Spiders! 🕷 🕷

Last autumn we put a few conkers on the window sills and that kept the spiders away. Never thought it would work, but it does.

But what about the ones already in the house!

I have told this story on gn before but I love it, so here it comes again.

Before the prevalence of mobile phones, we were on holiday in Scotland (we live in Leics) and about to eat dinner when the manager, looking very worried, told us our daughter was on the phone needing to speak to us urgently.

She ushered me into the office so I could be private while I spoke to her.

DD told me that she couldn't get out of her bedroom as there was a HUGE spider waiting for her on the landing - what should she do?

Eventually, she contacted one of her brothers who came, caught it and freed it outside the village.

I don't mind them in the house and will usher them outside (probably to their doom) with a card over the glass trick. My daughter is terrified of them and will get her dh to dispose of them.

I try not to kill them, but catch them and take them outside for a walk. I bought a proper spider catcher thing. It gently vacuums them into a tube.

Funny enough last night, there was a huge spider in my sink which I managed to get out and put outside.
Then when I went to bed, there was not quite such a huge one on my ceiling and I couldn’t reach it so where is now I don’t know.
I do have one of those electronic spider, deterrent things and spray my curtains and bedding occasionally with a spray of pepper mint and water.. If I haven’t got the mint I will use citronella..

I can’t bring myself to kill spiders, I actually collect them (not real ones though 😀) I’ve even got one on the front of my house.

They seem to be making super-large webs in dark corners too, in extra thin silky thread that you don't notice till the sun catches them at the right angle.
Usually about 10 mins after your friend-with-the-cleanest house-in-the-street has left after a cup of coffee.

I’ve started spraying peppermint oil around everywhere and it does seem to be helping.

I love spiders. If they move in for winter they'll eat any nasties that also move in.

Does anyone have cellar spiders? there are loads in my house various sizes, they seem to live in the corners, they are very very light and minimalistic that you hardly notice them.

I've had one in me bedroom for ages, but if he/she moves I do wonder "where it is"! but then it appears again.

But I'm sorry cellar spiders, it is time to vacate as I am going to hoover/dust/autumn clean every nook n cranny from top to bottom.

I have just spent ages renovating my bathroom and feel I need to deep clean.

It’s about now that spiders enter their mating season, hence we see them more.
I’ll just pick them up in my hand and put them out, MrJ does not share my nonchalance.

My daughter has a skylight that often has wasps flying around it trying to escape. I can’t reach that far to try to move them but the following day the resident spider drops down the remains of itself wasp supper and I shout thank you to it.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202308/medium-411984-4979ec90-f454-4276-9c50-6ceb537cfea8.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202308/medium-117810-43171d81-9218-4fff-a551-a1406202022f.jpeg

👀🕷🕸

😁

Yes, bikergran I have cellar spiders (often confused with harvestmen) but rarely house spiders. The former hunt the latter so that may be why. I don't mind them mooching around as they are slow and delicate but their prolific web spinning tends to reveal my lack of enthusiam for dusting. I quite like to think of them trundling around at night like robotic vacuum cleaners ridding the house of mahoosive beasties.

This makes me think of Princess Charlotte telling David Attenborough that she likes spiders and did he like them, too? Of course he said yes, and had a theory about why some people didn’t like them. I wonder if anyone here is clever enough to find and post the clip.

It’s easy enough to find the clip on YouTube, but I don’t know how to put it on here.

I don’t mind spiders at all unless they’re in my bedroom and might run over my face in the night. I would never dream of killing them.

Cellar spiders - so that’s what they’re called! Yes, we’ve loads of them this year (mostly in the cellar, funnily enough), and the cobwebs to match. I hate hurting them, but they’re so difficult to see and my sight’s not the best - unfortunately the webs have to be got rid of so I just hope that they’re out of the way when the hoover attachment approaches.

The worst spider I ever saw in the cellar was a massive jet black one with thick legs that appeared when I moved a cabinet down there - I swear it was staring me out, and not in a benevolent way either. I just pushed the cabinet back and scarpered before it came after me.

I’m afraid my cat likes to kill spiders if she can get them. Strangely she “talks” to them before she kills them, so I have time to try and rescue them. This morning I woke up to two very large very dead spiders in my bed with me

Shinamae

😁

This would not work with me as I am not afraid of spiders.

Fresh conkers do work, but unfortuately here the spiders move in about a month and a half before the conkers fall off the trees!

They're amazing creatures and I have a few places in my house where they are left to their own divices and only get disturbed when we decorate. Love watching them.

Elless I really like your spider decorations especially the one on the gate.

I like having a spider in the house, I have a large one that appears at about 9pm and takes the same route across the room every evening.

My Nan always said ‘if you wish to live & thrive let a spider run alive’! So try to evict even the horrid huge ones that run at me rather than away. Got couple of catchers that work ok but best deterrent is my little cat, Poppy, who thinks spiders are her toys & plays with them till poor things have a heart attack! Try to get to them first but both are much faster than me. Only reason I like the chillier weather is few less of the horrid huge ones!

If you check YouTube has the interview with
David Attenborough and Princess Charlotte 😊