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How To Catch and Release a Spider
87A Spider in My House
Winter Is Tapping at the Door
Winter is tapping at the door here in the northeast United States. First it taps gently, and you get the message that maybe you should close the windows you left open all summer and into the autumn. So you do.
Then Winter starts to tap a little more incessantly, and now you know you have to turn the heat on, too, at least for a chilly one or two evenings or days. And you do.
But Winter is really a bit of a sneak. He plays around with tapping on the door and then runs and hides for a while before he comes back with a vengeance and starts knocking on the door in earnest. Because, you see, we have what is called an Indian Summer.
Indian Summer is Spider Invasion Time
Indian Summer visits us in October and even at times in November. Indian Summer brings unseasonably warm temperatures along with a false promise that maybe Winter won’t be coming at all. It’s a delusion, of course, a seduction, as if we are on psychedelic drugs. We all buy into this seduction by opening up the windows, turning off the heat, and putting off the necessary laying in of winter supplies like snow shovels, rock salt for melting ice on walkways, and ice scrapers for our cars. We think late Summer has come back and it’s time to get out the tanning lotion.
We do this every year. We never learn. Perhaps this is a good thing. Our seasonal denial and disbelief keep us in touch with our wishes and dreams.
Believe me when I tell you that we in the northeast would like to think we really could be living in southern California, where it never rains, and the winter months showcase the locals going about their business in fur parkas and snow pants as if the temperature were freezing when it’s only 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some of you in the northeast may disagree with me, but if you look closely inside yourselves, do you really, really, really like the bitterness and wetness and chill and ice this climate gifts us with from December through February? You say you do, but c’mon, ‘fess up…wouldn’t you rather be cooking that steak on an open fire in the back yard than on the top of your stove in the closed-up kitchen? Tell the truth.
Spiders are realistic. They hear Winter’s gentle tapping right away and take immediate heed. They don’t play around with shutting and opening windows and turning the heat on and off. They have no delusional belief whatsoever in Indian Summer. They simply move into my house at Winter’s first tapping.
I envy their decisive approach to life. They see change coming, they know what the change is, and they don’t agonize about what to do about it—they simply act on it. Good for them! Clearly, spiders have nothing about Libra in their genes.
This Is What I Don't Do to Spiders
Spiders Bite—A Digression
These spiders that move into my house at the first tapping of Winter are not the poisonous kinds like black widows or brown recluses. They are just big, black, and either ugly or beautiful depending on your perspective. But they are also not harmless. They bite. Simple and true. And their bites can be painful and lead to infection.
I must digress here with a story told to me by a dear friend about a dear friend of hers who, one night while lying in bed, saw a spider dangling in front of her face from an invisible silk thread attached to the overhead lighting fixture. This friend of a friend decided to let the spider continue on its downward path, just to see what it would do when it landed on her nose. Can you guess what it did?
Spiders bite for no good reason when they are not threatened, only to see what might taste good. I guess that’s good enough reason for them.
So, it is Autumn here, Winter is tapping, soon to be knocking at the door, and my house has become a spider refuge, as it has every year since I have lived here. I have yet to offer my face to a descending spider, but, who knows? Maybe I’ll learn something other than what the friend of my friend learned. Now, that’s really pushing it, but my curiosity may yet get the best of me.
So Much for the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
Sneak Up on the Spider
I’ve become quite adept at catching these lovely but also gross creatures. You can see that I have mixed feelings about them. They are good for my house in many ways. They eat centipedes and ants and other bugs I don’t want around. But they can also eat me. So, what to do?
Long ago, I made a decision not to kill them. When I made that decision, I had to learn to catch them and then release them outside my house. So, here’s how you do it.
When you find a spider in your house, perhaps on your carpeting which might be white like mine, step away. Leave it alone. Let it think you are not a threat. Give it space. Step away softly, so as not to send your terrified vibrations through the flooring.
Caught!
Get Your Equipment
Go to your kitchen and get a glass that you can see through, not a ceramic mug or cup. Then, get an index card or some kind of paper the weight and heft of a paper file folder that you would file your bills in, or something like that.
Sneak up on the spider. Remember, you have not threatened her yet. You haven’t run around the house screaming, “Spider! Spider! Spider!” The spider is calm because of your control over your emotions, but don’t misjudge her perceptions…she can read you like a book. Remain calm, even if you feel you want to throw up.
Sneak up on the spider with the glass in one hand and the stiff paper in the other. Now, it’s a duel of wits. The spider has you in its peripheral vision, which is much better than yours, but you have the edge on surprise.
Imprison the Spider in a Glass Cage
Position yourself behind the spider.
It’s easy to figure out which is the front and which is the back of a spider; the fattest part of the spider is at the back end.
Quickly cover the spider with the glass.
The spider, you will be happy to know, will freak out and run all over the place inside the inverted glass. That’s a victory for you, right?
It's Easy as 1-2-3
Slide a Piece of Rigid Paper between the Glass Rim and the Floor
Next, take the rigid paper in your other hand and start to slip it between the floor and the glass. The spider will move away from the paper’s edge until she has nowhere else to go, and then she’ll step up to the paper in order to keep her eight legs from being crushed. Imagine yourself as a car in an auto junk yard, realizing that you are going to be crushed by an un-stoppable set of steel jaws. Take satisfaction that the spider is feeling the same way.
You now have the rigid paper underneath the rim of the inverted glass, and the spider on the paper. It’s time to insert your fingers under the paper, press the paper to the rim of the glass, and lift the glass, paper, and spider off the floor and turn the glass right-side up. Miraculously, the spider will go to gravity and settle on the glass's bottom. Just make sure, when you do this, that there are no gaps between the paper and the glass rim…that spider is not only smart, but also gelatinous…it will find the smallest escape route if you let it.
You are now holding in one hand the upright glass, and with the other hand the rigid paper smacked to its rim. The spider is at the bottom of the glass, confused as hell. It's time to take the spider outside and set it free.
Oh, Oh, Oh…Did you remember to unlock and open your door, the one you shut at Winter’s tapping? If not, you are in a world of hurt unless one of your kids or friends or your spouse hears your exasperated cry, “Sh*t! I’ve got a spider here. Open the damned door!”
Know Your Spiders!
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As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.
~Sri Guru Granth Sahib
Do the Dance of Freedom
Once outside, coordinate your hands so that you both take the paper off the top of the glass and toss the contents of the glass in the direction of your choice. This is definitely both a calculated and graceful maneuver. Imagine yourself leaping in a field of wild flowers, meeting the true love of your life, and when you near her or him, you cast away all your inhibitions and go for the gold. With the greatest of joy, in one fluid motion, as if you are dancing, remove the paper from the rim of the glass with one hand, toss the contents with the other, leap a bit if you like, and the spider is set free.
She will drop to the ground, stunned for less than a second, and then go to seek the nearest cover, although in a dance far less graceful than yours. After all, her parents never sent her to ballet school.
Now, not only have you rid your house of a creature that would bite you given half a chance, you've also put a bit of spider karma in your account. I wonder if there are spiders in heaven?
How NOT To Catch a Spider
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Moon Daisy, how nice to see you!
I hate to tell you this, but all spiders bite. Maybe I just have the kind of blood that attracts them the most. But they are so curious and so predatory...they just bite anything that looks like it might be something good to eat.
We have wolf and jumping spiders here, some orb weavers, too. And many more. But mostly it's the wolf spiders that come into the house in the autumn.
I, as you, treat bees and wasps the same way. They are much speedier than spiders, a little harder to catch, possibly making them even more worthy of "the dance" which I am so glad you may consider.
Sally, my dear why, oh why throw them out of the house? These spiders are smart ugly buggers they will find their way back home and then you have to do that agonizing dance all over again. Flatten them... as flat as flat can be. Don't get me wrong I'm a firm believer in live and let live but there is a limit. Spiders and whatever other kind of vermin are more then welcome to live out in the barn, shed chicken coop or anywhere else but not inside my home. Nothing with more then four legs is welcomed inside...either it moves out willingly or live with the consequences...
As always a fabulous hub
hope you're well
kindest regards Zsuzsy
LOL ZsuZsy! I see we are at different poles on this issue.
But, you know, I could sure use your attitude over here. This year I'm seeing more of these things than ever before. And I'm tired of catching and releasing them.
However, I just got my white carpets professionally cleaned, and I'm not about to stomp a spider on them!
So nice to see you...all the best to you and yours...hey...I missed the Italian plums again this year. Maybe I need to move to Canada?
Warmest regards always,
Sherri
Ha,ha! Only you could write a captivating "how to" about catching and releasing a spider. I'm afraid I'm not asgentle as you (nor as graceful, I'm sure.) I have been known to catch a mouse and release him outside where, undoubtedly he makes his way directly back into my house. I do know one thing: After seeing the cartoon, I'm going wear a surgical mask when I sleep.
Ah, I feel I've finally gotten my Sally fix. As always, exemplary, entertaining, and instructive to boot!
My best to you!
This is funny! Glad to see someone else saves our little spidey pals. I have the only widow relocation program in the west, I think. Love those little critters.
My dear Christoph-er,
I am in need of a fix from you. It's been a long time for both of us, getting another Hub out here.
Now, about mice...they will always return to the house unless you drive them about 50 miles away and dump them next to someone else's house. Then you hope the someone else doesn't do the same in your direction.
Spiders aren't that smart, or that determined. 20 feet away from the front door will do it, with the proper dancing.
About the surgical mask, I agree. It's one thing to have the spider drop on your nose and take a bite, quite another to inhale it.
So good to see you!
Cathy, you are such an inspiration. If you remember, you were responsible for my spitting Hubs. Now I see we share a passion for spiders. However...if you are relocating widows, I think I might not be in your league. I do have my limits!
