Spiders living in the wing mirrors

Atlantic Dawn

Last couple of times I have washed the car I've noticed spiders living in the wing mirrors of the car behind the mirror glass. I've tried hosing water in behind the mirrors and putting car detergent in to make it less accommodating for them but it seems to make no difference, after a few days others are back again. Anyone got any ideas of what can be done to deter them that are not taking the piss?

intheclouds

I have them too. Why do you want to get rid of them? I like them!

Allinall

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Last couple of times I have washed the car I've noticed spiders living in the wing mirrors of the car behind the mirror glass. I've tried hosing water in behind the mirrors and putting car detergent in to make it less accommodating for them but it seems to make no difference, after a few days others are back again. Anyone got any ideas of what can be done to deter them that are not taking the piss?

Have them from time to time as well.

I would leave them alone.

What possible harm could they do?

tossy

Have you told your insurance company about them?

bazz26

It's fun watching them hang on to the mirror for dear life while you drive at 100kph but they always manage to do it. They have earned the right to be left there. :pac:

_Kaiser_

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q

Walter Bishop

Spiders are our friends - apparently the Earth would be knee-deep in flies after one year if spiders weren't eating them. Also, water will have very little effect on spiders because they are difficult to drown due to being too light to break surface water tension.

Atlantic Dawn

Allinall wrote: »

Have them from time to time as well.

I would leave them alone.

What possible harm could they do?

The webs they make over the mirror glass wreck my head

Siipina

I gave my ones names after all they went through with me, hanging on for dear life, they deserve to stay there and have a name

CJhaughey

Get rid of the spiders and your mirrors will be full of flies..

biko

I have one in the driver side mirror. Not even a dose of wd40 could persuade him to leave so now I just leave him there and remove the net from time to time..

Alun

They're a bit of a PITA, but I have a sneaking admiration for them. They've found an ideal habitat, nice and warm (esp. if you have heated mirrors!) free from predators, and have a ready supply of food caught for them in their webs acting as fishing nets catching insects as you drive along.

Having said that, I've just bought a new car, and don't have any resident wing mirror spiders yet, and I won't be too disappointed if I never do.

savagethegoat

try introducing a bird which will eat the spider which will have eaten the Flys. Then you'll need a cat to eat the bird that ate the spider of course. I know an old lady who tried it.

26000 Elephants

When my kids were small I had them convinced that there was a chap at the land rover factory in Solihul whose job it was to raise spiders to put into the wing mirrors.

Bazzy

26000 Elephants wrote: »

When my kids were small I had them convinced that there was a chap at the land rover factory in Solihul whose job it was to raise spiders to put into the wing mirrors.

This ... brilliant

The Specialist

Allinall wrote: »

Have them from time to time as well.

I would leave them alone.

What possible harm could they do?

Quite a bit if you get bitten by one of these and ignore it - http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/false-widow-spiders-nesting-behind-wing-mirrors-and-under-bonnets-30649350.html

TrailerBob

I have a small spider who currently inhabits the front of the landcruiser... I quite like him, except for the inconvenient timing of his bungee jumps from the sun visor onto my glasses

fineso.mom

savagethegoat wrote: »

try introducing a bird which will eat the spider which will have eaten the Flys. Then you'll need a cat to eat the bird that ate the spider of course. I know an old lady who tried it.

This would only work short term...you would have introduce a dog ,a cow and a horse in order to sort the problem permanently.

xabi

soups05

i got one in each wing mirror, i named them fred and george

they do no harm so leave them alone.

fancy pigeon

I've been bitten by false widows a few times, they give me a nasty itch. Otherwise they're a cool spider, very inquisitive and move so calm and collected

I have a few pics of various spiders I've found in cars over the years

Don't think the arachnaphobes would like very much though

Noccy_Mondy

Load of fly/spider killer does the job for me. Unless they want to contribute to the running costs of the car, they can feck off.

Blazer

Had one living in my mirror and was content to leave him alone until he dropped into my lap one morning and I nearly crashed the car...I frakkin hate spiders..the little bugger escaped though.

Esel

Not for tree-huggers, but fly spray works (for a while). Don't breathe in while spraying...

alta stare

Spider X does a good job we use it work a fair bit.

delly

Caught a spider in the house one evening, so rather than throwing him out I moved him to my wing mirror. The next morning on the way to work, there he was. I would swear he was smiling. From that point on, I named my new friend spider-bro.

I'd regularly see spider-bro over the next 6 months, at which point I traded up my car. I had to carefully move him to the new motor, but he settled in nicely and just in time as winter was coming, so he now had a heated wingmirror.

Things went well for a while until one evening on the way home from work, a car clipped my wingmirror on a country road. By the time I stopped and ran back to check my mirror, spider-bro was nowhere to be found. As I got back in my car to drive home, an ironic choice of song came on, whose lyrics really meant something at that time. I can still hear the tune now as I wonder where he is.......#never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down#

Rip spider-bro.

Voodoomelon

^^ Vote for post of the day.

Special Circumstances

alta stare wrote: »

Spider X does a good job we use it work a fair bit.

Security cameras? If there's one thing spiders like more than wing mirrors it's security cameras!

Mint Sauce

bazz26 wrote: »

It's fun watching them hang on to the mirror for dear life while you drive at 100kph but they always manage to do it. They have earned the right to be left there. :pac:

No they haven't, they're squatting. Hate the little fockers!

Joe 90

26000 Elephants wrote: »

When my kids were small I had them convinced that there was a chap at the land rover factory in Solihul whose job it was to raise spiders to put into the wing mirrors.

Well, the S1 Elise variants had Rover Metro mirrors so I reckon the guy raised the spiders for quite a few Rover car models.

Truckermal

bazz26 wrote: »

It's fun watching them hang on to the mirror for dear life while you drive at 100kph but they always manage to do it. They have earned the right to be left there. :pac:

I was just thinking the same except for 160kph..:D

Alun

Of course there is a downside to all this. Due to the protection from predators given by their cosy, heated homes, they can grow quite large ...

26000 Elephants

^ the phrase "objects in mirror may be closer than they appear" takes on a sinister new meaning.... :eek:

Story Bud?

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread