Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Some thoughts on spiders . . .
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August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am #702407
EmmyJaneParticipantI come from an area with TONS of hobos and those are the most terrifying spiders ever. They will actually run AT you, and move very quickly. The only good news about them is that they don’t climb so well.
Does anyone have advice about spider-proofing a house? I know you can’t get there completely, but what are some of the sneaky ways they get in? We have tons in our house and I want to stop their migration inward. :-)
August 31, 2010 at 12:28 am #702408
anonymeParticipantEmmyJane: it would be difficult (more like impossible) to identify a hobo spider without doing a microscopic identification of the genitalia. And the idea that spiders “run at you” is another total MYTH. Well, with the possible exceptions of one South American and one Australian species…but not a concern of ours in the PNW. For the most part spiders are oblivious to our existence, except for a change in light or vibration in the general area. You cannot spider-proof a house, nor is there any such thing as a “migration inward”. The Seattle Times had an article on spiders this past weekend that answers many of these questions.
Sorry EmmyJ, I’m not trying to bust your chops, it’s just that spiders were my field of study for many years & I kinda know what I’m talking about. I’m sure that if this thread persists, every urban myth and fear in regard to spiders will surface — and there are plenty of them.
BTW, the staple of most spiders diets are other spiders.
August 31, 2010 at 1:29 am #702409
datamuseParticipantI leave the spiders alone, they leave me alone. Win win.
My cat doesn’t bother with them anymore, either. He’s so old that he’ll watch them but he isn’t interested in playing with them.
August 31, 2010 at 2:31 am #702410
BlendParticipantor we can make it a drinking game, DM. Every time you see a tegenaria gigantea take a drink. Every time you see a tegenaria agrestis take two drinks. Every time you see a black widow drink the whole bottle.
August 31, 2010 at 4:02 am #702411
EmmyJaneParticipantAnonyme- OH SNAP! While I appreciate that spiders were your field of study, and this technically may make you an expert, I think that my 27 years of fearing spiders far surpases your expertise. Plus, I find myself often closely examining the epigyum and palps (thank you wikipedia) of spiders to positively identify them, thank you.
I wasn’t referring to the PNW- I was referring to Pocatello, Idaho where I grew up (do you know if they have the South American and Australian species there?) I once heard there was the largest concentration of hobo spiders ANYWHERE between there and another nearby town and ever since I’ve been repeating this fact. I’ve said it enough times that I insist it must be true, but I can’t find a concentration map using google so I can’t back it up with facts, which are pretty much useless anyways.
No but seriously, thanks for the info and I don’t mind if you bust my spider myths (although very bold with the Rottweiler avitar, very bold…) I’m well aware I’m not going to spider proof my house, but if you could direct your expertise in my direction to give me some tips I’d appreciate it. :-)
August 31, 2010 at 4:03 am #702412
EmmyJaneParticipantPS- What do you mean “there’s no such thing as a migration inward”?
August 31, 2010 at 4:26 am #702413
datamuseParticipant@Alki: hah, I participated in the drinking game without realizing it! There was a big ol’ Tegenaria on the wall of my office this evening, and now I’m having whiskey!
(I was practicing my fiddle. He didn’t move the entire time. Perhaps he enjoyed the music.)
August 31, 2010 at 5:00 am #702414
inactiveMemberWhat about diatomaceous earth? It slices up the outer shell (exoskeleton?) of creepers and crawlers. Sprinkled into cracks and crevices, in dark corners, etc., (where they are travelling laterally, even horizontally and vertically, but never migrating inward;)) it seems to work really well in my garage and basement knee walls, but you wouldn’t want the stuff where it will blow around too much. That’s probably not a great idea for any mammalian lungs.
Unless maybe if it is food grade diatomaceous earth. That’s a safe option for nearby two and four-legged creatures, but might be just the ticket to take out the six or eight-legged ones.
Sorry to bring mammals into this fine debate.
Or would Boric acid powder work? Dessicates fleas, eventually, without harm to humans or pets.So maybe, spiders? Dunno. If your seriously upset by these critters, check out it out.
August 31, 2010 at 5:30 am #702415
DPMemberAugust 31, 2010 at 6:34 am #702416
WSBKeymastervelo_nut … me too.
After dealing with a couple years of odorous house ants, I would take almost any pest over them. The raccoons in the attic could come down into the living room and hang out if that’s what it took to banish the ants. And spiders? They eat bugs. They’re welcome to hang out any time.
August 31, 2010 at 8:11 am #702417
grrParticipantAugust 31, 2010 at 8:13 am #702418
grrParticipantWSB..come on by and see what damage a raccoon can do to your dog/wallet. You’ll rethink having them in your living room, or anywhere else near your home.
August 31, 2010 at 2:04 pm #702419
anonymeParticipantEJ: What I mean by “no migration inward” is that there are indoor and outdoor spiders. What seems to be a migration at this time of year is due to spiders maturing and looking for mates. Nothing to do with weather, or winter coming. The spiders (Tegenaria mostly) were in your house all along, but they’re shy. They hang out mostly in crawl spaces and walls, garages, etc. I’ll admit they present a pretty dramatic presence, but they are harmless.