You don't happen to have a website for this relocation program of yours, do you?
I hope you aren't throwing them in a rose bush that we know and love! :)
Great to see a hub from you after so long ST. You've made what could be a gory subject so entertaining to read. Plus there was that lovely ballet step at the end!
FP, you made my day! I can just see you doing that ballet step. You wouldn't be tossing spiders, would you? A good feline would be playing with them, batting them around a bit, and maybe even eating them.
Unfortunately, the spiders that come into the house in the autumn are not the ones that would clean the thrips and aphids from Stephanie, and therefore, I do not toss them in her direction. Great insight on your part. ;)
Ah, glad to hear Stephanie's safe! As for me, I'm a lazy lasagne-eating feline...would never engage in a pas de deux with a spider! :P
Wonderful advice, but I don't recommend trying it on a Saturday night after a night in the pub like I did three weeks ago. Got said Spider outside our house where it was pitch black and about 2am. Carefully walked around the side of the building in my slippers and dressing gown with the cardboard covered glass held at arms length. Suddenly I tripped over a concrete patio I had forgotten was there, (it was our neighbours). Needless to say, glass, spider, and me all went flying. I jumped up pretty quickly in case the spider made a beeline in my direction. The glass was only chipped so I took it back indoors, only to realise I had cut a huge chunk out of my hand on the gravel when I fell, my hand was bleeding quite heavily, so was my elbow, (which ironically is already due to have surgery on it in December due to a previous fall leaving bone fragments in the joint), both my knees were grazed (and later bruised), and to add insult to injury, about ten minutes later I saw a large spider run across exactly the same bit of floor the last one had. I am pretty sure it was the same spider that had found its way back into the house and had the last laugh on me. Three weeks later my hand has only just healed up, and I still have a nasty scar to show for my good deed.
FP, you crack me up!
Misty, your tale of woe is the sorriest I've heard in ages! And all of it because of getting a spider out of the house. Well, it might have gone better if it weren't after a night at the pub, but I'm not the one to judge...;p
All I can say is, those dam*ed spiders just don't appreciate what we go through for their sake. Ingrates, the lot of them.
So nice to see you!
Lovely to be here Sally, in hindsight it was quite funny as I had to go the elbow specialist for previous CT scan results a few days later. When he told me there were broken bone fragments in the joint he wanted to remove, I had to tell him I had since had another fall on the same elbow, so when he opens it up he may well find a few more than were on the CT scan. Needless to say I didn't mention my slightly inebriated state at the time of the fall, but I did tell him about the spider and the tripping over. I think he found it quite amusing :)
HE! I'm laughing here, thinking you may have decided not to kill them pesky spiders, but you certainly relish the imprisonment part! "a car in an auto junk yard, realizing that you are going to be crushed by an un-stoppable set of steel jaws" indeed! :-)
Spiders may eat ants and such, but they better do their meals outside my house. Oi, I'm such a sissy over any kind of crawler!
Fun read, Sally, a most welcome come-back! Besos!
I would not have thought it possible for a spider to be such entertaining fodder for a hub... and, yet... I'll admit, I chuckled out loud on this one. That whole visual of standing at the door with the spider in tow. Loved it.
I have always had the same philosophy regarding spiders as I do snakes; which is: they are ALL dangerous! No spider-ballet-dancing-suicide-missions for me, nuh-uh! Foot to spider. In steel-toed boot if possible. Period.
An enjoyable read.
Great hub ... couldn't stop laughing!
But, now tell us truthfully: Are the spiders on your mind (and inside your home!) because of the approaching winter, or because of what you've stashed away in Sally's Trove? :p
Really, we need to know whether that trove is like a Pandora's box full of spiders and other buzzing creepy-crawlies, or is it full of treasures retrieved from Ali Baba's Cave and King Solomon's Mines?
Sally my dearest friend that I love so much .... Great Hub again. I my self don't kill spiders I cant even kill a fly let alone a spider LOL.
Love.
FP
Charming hub....really enjoyed it and so well written. I love your personification of winter. Looking forward to more like this.
Elena, I will confess to relishing the imprisonment. That's such a small price for the nasty thing to pay to keep its life. You know, I really hate even looking at spiders, let alone getting any part of my body near them. I, too, really am a sissy at heart, but I just can't justify killing something that does so much good. Besos to you too, Elena!
Eeeeek! That video did NOT make my day. But your Hub did! I'm proud of you for your dedicated non-squishing of spiders. You know I don't share your lofty ideals.
I won't tell anyone what you just did with the vacuum cleaner if you don't...
Love you!
Linda, I admire your no-nonsense approach. You strike me as the kind of person who gets things done! I just happen to have a pair of steel-toed shoes in the closet. Hmmmmm, let me think about this....hmmmm...no, I just can't do it. What if one of those spiders is named Charlotte???
