Gross Spiders
Forum Archives
tylersmommy914
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 12:59am
This will be our second summer here and I am terrified because of the spiders that come out in August. We thought they were Hobos but the Portland Zoo identified the one we sent to them as a Giant European House Spider. A Foul creature. AS you can tell I hate spiders. Outside I can deal with them, but when they are in my house and HUGE.... hmm, not so much. I know, how can I garden being afraid of spiders? Very carefully. Short of calling the Orkin Man is there any way of eliminating them? I'm usually very kind to God's creatures but these things better stay outta my way. Please advise.
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 8:27am
Tyler's mum,
Having a phobia is a tough one to deal with, and in the house I am not sure how to advise you. There are organic alternatives to pesticides in the house but not sure if that would take care of the spiders. I don't like spiders in the house either and the Euro spider gives me the heeby jeebies. They are quick! I usually let hubby take care of them.
One thing about the European spider is they do kill all the other spiders in the house. I realize this is not the trade off you are looking for.
Outside you don't want to be killing spiders off. I hope other will chime in and advise you.
JeanneK
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 9:05am
Hi,
Do you find you have a lot of spiders, tylersmommy? Or just a few and they freak you out? Spiders kill lots of yucky bugs like flies which carry a lot of germs! They are good for the garden and the house. Can you learn to live with them? Most are very harmless and more afraid of you.I am sure you've heard that before but I had to say it.
But if you really can't stand it, you could call The Killers. They work in the Greater Portland area. I had carpenter ants in my house and they sprayed a non-toxic to other animals and people chemicals that killed all the ants. They had a formula just for ants. I know spiders were on their extermination list. Sorry, I don't have there phone number at the moment but I am sure you can find them in the phone book. They did a great job.
Good luck!
Jeanne
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 9:51am
LOL, Jeanne, so you've worked with "hired killers." Remind me not to mess with you! LOL
tylersmommy914, I also am a spider phobe, although I am *much* better than I used to be. I can handle them - even welcome them - in my garden. Spiders in my house are a different matter. I used to scream - loudly - when I saw one, now I just shiver, get the vacuum and suck them up. With the long attachment (not quite the 10' pole I once would have wanted but close enough) I can get them from a "safe" distance and I can even get the ones on the ceiling. I guess I'm a recovering spider phobe. There is hope!
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 9:12pm
From what I understand if you use ammonia to wipe down the walls, spiders do not like it. There is also this stuff, it is natural and made of all kinds essential oils. I found it on the net, let me see what I can come up with cause it sounded wonderful.
~BakingBarb
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Jul-13-2004 at 9:22pm
Okay I still am unable to get that link to work for me but you can copy and paste.
There was another one calle Beat It.
I think her product line got bought out or something becasue there is less being offered but you can do a search on Google for Beat It insect repellent and come up with it. That is the first one I read about years ago. good luck.
www.bugsrdone.com
~BakingBarb
Wanda
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Jul-14-2004 at 9:47am
I have two inside-only cats and have seen a 99 percent reduction in spiders since bringing them home 2 years ago. I don't want to know what they do to them during the day when I'm gone! Not a good reason for getting cats, but if you love them anyway, it helps with the justification.
-Wanda
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Jul-14-2004 at 12:25pm
Spiders do good things, and I try to leave them near windows were flies collect and watch them do their business. I think there are only two dangerous spiders that live in the NW. Black widow and brown recluse. I have never seen (that means "recognized") a brown recluse. and have seen only 2 black widows. Just remember they dont like you either. Our "temporary inside spiders arrive on flowers and veggies and are taken out to the hanging baskets on the deck. I credit my 8th grade biology teacher, who probably should have been a botany teacher, for teaching our class to respect plants, critters, birds and insects along with the biology knowledge we needed to learn. We were encouraged to bring in specimins of plants and insects for identification and research. It was fun, and after 50 plus years I still find it valuable knowledge. Perhaps, you could steel yourself long enough to watch one work on a web, and learn to respect how very resourceful they are. It is actually more fun than reading Charlotte's Web.--well, almost.
Carol
Garden Spider
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-14-2004 at 7:41pm
A-HEM! As a member of the 8-Eyed Clan, I must say I find this reaction to spiders distressing. They are clean, beneficial, most are harmless despite a fearsome appearance. So they have lots of hairy legs! We all have SOMETHING.
Spiders do far more good than harm. With the exception of a few (as someone pointed out, in the PNW, it's the Black Widow and Brown Recluse), you have nothing to fear from them. They will help rid your house and garden of insect pests. Anything that eats flies is on my list of friends!
If I remember my history correctly, Spider silk was used in WWII as an alternative to silkworm silk. It has been used as the crosshairs in gun sights.
Spiders are fascinating creatures--they live nearly everywhere on earth, with the exception of Antarctica. There are even aquatic spiders who live underwater in a "diving bell" (I think made of silk, but not sure).
Whenever I've been afraid of something, I've tried to learn everything I can about it. Learning about something often makes it less threatening.
