Big Spider Specimen

impr0v

Like many other houses we've been waging war on the big spider invaders over the past year or two (I don't ever remember seeing anything bigger than your common house spider prior to that), equipped with a hoover and a strong stamping motion. As a result, we've had less occasions of spotting them running across the floor at night like mini scorpions. Last night, however, I was reading a book in bed when movement at the edge of the curtain caught my eye. Having them in the sitting room/hall downstairs is bad enough but I hate finding the bastards in my room. I flipped around the curtain and, sure, enough, found the biggest specimen I had ever encountered.

He seemed too stunned to move and was kind enough to remain in place while I pinned the curtain behind the radiator with a large dictionary and went to get my camera.

Picture one shows him from the far side of my bed.

Picture two shows him in close up.

Picture 3 shows him after he met one of the works of Nietzsche at high velocity, with a 2 euro coin for scale.

I'm not sure the photos do the size of him justice, and I'm sure some will have seen similar sized arachnids in their homes (never mind abroad), but it's hard to describe the instinctual revulsion one feels when finding it crawling up the wall beside one's bed.

qz

Oh Jesus, It's an effort for me to look at those pics. I fúcking hate spiders. I'm so glad I'm not in your situation.

Zaph

Had one that looked roughly the same size in the sink in my shed the other day. You could nearly see the individual hairs on its back. Where are all these coming from? I certainly don't remember spiders that big being particularly common until the last few years.

grimloch

I am also disturbed by the drastic increase in the large spider population over the past few years.

Thing is the speed these ferocious beast can achieve. They dart across the kitchen floor like lightning.

Generally the only weapon I can summon is my trusty slipper by which many such monsters have met their fate.

Can't wait till Winter when there's more of them....

Dizzyblabla

That's a big spider... but hey, I'd rather them in my house than those horrible dirty rotten flies... of which there seems to be millions lately..

Mr.Nice Guy

grimloch wrote:

Can't wait till Winter when there's more of them....

Does there be more in the winter? Damn. I hate the things. That spider in those pics would have left me very alarmed!

The Real B-man

bastards says i

Giblet

There was a huge one in my kitchen yesterday, bigger than that one even. Crazy looking. I remember waking up feeling something on my leg. I kicked out and heard something drop on the floor. Turned on the light, massive spider

Rew

Iv caught 2 of that size crawling on me in the past. The first time I got out of bed put on a t-shirt from the ground and went in to the bath room. Looked in the mirror and it was on my cheek! Scared the **** out of me, it was like somthing out of a horror movie.

2nd time I got out of bed put on a t-shirt from the ground and went in to the bath room. I felt soming on the back of my neck and slapped it. It squelshed in my hand...

The other day We caught one in the house as big as that one but black with a bigger body and thicker leggs. He was black not brown as well.

is_that_so

Had to remove one from a friend's shower. Much the same size as OP's pets although quite slow moving.

The Bollox

when I saw the first pic of the wanker I thought it was the same type that I saw a little over a week ago while playing the X-box in my bro's room, the bastard ran out from under the bed and darted all over the floor, and I had only socks on my feet, but when it came to a stand still I got some tissue and ****ed him out the window.

however he didn't have the same body as that one, it was more narrow, that one there would have made me crap my pants

grimloch

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Does there be more in the winter? Damn. I hate the things. That spider in those pics would have left me very alarmed!

I believe so, well in my residence at least. There was definately more large spiders in the house during the cold months than Summer.

Plus my dog has grown out of eating them so I have to fend them off by myself.

samo

That 2nd pic is HORRIBLE......would not have liked to have faced that thing.

Its why I always ensure there is a golden pages handy exactly for the likes of him and his freinds and family should they decide to vist :eek:

The_B_Man

pansies

Steven

impr0v wrote:

Picture 3 shows him after he met one of the works of Nietzsche at high velocity, with a 2 euro coin for scale.

What? He speed read it and commited suicide?

Steven

Marts wrote:

when I saw the first pic of the wanker I thought it was the same type that I saw a little over a week ago while playing the X-box in my bro's room

For one brief and interesting moment, I thought you saw a spider playing the X-box in your brother's room.

What a let down

boardsee

Wtf kind of a spider is that one i nthe OP`s pics? :eek: Fookin hell, never seen anything like that.

impr0v

Steven wrote:

What? He speed read it and commited suicide?

Dude, that humour is waaaayyy to high brow for this thread!

KdjaCL

You wouldnt believe what i been growing in the garage , its at least 2 inches in diameter, i feed him flies and he likes hem.


Gonna unleash him on the world one day....


kdjac

The Bollox

*gives a steriotypical horror movie scream*

Dave!

While I was reading this thread, my cat spotted a daddy long-legs on the ceiling above my head! :eek: Not quite as meaty as the spider in the pictures, but infinitely more disgusting, if I might say so myself. I'm growing fonder of my cat every day... Some day I'm gonna train him to eat bumble bees, then I will charge people who want to avail of the service he provides. 'FED UP COWERING IN FEAR? SAY GOODBYE TO DADDY LONG-LEGS' AND BEES, FOR ONLY €49.99!'

I may be able to take early retirement once news of this spreads around :cool:

Optimus

Ow god damn thats frreaky.
I shal now no longer sleep. From this moment onwards i will never sleep.

Do spiders like the damp and dislike warm dry places?

doriansmith

We get spiders even bigger than that one. it's the thing i hate about this time of year. they always start appearing around mid to late august and all through september. really huge ones. saw first one above bathroom sink a couple of weeks ago. had me screaming it was so big. God, i hate them. and you have to kill them cos if you just hoover them up they crawl back out a few minutes later

Geiger

Jesus... did you check his pocket for a return flight ticket to the amazon?! (and other spider valuables)

Optimus

Geiger wrote:

(and other spider valuables)

Like peanut butter?

TerrorFirmer

Those spiders are as commom as crap everywhere now, its scary. My sister found one actually inside her bed. I've seen a few run across the sitting room floor like lightning.

My dogs catch and kill them when they can, but they can't catch up with some of them...

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yeah, bleedin' forign spiders comin' in here, takin' our jobs and our women.
We like our cute little Irish spiders thank you very much.

doyly

Jesus Christ i hate spiders, and having been away from boards for a while im regretting returning since this is the first thread i`ve read. If that huge spider was any where near me i think i would freeze............

Crap i wont sleep tonight.

TerrorFirmer

doyly wrote:

Jesus Christ i hate spiders, and having been away from boards for a while im regretting returning since this is the first thread i`ve read. If that huge spider was any where near me i think i would freeze............

Crap i wont sleep tonight.

He might crawl into your brain whilst you sleep, and before you know it, he'll have planted dozens of little slimy eggs, and will crawl out again. You'll start getting headaches, light headed, extreme migranes, until one day you will start bleeding from the nose, the ear, and the eye, as they squeeze out of you, pulsating maggots swarming over your face amid a storm of flowing blood and gore.

Optimus

MobileInfantry wrote:

He might crawl into your brain whilst you sleep, and before you know it, he'll have planted dozens of little slimy eggs, and will crawl out again. You'll start getting headaches, light headed, extreme migranes, until one day you will start bleeding from the nose, the ear, and the eye, as they squeeze out of you, pulsating maggots swarming over your face amid a storm of flowing blood and gore.

Thats utter bullcrap, everyone knows their eggs arent slimy.

Pfft,Some people these days :rolleyes:

doctor evil

I`m not frightened of spiders, why did you have to kill it?, could a piece of paper and a glass have done. I prefer spiders to those pesky flies that are every where.

catsup

doyly wrote:

Jesus Christ i hate spiders, and having been away from boards for a while im regretting returning since this is the first thread i`ve read. If that huge spider was any where near me i think i would freeze............

Crap i wont sleep tonight.

Crap factory!! Same here. Dunno why I clicked onto this thread, at least I didnt look at the photos. Although that probably only gives my imagination free reign to make up whatever the hell it likes as i sleep. :eek:

byte

I don't know why, but for some reason, some of the replies in this thread have caused me much distress, as I couldn't stop laughing!

Spider valuables indeed, and playing Xboxes!