Well, Jaspal, you give me food for thought, as usual. You know, I do inventory that trove from time to time, looking to see what I can use next, or gift next, or what needs to be relegated to recycling or even the dump. Sometimes I find the most surprising things there, things I've forgotten about, or even things that found their way into that repository on their own, without my being aware.
I have to say that one man's pain is another man's pleasure, so it is hard to know, answering your second question, whether this trove of mine is the Pandora's box or the King's treasure chest; perhaps the answer is in the eyes of the beholder. What is good for the spider is not always good for the spidee, or the other way around.
As to the first question, the answer could be "yes" to both of the propositions it contains. It could be that the spiders exist outside the trove as well as that they exist within it. That, my friend, without too much of a leap of imagination or conscious thought, goes to the question, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?"
That's the mystery of our mortal selves...that we can question and ponder with our brains until we are blue in the face, when we only have to look at our souls for the answers and thereby gain peace.
Um, next philosophy class being held where, when? :)
Flying Panther, I am always so glad to see you. Thanks always for your support and friendship. We are sisters in the no-kill department!
Alekhouse, I am honored by this praise from you. I dumped these thoughts out last night, hitting the "publish now" button a little prematurely (something I advise against strongly in another Hub of mine), but I couldn't resist. The spiders just got to me!
Maybe I'll try a few more of these dumps in the future, knowing I can edit them on the fly the next day. ;p Thanks so much for your good words.
My dearest annemaeve, nobody's telling anybody anything about the vacuum. Except to say that what I did, I did for your sake.
Punto final.
Te amo tambien.
I definitely need to work on my spider Karma...I have a tendency to squash or spray and ask questions later! Not all the time mind you - I have improved...somewhat LOL
Enelle, we all get credit for trying. Keep working on it. The working points count!
lolol ... You mean this wasn't the full dose? Is there more yet to philosophize about on spiders, spidees, and the falling of trees in remote forests? :)
I am so glad you are still laughing, Jaspal. There will never be an end to it, so the best thing to do is to keep a sense of humor. :)
Ok, I'm late :)
This brings to mind the centipedes I grew up with. Do you remember them in my mom's basement? I sure do, and it gave me the creepy crawlies.
As you may or may not know, even as a kid, I tried to avoid stepping on ants. Spiders were too gross to even think about stepping on. What I did love were the fuzzy caterpillars :) So, dear friend, I'm with you, I don't like to kill anything, especially on purpose.
You mentioned a friend who had a spider come down to her face. That wouldn't be me you're referencing, would it? When I lived in Farmingdale I was lying in my bed reading a book and a spider came down just above the book. Needless to say, I freaked. My solution was to hold a lit cigarette just below it to chase it back up to the ceiling. Killing it was not an option.
Cute hub!
Lovin' it! As funny as is useful! My house is full and I do mean full of spiders, but mostly just Daddy long legs! We live in the High Desert of California. I like them because they eat the unwanted insects! But , they get too prolific after awhile and then it is time to vacuum them and their webs up!
Just fabulous ST, my guru.
I couldn't help but notice the quote from the Guru Granth Sahib. You know more about Sikhism than I know (and I bet I know more about Christianity than you know). Lovely Hub, great reading.
Trish, I do remember your love of fuzzy caterpillars, but I don't remember the centipedes in the basement. And no, that was not you I was writing about...clearly you are much, much smarter than that dear friend of a dear friend!
Kebennett1, daddy long legs fascinate me. We don't get too many of them here, and I've never seen them in the house, but when I see them in the garden I'm spellbound. How about those legs! I read somewhere that they are quite trainable, although one has to wonder at the effort put into training when they have such a short life span. I agree with you about the vacuuming; at some point, enough is enough!
Thanks so much for your good words.
Sabu, I thought of you and your love of nature while writing this Hub, and wondered what new wonders you've been discovering during your adventure. Any unusual spiders?
I will grant that your knowledge of Christianity is more complete than mine, but I cannot agree that I know more about Sikhism than you. However, thanks so much for the show of confidence!
aha-- I finally found it and it was worth looking for. What a wonderful hub and kind of a Halloween motif as well-- I have to say deep down in my soul I have never wanted to live in California or Florida-- I like seasons and actually like winter better than summer, but then there you are-- that's what makes horse racing:-) As for spiders? I'm with Zsuzy Bee-- flatten em if they have the nerve to invade my space-- outside I love em.
A fabulous read and nice to see you writing on Hubpages again.
Robie2, as I sit down to acknowledge your comment, I have the big dog on my right and the big spider on my left. The big spider is in the glass cage, as she should be. She and I will do the dance of freedom shortly. Even if I agree in principle to the idea of stomping the suckers where I find them in the house, I still couldn't do it because of the white wall-to-wall carpeting. I'm doomed in this life, but if there are spiders in the next, I think they'll have my back.
And back atcha my friend, it is so nice to see you writing on HubPages again, too. Maybe it is this Halloween holiday we both love so much that drove us to it!
I was thinking of your hub last week when I was visiting a friend about 3 hours south-east from here. Just as I arrived I heard a big squeel coming from inside. I ran in thinking she had fallen or some such horror...no she was standing totally frozen and starring into her kitchen sink...Low and behold the biggest ugliest spider I have ever had the misfortune to see was playing 'stare me down'. It was one of the ugly light gray wolf spiders...its gut was 2" thick at least with a leg spread of 4-5" Man was it disgustingly ugly did I mention it was humangous (is that how that's spelled?) Anyway to make this short story longer I grabbed the Sears catalogue and flung it on top the monster, with a big bang and squash it was splattered. My friend is probably still trying to disinfect her sink. She had just turned on her furnace which probably made the monster want to scout out the house as a her new winter residence...
Did I mention it was a huge ugly sucker? I still have shivers running up and down my back thinking about that thing eeeek yuk yuk yuk
just thought I would share this with you
zs
LOL Zsuzsy! You bring up so many memories and good points about spiders in the house at the turn of winter.
That Sears catalog...I bet it got dumped in the trash after being used as a murder weapon. So much for the Sears merchandise that might have been bought by your friend. Weren't that one and the one from Montgomery Ward just the best books in the whole world when we were kids? So much to dream about, so many pictures to cut out and paste into scrapbooks to build our fantasies.
I never thought about the heat turning on in the fall as an entry for the spiders, only that they might be smarter than I in terms of accepting Winter. I'm thinking that my local population of spiders might have mutated to be able to smell the unique aroma of an old-fashioned oil burner. If that's the case, then smart bugs they are!
I really enjoyed your return to this Hub. I hope you have a happy, spider-free winter.
I'm in favor of catch and release of spiders, although my shrieking daughter and granddaughter often prevent all hope of rescue with their overkill spray tactics.
Ah, Jerilee, it can be so difficult to be a champion of the creepy and crawly, can't it? My daughter is terrified of approaching a spider (she's quite prone to the shrieking and spraying), let alone catching and releasing one, but has no problem picking up a stink bug and removing it from the house. Go figure!
I see you've got it sorted out catching them, I am so glad i only have the british spiders to contend with, anything bigger and that would be me, moving to the coldest place on the planet! mind you, then i would probably get the polar bears following me! cheers Nell
Nell, they can be rather daunting, can't they?
As I was taking the picture of the one you see under glass, my daughter said, "EEEK! There's another one coming at you!"
As I lay there on my stomach, camera in hand, pinned between the couch and the wall, totally defenseless, I screamed "EEEK!" too.
As it turned out, the second spider was not a polar bear. And that's the good news. If it were, I'd be doomed!
Let's be grateful we don't live up there in the north with the polar bears and no spiders.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
I fell into the same trap last week when i managed to very bravely throw out one spider, I then moved my bag which I had placed on the floor, and wham, out charged the papa spider! I know it was him because it was huge. obviously he resented me throwing his wife away! cheers Nell
A couple of days ago I reached for a pair of sweat pants hanging on my closet door. I took them off the hook, put one leg in, and out of the bottom of the pant leg raced the most ugly, buggiest spider in the whole world.
Whether I'd trapped his missus earlier is up for debate, but I did take his pant leg invasion personally. He / it wound up in the glass cage. And I really don't care who he was related to.
Your sister in spiderdom,
Sally
I think he would have been stamped on for that cheek! The best way to squash a spider is to drop a book on it, then jump on the book! My son asked me why I used a book and i said, well, its not to read to the stupid thing! lol again, Nell
LOLOLOLOLOL
After I collect my thoughts about what you said, I might have something erudite to say. For now, I'm just rolling on the floor laughing my you-know-what off.
Nicely written. You have a natural voice.
I admire your bravery, while I am realistic enough to know I will never be practicing "catch and release" with spiders.
The force with which I "catch" one eliminates the need for release. And my preferred catch-all is the vacuum.
Aracnophobia isn't rational or compassionate.
Bravery has nothing to do with it, abcd. The fact is that I'm not aracnophobic. When it comes to bravery, I admire your letting little Steamer sleep on your freshly washed sheets!
I enjoy your voice, too, and am looking forward to reading more of your Hubs.
Hey Sally :0)
Well "Spider woman Four" is finaly out....
The scene!!! Early one morning at the corn silo, sally was sitting in her favorite spot c0ffee in hand watching the sun creep up over apple orchard at the far end of farm yard.
As uasual it was just as glourious as ever,just as different, like watching Vangough painta new day.
She felt somthing bite her on her left had, she quickly brushed away a small black spider....darn she thought it will be awhile before that mark leaves and gave it no more heed after all she was a farm girl born, bred rooted in the earth.
Meanwhile Ensssy the black spider returned to HQ at the top of the silo to re[port on his morning mission....."Morning sir" he said as he snapped all six legs to attention and salauted the large over weight brown recluse sitting behind a the walnut shell desk...." Enssey" exclaimed " I have bitten Sally as you ordered...."good man Enssy, she is a good kind women to us spiders its only right that she should be given our amazing gifts, she will be of excellent use to our frend John Adams!!!! Carry on Enesssy,nice work...said Captain John Paul Jones...
Tickets are $9.00 and show starts friday after the Boston tea party!!!!!!!
Ok That was fun...great hub !!!!!
Mike:0)
Nobody, nobody has ever, ever described a spider bite in such a precious way. But I gotta tell ya, Mike, any spider that bites me is automatically toast. I'm all about respect when it's "look don't touch" from the spider's point of view. Otherwise, no guarantees!
What a delightful story...you are a master. My daughter's been wanting to take me to a movie, so I'll let her take me to this one, but I won't tell her who wrote the screen play or who the leading lady is. Hope to see you and Cynthia there. :)
Wonderful to hear from you, Mike!
Thanks Sally :0)
Cynthia ( my wife) Loves your writing style and your take on spiders !!!!
Later Mike :0)
What a delightful Hub, so full of detail. Your description of Indian Summer made us chuckle. WE like it better than summer - it is almost a treat we don't deserve.
Spiders - hmm. We both try to put them outdoors.
This is tricky when finding them in the bathtub - the glass and paper trick is hard to perform on a curved surface.
Now, I thought that Indian Summer belonged only to the US...do you have a different name for it in the UK?
You know, there is a theme in many of these comments to this Hub, and that is frustration. We'd like to catch and release the spiders, for whatever our reasons, but at some point, it becomes just too much.
About the bathtub, well I could get creative and suggest flexible plastic cups that would mold themselves to a curved surface, but frankly, I'm all for turning on the hot water jet and flushing them down the drain.
Since I wrote this Hub, I've encountered at least two dozen nasties, and now the last of them has a very limited life span. My patience is wearing thin!
So nice to hear from you both!
This is an awesome post. Keep up the good work.
Please be a friend and visit me at:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Life-As-It-Really-Is
You haven't seen anything 'till you've seen these Texas spiders. Frankly out here we can't use a tiny glass like you suggested to catch 'em. We'd have to use a 20 gal washtub and the cardboard from our new frige to seal up the bottom. lol Thanks for the entertaining hub.
LOL! And I'm guessing that the 20 gal washtub is accompanied by wearing the 10 gallon hat. Thanks so much for a delightful comment to this Hub.
Nicely written. There is some kind of evil jumping spider in our basement. Yeah, this is the time of year when they try to move inside to set up camp. And to think I had two pet Tarantulas as a kid. What was I thinking? I look at them now with electric revulsion.
Ah! Then there's the jumping spider. One of my favorites. One day I'll have to write the story of how I trained Thelma to jerk her way back and forth across my computer screen. She left only two days after mastering her trick, and now I wonder if she hasn't moved into your basement? But she's not evil, don't worry, and she doesn't bite, much. And of course, she's not nearly as big as a tarantula. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Nice to meet you, Philip!
Well, I'll go easy on the arachnid in the basement. But that emanation from hell that's lurking my garage--I just don't know if we can co-exist....
Maybe a capture and relocation is in order....either that or wait him/her/it out. Surely it must be close to time for the winter nap for these creatures.
See the video of the bugbuster humane spider catcher over at buyabugbuster.co.uk
A great spider catcher!
Jonathan, that bugbuster is a great idea! Earlier on in the comments here, 2patricias noted that using the paper and glass technique is a little impractical in the bathtub. I think the bugbuster would perform very well there (so long as there is no water in the tub, of course).
Thanks for stopping by and lending your expertise.
Great hub! I am a spider lover and constantly get made fun of when I see someone go to step on one because I freak out.
I freak out, too, eyeofh. You know, in the next life, I could come back as a spider. If that happens, I surely don't want to get squashed only because someone is afraid of me for no cosmically good reason. I do have my virtues, after all. :)
I like that..."cosmically good reason". Laughing. Hey, SE Pennsylvania here too.
Don't like 'em - never have, never will, but I do try to avoid stepping on them, and I remind myself that they do eat more other bugs that I don't like than they eat people - at least in my neck of the woods. I do not, however, encourage them to remain indoors. I try to remove them unharmed when at all possible, but spiders in the bathroom are liable to meet a watery end. So much for my spider karma. ;)
philip, I think you and I are probably rather close geographically. And that's why I was thinking that maybe my jumping spider had made its way to your house.
Yeah, give me a question, and I'm going to ask myself if it's cosmically worthwhile before I get bent out of joint about it. LOL.
RedElf, that some spiders under our watch meet a watery end is most understandable and forgivable. Sometimes, too much is TOO much, and they just have to go. Done it myself.
