Spiders in house

masterK

Can anybody recommend anything to keep spiders out of my house?

I'm not talking about small ones either, I find about 1 or 2 rather large black spiders every night. The usually only appear in the evening or at night. I had loads of them through last winter but they disappeared for the summer but have recently reappered.

I've no idea where they come from, I usually just turn around and there's one sitting there in the middle of the floor. My main worry is my 7 month old daughter who is nearly crawling, if she sees one she'll probably pick it up and put it in her mouth.

Alun

My main worry is my 7 month old daughter who is nearly crawling, if she sees one she'll probably pick it up and put it in her mouth.

... and this is a problem, why, exactly? Never did me any harm as a kid, and I did this regularly apparently, as well as garden worms

thejovialhost

Did ye know the average person swallows on average 4spiders in their lifetime while sleeping?? :eek: now theres a thought!!

masterK

Thanks guys, you've put my mind at ease.

But seriously, if you seen the size of these things, the body is easily an inch in lenght, including the legs they span 2.5-3 inches.

Lex Luthor

Master K, I wouldn't worry about your small one picking up a spider. She'll not get the chance to even catch one. They are more afraid of us than we are of them. They'll leg it as soon as anyone gets anywhere near them.

WHen you catch them, where do you leave them?

If you are only putting them outside the door, then they will come back in.

Put them 40-50ft away.

I put a bit of tippex on one a few yrs back and kept putting him outside the door to see if he would come back in and there he was the next day.

MorningStar

What is the actual concern of you child eating a spider?
If you feed her cerial foods or based on cerial food she's has already eaten a few. Being too clean can actually be worse for your child. There is a bigger risk from the fire retardent chemicals used on your clothes and the foam in furniture and the bed you put her to sleep in.

prospect

Lads, whether you agree with the OP's motives, or not, is irrelevant. The question is how to prevent them.

I too have had a few of the buggers in the house. My problem is that I am scared to death of spiders. If i see a spider in my living room i usually look like this :eek: but if there are girls around I try to look like this :cool:

Anyway, I believe these 'ultrasonic' rodent deterrants are supposed to work on arachnids as well. But this could be utter BS. I must check that out.

MorningStar

Good point!

You can't stop them and you need to get used to them. You are effectively trying to stop air if you want to stop them.

If you have an irrational fear of anything I suggest you get it treated so you always look :cool:

masterK

Lads, all this debate on the merits of eating spiders is great but I really just want to see if anybody has any proven ways to keep them out. I don't mind the occasional one but I am finding 2 or 3 quite large ones every evening.

I live at the end of a row of houses so am quite open on one side, other than that I am wondering how so many of them are getting in. They ones I find are always the same type and are quite big. It's just annoying having to keep killing them.

MorningStar

I don't mean to be funny but you can't. They aren't like ants that have a hive, they tend to be lone hunters. Look at it this way it probably means you don't have mice because I think they eat them.

The only other thing i can say is to vacum all the time. Maybe buy some bug eating plants like venus fly trap and pitcher plants.

Lex Luthor

MorningStar wrote:

Look at it this way it probably means you don't have mice because I think they eat them.

If you have spiders in your house that eat mice, I'd be worried...

MorningStar wrote:

Maybe buy some bug eating plants like venus fly trap and pitcher plant.

This isn't the movies here...MasterK is talking about large spiders here, not small little flies.


You never answered my question. What do you do with the spiders when you see them? Do you take them outside? Like I said, make sure you take them a good distance from the house.

masterK

I usually kill them and throw them in the bin.

Came home to another couple yesterday evening, sitting right in the middle of the kitchen floor.

MorningStar

Lex Luthor wrote:

This isn't the movies here...MasterK is talking about large spiders here, not small little flies.

They can catch spiders too. Big ones if you let the plants grow

Lex Luthor wrote:

You never answered my question. What do you do with the spiders when you see them? Do you take them outside? Like I said, make sure you take them a good distance from the house.

Leave them alone especially big one they eat the small ones including their own children in general. If you rinse a spider down a sink they also survive and come back through the drain.

If you really must destroy them without being environmentally friendly.

http://www.biconet.com/traps/spiderTrap.html

delly

I've noticed quite a few spiders in my own house which were small enough, but i was brushing my teeth one night and a movement caught my eye from the bath. I looked in and got the fright of my life at the size of the spider inside, about 3-4 inchs.

I bought one of those ultrasonic devices, but i don't think its made much difference. My advice would be to make sure that there are no obvious holes or cracks in your house that the larger spiders can get through. Also make sure to do a good clean around the house and vacuam all over. Also be on the lookout for what looks like a small pea sized roll of cobweb, as i think thats were the eggs are.

