Arachnophobes view at your own risk

[RocketMan]

The picture's not showing, Harold.  The proverbial little red x.  Dang, your pics are usually entertaining.

Check that.  Working now.

[Jamisjockey]

He deserved it, scare the spider enough, and he will defend himself.  That seems like a concept that would be understood here, no?

A) Copius amounts of booze involved
B) one doesn't land oneself in ARFF (Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting) by being the brightest bulb in the fixture....

We shared a barracks with ARFF and they were scary stupid and dangerous.

[freakazoid]

Shudder. Most spiders freak me out. Got some pretty big garden spiders back home sometimes, never saw them much. There where some spiders I saw in the barn all the time which always freaked me out. Also, daddy longlegs for me too.

[wacki]

Take a pic of it's top.  Does it have a violin on it?  I got bit by a recluse 10 years ago and my foot is still messed up.

[Scout26]

[RocketMan]

It's long gone, wacki, out protecting my strawberry patch, hopefully.
And no, it's not a brown recluse.  Too big, wrong markings, etc.  See post #4.

And I wants me a flame thrower, Scout!  Yeah, baby!

[Jocassee]

http://www.travelblog.org/pix/shim.gif

I killed a few of these bastards during my four years in SA.

I used bug spray, but the nerve agent didn't kill 'em...they drowned in the stuff.

[MrsSmith]

Even with the "view at your own risk" I couldn't stop myself from opening the thread, kind of like the ditzy girls in horror movies who insist on walking through the door into dark rooms unarmed. 'Bout the time the pics loaded, Charlie's tail brushed my calf and I'm surprised y'all didn't hear the shriek wherever you are.

Really glad I didn't see this last night before I went to bed.

Rocketman, I can't believe you let that thing loose. You know it's just going to get bigger and come back for a second shot at you, right? I went through a phase where I tried to live and let live but the little bastards just come back for round two when they're even bigger. Best to just be sure and kill them on sight.

As to spiders eating bugs - I've never seen one actually nab a mosquito or a bee, which are the only two bugs/insects that annoy me, so what good are they? Lizards eat bugs too and they're cute and lacking in creepy skittering movements. They also don't jump on you or try to bite you intentionally. Bats are good too. As are many species of birds, garden snakes, all manner of other critters out there that eat bugs. Therefore, no need for spiders.

Best bud and I have a theory that September spiders are the worst. And sure enough, I've seen several of them the past two days. Most recently last night in my kitchen. One built a web between bar stool and bar. Dumb ass saw it earlier in the day and shrieked like a girl (I have an excuse, I AM a girl) and I thought he'd killed it but apparently he was too freaked out (proving he is of absolutely no use whatsoever). Charlie saved the day and ate it. Good to know the dog will protect me from the hideous beasts, but still kind of creepy.

Over the years I've come up with some pretty creative ways of killing spiders that don't require me to get close enough for them to jump on me. Hair spray and a grill lighter is far more effective than throwing a hammer and less alarming to the neighbors than shooting it.

Ben: Portland and wherever Birdman, the Larries, and Regolith live - those locations are OUT OF THE QUESTION.

On a side note, if anyone's interested in reading a couple columns I wrote a few years back on spiders, PM me. They're a bit too long to post here.

[Jamisjockey]

Caught a very little, and quite cute, gecko in the house last night.  It immediately dropped its tail, which my son found amazing.  Then, I let it crawl on my MIL's shoulder and she freaked out.  Recaught him and relocated him to the back yard, where he'll hopefully help deal with any undesirables out there.  Well worth the price of admission.

[Ben]

Ben: Portland and wherever Birdman, the Larries, and Regolith live - those locations are OUT OF THE QUESTION.

Spiders, shmiders. You're such a girl. Shouldn't you be vacuuming and dusting right now or something?

Remind me to tell you my bad luck stories about being bitten twice, once by a black widow and once by I don't know what kind, but I've got a picture of my foot somewhere around here from that time. Interesting colors, and I was on meds, topical and oral, for almost a month (speaking of, "It's good to have health insurance").

[CNYCacher]

I have a lot of house centipedes.  They live in the basement and mostly come out at night.  Mostly.



Most common sighting is when you come into a dark room at night and flip the lights on, you'll see one scoot across the floor (they are amazingly fast).  I don't kill them because, unlike most household bugs, they don't bite people, don't get into your food, don't come out during the day, don't make webs, and they eat all the other bugs who do that crap.
The biggest one I've seen to date was about 2 inches long in the body.  I've also noticed a baby running around about the size of a grain of rice.
Since they moved in, there seem to be no spiders, ants, etc.

The first time I ever saw one was at our old house, I opened the basement door and there was one on the inside of the door, chewing on a huge moth.

[Scout26]

I would have feed my MIL to spiders, lizards, and snakes.  

And MrsSmith, how about a link to the articles, if they can still be found on line somewhere.

I got bit by a brown recluse in BCT as Ft. Lenoard Wood, MO.  Fortunately, I quickly recognized that I had been bit, the Drill Sergeants got my butt evacuated and I got the bite area quickly cut out at GLWACH, some drugs and two days later, I was back out in the field. Still have the scar on my right hand.  

[230RN]

Darndest thing.  I spotted this thread yesterday and by-passed it.

So a while later I open my front door and a spider falls down on me, sort of bounces off my arm, and hits the floor.  Two brilliant red spots.  I kill it.

In all my 72 years, I've never seen a black widow until I saw this thread, and lo! an hour later one falls on me.  At least I think so.  I read somewhere once that there are black widow look-alikes.  I kept the corpse in a small plastic bag.  About 3/8, maybe 1/2 inch in "diameter." The red spots have faded quite a bit .

So I ran out and got a can of Raid and a couple of those hedge balls or hedge apples and planted them around the house as well as spraying all likely areas.  I keep a couple of pairs of shoes near the front door, so I threw them in a plastic bag and put some mothballs in there and closed it up.

I don't get that many crawly bugs up here on the second floor, so I never really took any precautions about rooting around in my junk.  I guess with cooler weather coming on, I'd better pay more attention to stuff like that.

I  don't know if those hedge balls really work or not, but it's sort of like chicken soup for a cold:  "Can't do any harm, might do some good."

Darndest thing.  Skip a spider thread and blam, one falls on me.  That'll teach me to not skip over APS threads!

Terry, 230RN

[CNYCacher]

Darndest thing.  Skip a spider thread and blam, one falls on me.  That'll teach me to not skip over APS threads!

I'm going to start skipping all the bacon and beer threads.

[MrsSmith]

Spiders, shmiders. You're such a girl. Shouldn't you be vacuuming and dusting right now or something?

Remind me to tell you my bad luck stories about being bitten twice, once by a black widow and once by I don't know what kind, but I've got a picture of my foot somewhere around here from that time. Interesting colors, and I was on meds, topical and oral, for almost a month (speaking of, "It's good to have health insurance").

Yes, I am a girl. One of the more appealing things about me! Shouldn't you be fixing something or taking out the trash or rubbing my feet?

Interesting colors - on the bite or swirling in your line of vision? If swirling, what kind of meds? Just curious.

Cacher - send me some of those little critters! I'll take those over spiders any day. But they look an awful lot like silverfish. Are you sure they aren't? And I'm totally with you on the beer and bacon threads.

230RN - clearly shows premeditation on the part of the spider.

Scout - will try to upload to my blog later today and post. Thanks!

[CNYCacher]

I had to look up Silverfish and this is what wiki shows:



Nope.  I definitely have House Centipedes and not Silverfish.

In fact, if I ever saw a Silverfish, I would have to set phasers to "kill" and be on the lookout for KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!

[wmenorr67]

Haven't seen any exotic bugs here yet in Kuwait.  Still have never seen the infamous camel spiders.

[MrsSmith]

Haven't seen any exotic bugs here yet in Kuwait.  Still have never seen the infamous camel spiders.

If you do happen to run across those evil/vile looking things, please just shoot (then burn) them and do NOT feel compelled to post pics. I'll pay you not to. Lots.

[lee n. field]

I have a lot of house centipedes.  They live in the basement and mostly come out at night.  Mostly.

We've got them too.

Since they moved in, there seem to be no spiders, ants, etc.

The first time I ever saw one was at our old house, I opened the basement door and there was one on the inside of the door, chewing on a huge moth.

Regular ecology going on in the basement.  Better accept it and learn to live with it.  I'm guessing a few mice will keep the centipedes in check.

[230RN]

^ Then cats to control the mice.  Then....?

I don't have my centipede-leg-counting spectacles on, but isn't that really a twentyeightipede?

Kinda makes you wonder what adaptive mechanism favored 20 more legs.

[Viking]

I'm going to start skipping all the bacon and beer threads.

In that spirit, anyone want to start a "found a huge cache of guns in the woods"? I need some guns .

[Regolith]

^ Then cats to control the mice.  Then....?

We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on cat meat.

Ben: Portland and wherever Birdman, the Larries, and Regolith live - those locations are OUT OF THE QUESTION.

I'm in Northern Nevada, at the moment.  We've also got scorpions and rattlesnakes, but I actually don't run into those too often.

[freakazoid]

We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on cat meat.

And then when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

[roo_ster]

Sweet flaming baby xenu on a pogo stick where in the *expletive deleted* do you live that you get spiders that size?

QFT.  Around here we don't have anything that big!

Oh, YES you do.



This place is just west of you:
http://smithvilletimes.com/2010/06/02/big-texas-spiders-hanging-around-in-the-trees/

So, I decided to try and find out what we had. I googled “big Texas spiders” and had a Dave Barry moment thinking that would make a great name for a rock band, but anyway, what I finally found out is that I have orbweaver spiders. These spiders are pretty harmless, apparently if one bites you, you will know it, but after a few days of possible oozing, the wound goes away.

Here's some more:






I'll save you pics of the pie-plate sized tarantulas.

Sleep tight!

http://www.bugsinthenews.com/spiders_in_the_fern_bluff_mud.htm

http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/publications/epubs/e-408.cfm

[Physics]

I suppose now is a good time to tell you guys that you can send me these spiders and I will image them in an electron microscope.  I even now have a procedure for doing false color images, although I haven't tried it yet.  The only catch is that they have to be dead when I receive them and not too damaged.

IIRC, the image above appears to be the same species as the one Rocketman posted, although mine was rather aggressive, so perhaps was a Hobo.