I catch them this way in the house. On the boat I just snatch them up and fling them with my hand, very fast. I have been bitten while sleeping on the boat. It took almost 2 months to start healing. Very ugly sore, ooozzzzing gross. I do not want to kill them none the less. Nice hub, interesting subject.
So nice to see you, C.S. You are very brave, just like Moon Daisy. I may take the time to catch and release them, but I am never going to touch them to do it!
Great advise, however I still need to get someone to do it for me :-)
Olyenka, I hear you! My daughter and I made a deal regarding spiders and stink bugs. I'll take care of her spiders for her if she will take care of my stink bugs for me. I hate those horrible creatures just as much as she hates spiders. Thanks so much for reading and leaving the fun comment.
OK, good fun hub! Was your spider a Wolf spider? It looks similar and they are good to get rid of our Brown Recluses around here. I don't kill them, I DO like the Recluse!
I HAD to read this hub as soon as I saw the title. How apropos!
My friends laugh at me when I catch and release a bug instead of squashing it. (Or is it squishing it?) At least now I can tell them I'm not the only one who prefers not to kill them...unless they touch me in, which case they've sealed their own flat fate.
Anyway, this is really a fun hub!
frogyfish, these are not wolf spiders. We call them "house" spiders, but now you've got me going on a bit of research. Time to contact my extension service. I don't know exactly what they are, except that they are BIG and BLACK.
It's very rare to find a recluse here. If it's here, it came from somewhere else, like from Louisiana as a stowaway in a truck full of furniture. I've never seen one in real life...I think I would be fascinated.
Sara, I agree completely about taking away the grace I grant a spider if the spider touches me...concerns for animal welfare come to a screeching halt. Feel the same way about some people, too.
Excellent Hub! I'm sending a link to this Hub to my wife. She is scared of spiders but doesn't want to kill one. Maybe this will help her out! Good Work!
May I suggest wearing gloves? And also, don't look the bugger in the eye; that's entirely too scary. On the other hand, how about you do the catching and releasing for her? lol
Sally, I have not read one of your hubs for some time. This was great. Hilarious and practical at the same time. I am very careful not to kill a spider. Any one of them could be Charlotte.
Dolores, I so identify with what you said about Charlotte. What if, what if? OMG, what a horrible loss that would be! So glad you got a chuckle, and thanks so much for the good words.
tried and true!
Ah, another friend of the spider! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Good hub! I always release non-venomous spiders unharmed. They catch flies!
Three cheers to you! Spiders play an incredibly important role in maintaining eco-balance and need to be released to do their jobs.
habee, you just reminded me of a situation I had here in the house a couple of years ago with sewer flies. They were coming into my house from the foundation of my neighbor's house through our adjoining wall. Some small spiders set up shop under my kitchen cabinets, spun webs, and trapped hundreds of these flies while the the problem was being investigated and resolved. Spiders are my heroes.
I have a Mexican Tarantula which lives in a roomy aquarium. I have caught several tarantulas the way you describe (and released them, of course) Nice Hub. If you have time, check out my Wildflower Photo Tour. It's so nice to see flowers again after the long winter.
GarnetBird, if I ever found a tarantula in my house, I am sad to say that I would call the exterminator before doing anything else. I admire your bravery!
ohmygosh!- Sooooooooo humorous & I'm sure the humor was provided by the genius of the writer!
But looking back on experience on a West Texas ranch where crawling critters, either with NO legs (snakes) or with multiple ones (centipedes, millipedes, spiders, ants, chiggars, et al) - had no regard for spaces humans try to claim at whatever time of the year. I had to laugh, remembering some pretty comical situations!
There was certainly no carpet, white or otherwise, on the plain floors of that ranch house. There was a blue linoleum in the kitchen and wood floors in the bedrooms, smoothly glazed concrete on the screened "sleeping porch" of the 4-square, 4-room rock house with the 2-holer outdoor loo, so it was open season for the influx of pests.
WAs nothing for one of my siblings to throw the magazine she happened to be reading on one of these intruders, run over & stomp on it till the thing stopped even begging for mercy & gave way to the judgment of its evil karma. During all this drama I grabbed my dolls & shielded them from a safe distance! ;)
I assure you I was never "at ease" sitting on the kid-sized hole in the outhouse - always inspecting as carefully as possible for critters down in there before settling on it. Luckily - it was a deep pit full of lime dust to keep it clean, so it obviously repelled pest invasion, too. But it's surprising I didn't develop some sort of malady as a result of the traumatic effects. I certainly didn't linger long in there, for sure!
Thanks for a most enjoyable read! I must read more of your hubs!
LOL! You were such a brave girl to venture into that horrible outhouse. Actually, your description of the sleeping porch scares me almost as much.
Thanks so much for reading and leaving such an enjoyable comment.
Hi Sally, I'll get my wife to read your hub she hates spiders and has a spider scream that I recognise, that was until we moved to Italy now she hates scorpions as well. great hub
Good luck to you, Sir Knell. Perhaps you will be the one to do the spider / scorpion rescue and leave your wife to pick up the tasks she doesn't mind that you hate.
