find them fascinating but I can accept people have a phobia about them but having caught it why not put it outside? So unnecessary to kill the spider and cruel.

Grandma70s

David Attenborough said to Princess Charlotte, who had told him she liked spiders, that he thought the reason some people were frightened of them was that with their eight legs they could move in any direction, so we can’t tell where they are likely to go.

In my experience they always run away. They are very timid creatures.
For good reason it seems!

I find it interesting that some people seem to loathe spiders while others are not bothered. My son and his children are terrified of even the smallest ones. So it's always me with the glass and the slip of card.
I have a fascinating spider who spins her web on my kitchen window with such skill. I am loath to spoil her good work as she is a joy to watch.

I have a spider phobia which, oddly, seems to have got worse as I've aged. I tend to get my OH to dispose of them but if he isn't about I will attempt to do the job myself.
Sometimes I deposit them outside, sometimes they are trapped via the vacuum cleaner and sometimes they get flushed down the loo, it depends on how panic stricken I am.
Non of my children are fussed about spiders and I have a photo of my then 6yr old daughter handling a giant centipede and something big and hairy that looked like a tarantula when on a school trip, to prove it.
Likewise all my grandchildren except one are fine about spiders. I'm not sure where his phobia comes from. Perhaps it's true that some of us are genetically wired to fear them.

Several of my friends are petrified of snakes, whereas I'm fascinated by them and can happily handle them. One friend can't stand being near birds and another has a thing about cotton wool!
As my phobia seems to be getting worse, I'm considering hypnotherapy. Anybody else tried it?

There was a large spider in my bath yesterday - I don't like the buggers but no longer flush them down the loo.

I have a homemade catcher - it's the cardboard tube from aluminium foil with one end closed. I scoop up the pesky thing and hold a piece of card over the top then take it outside and let it go as far away from the door as I can, then close the door so it can't stroll straight back in!

Teacheranne I’m on your side, I’m phobic of spiders and can’t sleep when I know they are in the house. I’ve been bitten by a false widow and it put me in hospital, so I think it’s perfectly fine to be scared of them. I don’t really understand the anger of killing spiders, no one would be upset about killing moths, ants or flies would they? I’m sure no one would want to have to encounter their phobia in their own.

I’m not keen on white spiders. If you aren’t a gardener, you may not even know they exist. They nestle in flowers with white centres (good camouflage), waiting for unsuspecting bees. I’ve seen several bees ambushed on the geranium Rozanne so I’m afraid white spiders get short shrift from me.

David Attenborough said to Princess Charlotte, who had told him she liked spiders, that he thought the reason some people were frightened of them was that with their eight legs they could move in any direction, so we can’t tell where they are likely to go.

Was brought up to put spiders outside, never kill them,

“It’s bad luck to kill a spider”.

As far as I’m concerned spiders live outside, they take their chances if they come into our house……if I see them their chances aren’t good!