Dave!

MobileInfantry wrote:

He might crawl into your brain whilst you sleep, and before you know it, he'll have planted dozens of little slimy eggs, and will crawl out again. You'll start getting headaches, light headed, extreme migranes, until one day you will start bleeding from the nose, the ear, and the eye, as they squeeze out of you, pulsating maggots swarming over your face amid a storm of flowing blood and gore.

lmao, good call

dmck2886

These are not foreign spiders, they are yard spiders (mostly found in sheds, garages etc.) but because of the large supply of other insects in your house (mostly silverfish) they can now grow quicker than normal. I'd say that the spider in the OP is a female yard spider cos female spiders are bigger then male spiders.

Optimus

Whats silverfish?

dmck2886

Ever see these small silver narrow insects running around your floor at night (mostly found on bathroom floors), they are silverfish they were actuly around since the dinosaurs beleive it or not and they can live one whole year without eating!!

DonkeyStyle \o/

Optimus wrote:

Whats silverfish?

Little crawly feckers that hide under lino and carpets... they look like little silver turds.

Optimus

dmck2886 wrote:

Ever see these small silver narrow insects running around your floor at night (mostly found on bathroom floors), they are silverfish they were actuly around since the dinosaurs beleive it or not and they can live one whole year without eating!!

Do they by any chacne live in carpets?
Cause iv noticed in my house that wooden floored rooms have less spiders than carpeted ones.

Geiger

Why are they called silverfish ?

dmck2886

Optimus wrote:

Do they by any chacne live in carpets?
Cause iv noticed in my house that wooden floored rooms have less spiders than carpeted ones.

Id say so but I don't have any carpets in my house so Im not really sure, all I know is that I have found them in every room in my house so I don't mind keeping one or two spiders around to keep there population down.

dmck2886

Here's what they look like

Redshift

I had one of them feckers last night too it came out from behind my monitor but I have to say they don't really bother me I just catch em in a glass and out the window it goes. No need to kill them as they help keep the flies under control and I do hate them filthy yokes.
The reason they are so visible now is because it's their mating season and they are on the prowl looking for teh sex

impr0v

doctor evil wrote:

I`m not frightened of spiders, why did you have to kill it?, could a piece of paper and a glass have done. I prefer spiders to those pesky flies that are every where.

The first few i found last year I caught and released outside, because I didn't like killing them, but once it became an infestation my compassion rapidly waned.

And I can safely say I've never seen one of those silverfish in the house, we don't even get many flies, though that's presumably not surprising given the size and quality of our many 8-legged pets.

Gazza22

I'm a bit weird on the topic of spiders, you see i'm fine with tarantulas, i own one, but if i was near one of those smaller spiders like the one in the picture i would freakout, i'm terrified of them

I really wouldn't live in your situation with loads of them around, pest control would have been called a long time ago!

TerrorFirmer

Geiger wrote:

Why are they called silverfish ?

Because they are such ferocious predators they have been known to eat whole fish at a time

Goodshape

jayzuz.. those silverfish would freak me out more than the spider. Sneaky wee buggers by the looks of it.

Spiders are OK in my book. Living breathing pest control.

magpie

Wtf kind of a spider is that

That, my friend, is a Wolf Spider.

Einstein

i hate them buggers with a passion...nothin else bothers me except spiders...
although is is by far the most interesting thread I've read in a long time

zeusnero

jesus dude, that is one bad mo fo spider you had to deal with, i'd just hope that their mate isn't hiding in some corner after witnessing the carnage that you inflicted on its other half. Waiting. waiting ......

so if i was you i think I'd have to clean out the room or something. about a year ago i was just lying in bed, drifting off to sleep, there was some light shining in from the hall and I luckily caught sight of this beast crawling along the bed toward me. ffs I let his family live in peace behind the wardrobe & he had to come out and p*ss me off.

its only been in the last 2 years I've noticed that the spiders have really gone through a growth spurt - any chance its to do with the warmer summers - 2003 was the best summer for a long time and it was then I noticed the really big guys

NeMiSiS

It is Tegenaria gigantea - http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/insidewolf.html#
TK