Example...I hate stink bugs. When my daughter is here in my house, she collects them for me; when I am in her house, I rescue the spiders whom she hates.
Oh, aren't relationships predicated on balance?
For those of you who hate bugs as much as I do... use a vacuum cleaner to catch them! It works like a charm.
Hi Sherri!!
I thought I had read this and commented, but didn't see it so here I am, mainly because over the weekend, two of these little creatures were in my bedroom! I wonder if they traveled the road from your house to mine?
If spiders are in heaven, that's one sure way to keep me out. yikes!! Unfortunately, I read your instructions too late. We killed them. Well, I was sure they were going to bite me. and I saw one last week, and he escaped with his life only to re-visit me and he brought a friend.!! Two spiders against me is not fair. My phobias took over.
Anyway, I now have a jar and a stiff folded paper. so I'm ready for the next one/ones.
Great hub and the photos are awesome!!
Marisue, I thought you had commented here, too. I remember when writing this Hub that I was thinking about your bathroom encounter with the spider. Gee, that was a long time ago!
As I said earlier, spiders will bite given the least provocation (or none at all), so it's important to keep your body parts well away from them in the catching process. :)
You know, it's better to see them than not to. If you see them, you can catch them, eliminating the possibility that they may catch you!
That's true, and my first thought when I saw two, was where's the third or fourth!! LOL I am very glad I saw them before night fell... haha
I like your process, but remain a bit unconvinced that a person can actually sneak up on a spider :) Maybe you're just more of a ninja than I am, haha.
Benjimester, thanks for the good laugh. Either your southern California spiders are more energetic than their northeastern compatriots, or you didn't attend Spider Ninja School, like I did. :p
Hi Sherri!
A 'How To' Hub with a difference.
I never kill insects either, and have dealt with them in a similar way to you, but it's nice to have picked up some new ideas and strategies from this Hub, all very well thought out. :-)
An enjoyable and entertaining read!
All the best, Camlo
Camlo! So glad you enjoyed. All life forms deserve respect...except maybe bedbugs and cockroaches. On the other hand, bedbugs and cockroaches have been around a lot longer than we humans. Hmmmm, food for thought about respect and the human's lack of humility. So much to learn, so little time.
Nice to see you. :)
Thank you so much for writing this hub. Here, in the Rocky Mountains, we get tons of spiders, however, they are very small. (I have found that everything is smaller because of high altitude...snakes are smaller, bugs are smaller...) I found your hub to be useful because I also have mixed feelings about this absolutely gorgeous, yet "icky" creature. I didn't know spiders bit just to bite... Thank you for the info! I will try your method with the next spider I see...
gypsumgirl, reading your comment made me chuckle at a TV ad I saw recently. It was what you said about Rocky Mountain spiders being on the small side. No matter how small or large they are, they need to be handled with care...care for you. So I added that commercial above, at the end of the Hub (How NOT To Catch a Spider). Enjoy!
Haha! That's a great commercial! Thanks for adding it and sharing. Spiders have that effect on people!
One has to be careful about dangerous spiders
Interestingly, ekenzy, just this evening I found a big spider hunkering down in the doorway to the office, the first spider I've seen in my home for months. I captured him under glass and then waited a few hours until the outside temperature warmed to above freezing and then let him go outside.
My method for catching and releasing spiders works well here, but we don't have dangerous spiders like recluses or hobos. I do believe my method would not work in a grand infestation of any kind of spider.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Sherri,
This is a fantastic article, which I shared with my followers. I must admit, however, that I had to force myself to read it...I'm allergic to spiders and have really suffered when I've been bitten by them.
Daisy, I'm glad you found this Hub and shared it and also that you gathered the courage to even read it. :) Spider bite allergies are no joke.
Now you know a safe way to remove spiders to somewhere else, but the best thing would be for someone else to do it for you.
I really love how this hub promotes respect and care for all living things. I try never to kill any living thing unless I'm backed into a corner (like an ant invasion) but even then I try to use natural alternatives. I always think about how I'd feel if the situation were reversed. Plus, you never know what good will come out of not killing something. :) Thanks for writing, voted up and SHARING.
cclitgirl, we humans occupy a shared place on this earth with all living things. In this respect, we are no different from the ant or the spider or the roach. Thanks for leaving your insightful comment. It's all about respect...for the things we know and the things we don't know.
Moon Daisy Level 5 Commenter 2 years ago
Nice hub! I like spiders and if I find one I just pick it up and throw it out the window. But then spiders here do not bite; I'm sure I'd feel a bit differently if they were a threat to me! What are your biting spiders called?
I treat wasps and bees in the similar way to how you treat your spiders. I catch them in a glass, (or aerosol lid), slip some card underneath and throw them out the window. It means I don't get to do the dance though. Maybe I'll consider it next time one comes in the house..