They're here again! (That time of year)

Spiders give me the creeps too but I don't like to kill them. I know a woman who Hoovers them up but I feel that's cruel. I swear by the spider catcher you get in Lakeland costing about £12.. It's a long tube with a battery operated suction thingy at the end. It gathers them up gently and you put the cap on at the end of the tube take it outside and release the offender into the garden. I use it for bees and wasps too but flies are too quick....or too fly maybe!!

We currently have a mouse in our sittingroom! Dh saw it run in from the kitchen earlier this evening. It's made one brief reappearance but we can't find it. My two enormous cats are being totally useless, they're both fast asleep.

If mice ate spiders, I'd let it stay but I fear that's wishful thinking.

Our spiders are big enough to have pit clogs on, and I`m terrified of them! Mice would be a doddle, at least they`re cute, and I don`t mind picking THEM up, hopefully before the cat gets them.

? Lona, we had one in the process of wrapping a fly up. I was just sorry DGS wasn't here to see it. He would have loved it.
I hoover round the spiders and try not to disturb them too much.

Not only huge spiders but the swarms of ladybirds have landed here again this week ,hundreds of them I am finding them everywhere and they bite!

Charley - the spiders are here in south London, quite large indoors. Luckily, this is the first year for many years that I've not been bitten outdoors, which is great as I always get infections which need antibiotics.

I have a large beer glass that I trap them with and then I slip a birthday card underneath and release them in the garden. Works for wasps and bees too. I do admit to sometimes dropping the spiders from my bedroom window upstairs! I’ve convinced myself that they are so light that they won’t break a leg, never mind 8 of them. ???

I have just, this week, collected a whole new batch of conkers and spread those around my windowcills and doorways. Find these help to keep those 8-legged visitors out of my house

I like spiders, they come in so many sizes and shapes. Walking through the garden this time of year is hazardous end up with hair and face full of spider web

That should read 'conkers'

Why do they make webs across the windows I want open, so I have to keep them shut in case they creep in. We have plenty in the garden but the gazillion confers around the house have kept them out so far.
We spotted one with a huge body but short legs the other day but it was bright red never seen on of them before.

TriciaF the only mice we have are the ones that the cats bring in!

It was like The Hobbit! ?

This last week I noticed a large web on the window outside, the spider was a big 'un, so i left it alone. Every morning I could see it busying itself on the web.
Yesterday, I noticed two cocoons in the web, both had large flies in them, and one fly was still alive and kicking! That was the last straw I'm afraid, I despatched the lot with my broom and also the gigantic monster that was lurking above!!! (was that the female I wonder?)
Yuk!

My house is surrounded by trees which, I think, encourage them. Wherever I walk out of doors I have to untangle myself from their webs. I also have to check the lights on my car, which lives under a carport, because they are covered in 'net curtains' every morning.

We've had some whoppers this year; must be something they're eating! And there's been more of them than usual. I've also found more castings too ie their 'skins' which are usually scrunched up in my study and I don't like touching them either in case ...............!

Well, we all have them but rarely see them until Autumn and the mating season, but if you are seeing them all year round TriciaF I won't be moving to your area/country.?
Haven't heard the first mouse up in the loft yet, but it can only be a matter of time.

I thought you were going to say mice, phoenix. They start to come inside too at this time of the year.
As for spiders, I like them, we have them all year round.

I have not seen one for a very long time. phoenix and corner maybe you should move to London. I would teach Digby how to use the cat flap but if he is overweight I do not want him wearing it as clothing around his middle.

Tara's last stalker was very handsome but also very thick and even after 18 months of trying had not mastered the cat flap thank goodness.

They've been here in South Wales for a few weeks, there was a enormous one in the bathroom with thick wooden looking legs. It's my job to remove them, I can't kill them, DH is a wimp with creepy crawlies!

The started appearing a few weeks ago. They don't bother me too much as long as they don't run towards me. If they're the braver ones who don't realise how small they are compared to humans we catch them and put them in the garden but then it's a race as to who can get back to the house first lol. I think they're males who are looking for a bit of girly affection although I'm not sure how affectionate the ladies of that species are.

They can climb very well, but house spiders don't make webs, they are hunters.

Oh yes they are here in Scotland too! Had an enormous one in the bedroom it had managed to climb up the wall and was up at the ceiling. Didn't know they could climb. Had to get the hoover out to manage to get it. I couldn't go to bed knowing it was watching me from above! I didn't want it to scurry down and join me in bed!

You are more likely to be bitten though, by the thin dangly type ( we have lots of these) they tend to set up shop in high corners, and although not scary to look at ( unlike the big hairy type) are actually more bitey to humans.The feeling of a pinprick, and then a red mark.
A few days ago, I was bitten on the arm by a very tiny ladybird when I was gardening.Felt a pinprick, looked down and saw one of the tiny black and yellow type on me. So brushed it off.There were two tiny marks like snakebite on my arm, it's fangs! You can be bitten by almost anything.?

Yes, conkers do help, or spraying chestnut oil ( same thing)
But the reason that you see big spiders at this time of year is to do with SEX.? The females are larger than the males( and more deadly!) and they are on the hunt for a mate.This makes them more daring at dashing about, or lurking about the place before it's night and you have gone to bed.House spiders generally come out at night.
If you don't get rid of the ones you come across, you will soon be infested with a lot of big house spiders, once they lay eggs in a dark corner.