Barb
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Jul-15-2004 at 10:22pm
I thought there was a BIG spider that comes in the house in the fall in the Seattle area. The paper had an article on it when I moved to the area last year. I do mean big. Oh and I have been biten by a spider in three places on the neck before. The doc felt it was one of those wolf spiders, which can get as big as a nickle. It is not a nice bite to deal with either. Also I have friends here that have gotten bite by whatever that big spider is and they said the area turns into a huge sore. I have never seen this myself but where I got bite took about a year to heal completly. Here is a link that lists spiders and pictures. Do not go if you are queasy becasue I am going to have a hard time sleeping tonight now that I looked at it. http://entomology.unl.edu/images/spiders/spiders.htm
~BakingBarb
tylersmommy914
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-15-2004 at 11:22pm
Thanks for all the replys. I do deal with the spiders out in the garden. I realize their use but the ones I wrote about are HUGE (tried to measure the one we sent to the zoo. body about an inch long and legs measured about 2 inches each. That is a 4 in diameter ahhhhh). They don't seem to climb well as I've never seen them on the wall. Just dashing out from under the couch at heart stopping speed. Just give me the good ol' house spider on the wall any day. Well, actually all of you just stay outta my house or your gonna get stomped. :)
Amanda
trav
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Jul-15-2004 at 11:45pm
The giant european house spider actually is thought to keep the hobo spider outside, although I don't imagine that's much comfort. The hobo is often confused with the brown recluse, which we don't have here.
The hobo spider came to our continent courtesy of the Port of Seattle in the early 1900s. The giant european came a bit later, if I'm remembering correctly, either through Seattle or Vancouver BC.
I've heard a lot of the spiders you see in fall often were indoors for the entire year - when you start seeing them, though, is around the end of their lifespan when they've reached their maximum size and are out looking for mates. They do die in the fall or early winter though, with or without your help.
BTW if you see them high on a wall or ceiling they almost certainly aren't hobos.
Actually there's another poisonous cousin - there's a scorpion, believe it or not, that is an occasional visitor in the SW part of Washington (don't know about Oregon).
I think black widows are not thought to be established here west of the mountains, but sometimes arrive as "accidentals" (much like the birding term, but in this case humans are responsible for the transport).
Having said all that - I get the willies from the big 'uns when they wander around in the fall; and I don't hesitate to squish them. I rationalize it by saying "well they'll be dead soon anyway".
You might find this Google search interesting, but be aware that some photos might give you the willies.
Travis
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Sep-29-2004 at 7:20pm
Just to warn you all, I got spider bites again.
This is much worse then the spider bite I had gotten in Mi.
This is a hobo spider bite according to the info I looked up. It gave a few other options, say bed bugs! Oh yeah okay I think those went out with hay beds LOL
Anyhow it is not a nice thing. It starts out aching then I noticed these bumps, when they broke open they turn into closed sores the next day. I have had them for a week now and they are not healing, not getting worse though. And yes the are painful We have a kitty that roams our room otherwise I would have put down those sticky traps. And I did not try ammonia yet or anything else but I guess I should have.
~BakingBarb
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Sep-30-2004 at 1:04pm
Someone mentioned earlier that this is the end of the season for spiders, and they seem to practice building the most fantastic web systems to make sure thier final feast is exotic and filling. I noticed a web very near the ground this morning when I was shaking rugs, and a piece of dust bunny hung up in the web. Later I saw the cat walking down the walk headed straight for the web. and I was curious to see her reaction. She didnt even pause, but stepped over the web, all 4 feet raised high enough to completly clear it leaving it totally undisturbed. Is that a case of I respect "your space"?
Before I retired, I was an advice nurse for Kaiser Permante,and can't quite resist reminding folks that if you get a spider bite that sounds like BakingBarb's, be sure you keep the area clean, dont rub it, if the skin becomes discolored around the bite, you need to be seen by your health care provider. Also the symptoms--redness,irritation, itching, skin sloughing, may persist as long as 3 weeks.
Carol
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Sep-30-2004 at 8:59pm
CJ I am glad you did advice. I am not touching mine except when it hurts I rub the leg around it. Kind of like massage (rubbing?) the posions back toward the bites? I am treating them with neo. and tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and is there more? LOL but it is hard on the skin if you use it straight so I always use ointment or such with it. ~BakingBarb
What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it. ~Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden, 1871
JeanneK Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Oct-01-2004 at 8:13am
Barb, sorry about your bites. I can sympathize. I get huge welts from mosquito bites, taking days to recover!
CJ, I noticed that my cats avoid disturbing webs too but they go crazy chasing and killing flies, to the point of knocking things over. That's why I would rather have the spiders killing the flies than the cats doing it!
Jeanne
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Oct-14-2004 at 7:10pm
I have meant to tell you all, the bites stopped spreading with the tea tree oil. http://www.melaleuca.com/ This is where I got mine from and they have good info so that you can buy it anywhere you want, just make sure you get the quality stuff.
Anyhow, what happens is you get a black (sorry gross) scab, it spreads as the tissue underneath is dying. With the tea tree oil, it stopped spreading. Now I am just putting antibiotic ointment on becasue the spots now have to heal.
~BakingBarb
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton