Spiders!

[Petrushka]

There have been articles in the media about giant house spiders up and down the country this autumn due, it says, to Britain's wet summer.

Leaving aside, for the moment, that, actually, the summer wasn't particularly wet, has anyone yet seen one of these nasties?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11887157/Invasion-of-giant-house-spiders-after-Britains-wet-summer.html

[umslopogaas]

House spiders always appear in the autumn, as they take haven in the house as the garden grows cold. They are not "house" spiders, they are garden spiders that take refuge in the house when the weather gets cold. They are not "giant", they are just a bit bigger and more numerous than usual, because the season has been particularly favourable for them. Dont know why, but perhaps the cold and wet summer made flies more sluggish than usual, so easier prey for spiders.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

House spiders always appear in the autumn, as they take haven in the house as the garden grows cold. They are not "house" spiders, they are garden spiders that take refuge in the house when the weather gets cold. They are not "giant", they are just a bit bigger and more numerous than usual, because the season has been particularly favourable for them. Dont know why, but perhaps the cold and wet summer made flies more sluggish than usual, so easier prey for spiders.

Thanks for this, umsloppy - saves me looking it up on the web.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

You were all thinking it!

[pastoralguy]

Has anyone here read 'Charlotte's Web' by E.B. White?

[umslopogaas]

Er ... no. Should I have read it, and if so, why?

[johncorrigan]

You were all thinking it!

For what it's worth, ferney, I thought it was pretty good actually.
I'm the go-to spider guy in my house of arachno-dislikers. One time I picked up a spider and on my way to the door it bit me. Always have a bit of tissue paper between me and the wee blighters since that day. Can't be too careful...just a wee nip it was, but quite spooky! I like spiders generally.

[Nick Armstrong]

You were all thinking it!

Au contraire, it took me 5 minutes' thought to work out what this refers to...

(It is late...)

[doversoul1]

Has anyone here read 'Charlotte's Web' by E.B. White?

Just a matter of interest; did you read it as a child or an adult? I wonder how much sense the story makes to children today.

[Ferretfancy]

About once a month every summer at London Zoo, I help as a volunteer at the Friendly Spider Programme, a course designed to cure arachnophobes. These are not people who just dislike spiders, but men and women whose lives are made miserable by their fear. They will search their houses several times a day, they dare not go out in the garden, and as for holidays -no chance.

This is probably the most successful project of its kind, and usually the clients go home triumphantly cured by early evening after starting at three o'clock.

One of the features of the course is a question and answer session which seeks to dispel many of the myths about spiders, emphasising the enormous good that they do in consuming insect pests, mosquitos in particular. This is the spider mating season and most of the ones you see running across the carpet are males seeking a mate. This urge makes them bolder than usual and persuades them to take the risk of being caught. They don't come into houses deliberately, but wander in. Spiders like cool and damp conditions, and so the bathroom is one of the few places in a centrally heated home where they would survive for long, the rest of the place is too dry.

Unfortunately many arachnophobes are victims of silly practical jokes, but life for them is not much fun, and sudden fear can cause accidents, in a moving car for example.

Personally, I find it very rewarding to meet anxious clients at the beginning of the afternoon and see them happy and relieved at the end.

[P. G. Tipps]

For what it's worth, ferney, I thought it was pretty good actually.
I'm the go-to spider guy in my house of arachno-dislikers. One time I picked up a spider and on my way to the door it bit me. Always have a bit of tissue paper between me and the wee blighters since that day. Can't be too careful...just a wee nip it was, but quite spooky! I like spiders generally.

Indeed , john!

I got a decided nip from one when I picked it up several years ago, so much so that I immediately dropped the bold wee thing. When I related this to family and friends the silent reactions could be interpreted as something like 'hmmm, he's obviously been on that ****** whisky again ...'

So they CAN bite but, like you, I rather admire the wee fellas ... probably something to do with childhood tales about Robert the Bruce.

[umslopogaas]

All spiders can bite, but the smaller ones dont have sufficient power in their jaws to do human skin much damage. I never heard of one of the bigger ones in UK biting anyone, but clearly they can. Fortunately the UK ones are not venomous enough to cause concern. In Australia of course, its different, the red back will give you a very nasty bite indeed, and it is most advisable to check under the toilet seat.

[pastoralguy]

Just a matter of interest; did you read it as a child or an adult? I wonder how much sense the story makes to children today.

Both. I had it read to me in class when I was a child and I re-read it again as an adult. I found the pages where Charlotte dies on her own to be very moving. Probably more than I did as a nine year old.

[Ferretfancy]

Indeed , john!

I got a decided nip from one when I picked it up several years ago, so much so that I immediately dropped the bold wee thing. When I related this to family and friends the silent reactions could be interpreted as something like 'hmmm, he's obviously been on that ****** whisky again ...'

So they CAN bite but, like you, I rather admire the wee fellas ... probably something to do with childhood tales about Robert the Bruce.

They all use venom to catch their prey, but as Umslopogaas says the British ones are too feeble to damage us. Usually people who say they have been bitten have usually been attacked by something else. Spider bites always leave a double puncture,so they can easily be identified.
Interestingly, arachnophobes are rarely concerned about danger from being bitten, it's the other aspects of spider behaviour and their appearance that cause the panic.

[P. G. Tipps]

They all use venom to catch their prey, but as Umslopogaas says the British ones are too feeble to damage us. Usually people who say they have been bitten have usually been attacked by something else. Spider bites always leave a double puncture,so they can easily be identified.
Interestingly, arachnophobes are rarely concerned about danger from being bitten, it's the other aspects of spider behaviour and their appearance that cause the panic.

Believe me, Ferret, I was BITTEN (or 'nipped' is maybe a more accurate description).

Of course, maybe it was an invisible fly or bluebottle that escaped my attention as I picked up that house-spider and that 'nipped' me?

Who knows? We live in a mysterious world!