Anybody who said that a spider would be no harm to a nipper, seriously cop yourself on. Give a baby the wrong bit of food or drink, and they can have serious allergic reactions, and/or could choke if it too big. I'm not even a parent and i know that.

prospect

didn't some irish guy invent a device for picking up spiders (for the australian market), and you release the 'beast' outside.
Its like a broom with stiff nylon threads at the end that close and trap the spider when you pull a trigger.
I wouldn't mind getting on of them myself.

delly

prospect wrote:

If i see a spider in my living room i usually look like this :eek: but if there are girls around I try to look like this :cool:

Class

Lex Luthor

prospect wrote:

didn't some irish guy invent a device for picking up spiders (for the australian market), and you release the 'beast' outside.
Its like a broom with stiff nylon threads at the end that close and trap the spider when you pull a trigger.
I wouldn't mind getting on of them myself.

I think that was designed for teh big hairy or small poisonous ones....a glass and piece of cardboard is good enough for here

delly wrote:

Anybody who said that a spider would be no harm to a nipper, seriously cop yourself on.

a small child would never catch one anyway

MaceFace

Outside our house is covered in them (in excess of 20 from a quick look, and could be triple that).
Anyways, luckily we don't really get too many indoors (touch wood), but I remember a while back hearing something about mint!
Yes, apparently spiders do not like the smell of mint and it drives them away from it.
Please check it out before throwing a box of polo around your house, but I thought that very strange!

loyatemu

didn't some irish guy invent a device for picking up spiders (for the australian market), and you release the 'beast' outside.

it's advertised in the Mirror regularly. if you're arachnophobic picking them up in a glass or a tissue may be a bit too close for comfort.

I've been told by several people that the really big ones can give you a nip (even though they're not poisonous enough to harm humans)

prospect

loyatemu wrote:

I've been told by several people that the really big ones can give you a nip

***FAINT***

Lex Luthor

all spiders are poisonous, whether their fangs are strong enough to penetrate human skin and they have high poison levels, is another question.

GrumPy

Damn Spiders! wtf do they come from? it's like at certain times of the year, they get into my house, then after a while they all feck off.... little bástards :rolleyes:

regedit

Irish GrumPy wrote:

Damn Spiders! wtf do they come from? it's like at certain times of the year, they get into my house, then after a while they all feck off.... little bástards :rolleyes:

I tried chesnut oil at them (bought one from a supplier) but it is not making a difference. 3 nights ago we went to the neigbours and when we came back, there was this spider, hanging from the ceiling. I swear it was at least 2.5 cm in diameter. I turned on the Dyson and sucked it in! That is the first time I did it but if I keep seeing such "monsters", I will not have a second thought! With the climate changing, I wouldnt be surprised if we get one of the species that lives in continetal europe and is poisonous!

dbyrne

have alot of big ones in my house, i hate them and the g/friend used to slag me for being a wimp when we first moved in but she is scared of them now. if you live in an estate that is fairly new and used to be farm land then like me you are fecked, they are every where and they just keep coming back.
I like others have found that the dyson is a great way to kill them cause you can see of they are still alive in the dyson and if they are just keep hovering up untill they are dead. I have been trying to get something to spray them but havent had any look. I know one person who got a pest control to spray around her house because the house was riddled with giant ones? Also i belive ther is a place in sligo or something like that that want people to catch unusual bugs/insects etc so that they can study the new breeds that are appearing..
best way is to kill them and that is that, if there dead they cant multiply..

Nevyn

Mint deters ants not spiders.

I have had several large spiders in the house.
When ever there are to many of then the cat eats them.
The warmer weather mean more insects for them to eat and
with mild winters mean that man spiders are hiding out in houses and
not dying off so they are living longer and getting bigger.

Debracd

Well at least they're around to kill off the goddamn fruitflies!!!!

Sugarbear

Debracd wrote:

Well at least they're around to kill off the goddamn fruitflies!!!!

Darn right! Imagine the amount and size of all the other creepy crawlies in the house if there weren't any spiders around?? :eek:

Debracd

Though I am about to wage chemical warfare On all thing Creepy including the bloody ants and their F***in' flying cousins!!!

Wobs

thejovialhost wrote:

Did ye know the average person swallows on average 4spiders in their lifetime while sleeping?? :eek: now theres a thought!!

This common fact is infact untrue! A spider will not crawl into your mouth as you are sleeping because your breath will scare it away. So fear not while you sleep, you will not eat any spiders or creepy crawlies! Can't say they wouldn't crawl in your ear though and lay some eggs