Another harmless species you will see in the corners of your ceiling all year long is the genus Pholcus. They are thin and spindly; some people refer to them as “daddy longlegs” but they are not. They disappear in the daytime. I usually leave them alone unless they happen to dangle above my bed. They’re hard workers…
DP: Did your map by any chance come from a website warning about “aggressive house spiders”?
August 31, 2010 at 2:22 pm #702420
EmmyJaneParticipantAh, thanks for the info Anonyme. I was convinced that they were crawling in through every small hole in the house. You can just call me the spreader of the myths.
August 31, 2010 at 2:43 pm #702421
anonymeParticipantEJ, I think I should confess that my interest in spiders arose out of a severe case of arachnophobia. One reason I’m so familiar with the myths is that they used to come from my own mouth…
I’m not saying that you will never have accidental wanderers in your house. My cat usually gets to them first unfortunately, but otherwise I just put them back out.
August 31, 2010 at 5:23 pm #702422
SueParticipantThe spiderwebs outside are driving me crazy this summer. I’ve never seen anything like it. When I leave the house for work, I must look like one of those crazy homeless people, waving their arms and talking to nobody – because I’m sick and tired of walking face-first into the webs I cannot see unless the light hits them *just right* (which it doesn’t usually).
August 31, 2010 at 5:47 pm #702423
datamuseParticipantI came home one day to a spiderweb spun right across my front door.
I could only think that the spider that made it was awfully optimistic.
August 31, 2010 at 10:18 pm #702424
anonymeParticipantDatamuse, have you ever seen the Gary Larson cartoon where the spiders have made a web across the bottom of the playground slide? “If we pull this off, we’ll eat like kings!” Hilarious.
August 31, 2010 at 11:16 pm #702425
datamuseParticipantanonyme, yes I have, and I thought of it as I was removing the web! (I love spiders, but it was blocking my door…)
September 1, 2010 at 1:13 pm #702426
hollyplaceParticipantSue- you made me laugh and feel a little better about walking through the back yard on the way to the recycling bin swinging my “sword” – an outdoor broom.
September 1, 2010 at 2:47 pm #702427
JoBParticipanti was bitten by a hobo in my early 20s.
the resulting inflammation didn’t heal for 3 years.
for a decade or two after that the bite shed dead skin continuously.
40 years later i just have a scar.
You may think it’s no big deal..
but i beg to differ.
not my idea of a cuddly house pet:(
September 1, 2010 at 4:53 pm #702428
JustSarahParticipantJoB, no one’s saying *hobo* spiders aren’t something to worry about. Giant house spiders eat hobo spiders, though, so it’s in your best interest to not kill them. (That said, I understand they’re still terrifying to me when they run across the floor!)
What you’re saying is like stating you were bit by a rattlesnake once, so now you kill all garter snakes; one does not equal the other.
September 1, 2010 at 11:26 pm #702429
anonymeParticipantJoB, where did this bite take place? Geographically, that is. Unless you actually see the spider bite you, and then take the specimen to a lab for identification, there is no way to be sure of the species. A species of spider cannot be identified by a physician who merely examines the wound – even in the unlikely event that the physician also happens to be an arachnologist. “Hobo” spiders were not widely known as such 40 years ago.
I suffered a very serious spider bite 5 years ago which turned into a staph infection that landed me in the hospital. I was wary of spiders for awhile, but I’m over it. If I were to kill everything that resembled something that had harmed me, there would be quite a few less humans around.
September 2, 2010 at 2:49 am #702430
JoBParticipantanonyme..
i was bitten in philomath, oregon in a house that was infested with what were locally believed to be brown recluse but were later identified as hobos.
friends at Oregon State who live spiders identified them.
If spiders don’t insist on being seen..
i don’t kill them.
sarahscot…
when i was a kid i lived on an Indian Reservation. We owned the country store in a little place called Thornhollow with a huge truck parking lot outside. One of the “games” played by some of the local indians was to toss rattlesnakes hook to hook in the lot in front of the store.
One day as i emerged from the store one of them threw a snake and wrapped it around my waist. I froze while it slowly fell off.
Yes.. it was a rattler.. a very dead rattler.. but I wasn’t yet a teenager at the time and when you added that to the water moccasins we were playing with in our local swimming hole till they bit someone… i have been just a little freaked by snakes since then.
luckily.. they they haven’t showed up in my bathtub.. yet… though they did like the patio outside of phoenix.
There were scorpions … and a new nest of cockroaches in the shower curtain once… both in Phoenix… and spiders..
but no snakes :)
September 2, 2010 at 1:57 pm #702431
anonymeParticipantJoB: Thanks, good information. Philomath seems like a perfect locale for hobos, although spider “infestations” are a concept invented by exterminators. Virtually all spiders are cannibalistic, which is why baby spiders lose no time in leaving home as soon as they’re able. Any concentration of spiders in a given area will quickly balance itself out. I guess I have an affinity for traditionally maligned creatures, as I’ve kept every critter you mentioned as a pet.
EJ, I don’t know of any surefire way to keep spiders out, except for the obvious: tight-fitting screens, etc. I once heard that rubbing alcohol wiped around entry points would deter them, but I highly doubt it. When I worked in a museum lab with an arachnologist, we put some of that sticky tape across the doorway. Sure enough, there was a tarantula stuck to it one morning. Trouble is, once the spider is stuck it’s pretty much dead.
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