No, not this one…
I dragged the washing machine out of the hole where it has been hiding since it retired itself a little while ago, determined to de-cobweb behind it and scrub the floor before the replacement is installed. Ani wanted to help, and did so by acting as a feather duster, collecting the webs on ears and tail, whilst ‘vacuuming’ the dog biscuit she found under there.
Personally, I was more concerned with finding what was responsible for the gossamer festoons. I disposed of the small snail and the mummified slug, evidently baked dry by the overheating motor some time ago. I was just about to start scrubbing the floor when a tiny movement caught my eye under the skirting board.
I have no problem with spiders, as long as they stay out of my bed and clothes. And the bath… at least when I am in it. I object severely too, to putting shampoo on my head and finding one on my hand that had jumped ship, so to speak. But normally. I have no problem with them. I teased the corner with the cloth as I cleaned, and caught the spider accidentally, pulling it out of its lair.
Now, normally, I have no problem with them, as I say, but this one was the size of a small bungalow.
I go barefoot indoors. I have no desire to meet such a creature barefoot.
It skittered off up the wall. I gave chase with the cloth, hoping to scoop it up and take it outside. It escaped, diving into a small crack in the woodwork. Oh well. It could stay there.
Except, it didn’t. It came back for more, evidently prepared to defend its territory.
It was dark in the hole under the counter. I tried to keep my eye on it, wishing I could reach the camera… I am sure my son would have liked to see a picture…
Okay, no he wouldn’t. But I’d have enjoyed showing it to him…
The intrepid arachnid kept on coming though, finally climbing the wall to launch an attack from on high. By this time Ani was involved in the chase, advancing and retreating two steps at a time and pawing the ground like a little horse. There was not much room for the three of us in there…
The spider jumped. Ani yelped. I sat back and bashed my head on the washing machine… and the spider hit the ground with an actual THUNK… it is that big.
You’ll notice the present tense…
I did manage to catch it… I even got it as far as the door before it wriggled free and scuttled off under the skirting board…
Ani currently has her nose glued to the aperture, snorting gently.
It appears we have a lodger…
A previous spider hunt
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Nice spider! They are definitely interesting creatures.
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They do fascinate me, but I still don’t want to meet this one in the dark barefoot 🙂
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Nope! Me neither.
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🙂
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What you have here is a Steatoda nobilis, a false widow spider, usually with an overall size of 20mm and is characterised by a dark brown colour and a bulbous abdomen. It is venomous but not deadly. Be careful with Ani, though, because of her size. It is not usually aggressive. I have a healthy respect for spiders – usually try to trap them (as you did) and throw them out.
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This one is fairly common around here… but it wasn’t the one we chased. That was much bigger and much darker… and too fast for a photo.It may have been no more than a giant house spider, but certainly looked heavy… and sounded it!
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A lodger. You are very calm about this. Never fear; I shall panic for you!
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That’s so kind of you 😉
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I’d have to move to another house. Immediately.
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After what happened to Garry last year, I’m not surprised 🙂
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My Rule of Spiders is: If it scurries, no worries. If it jumps, might leave lumps. Either way, like you, I’m a catch and release kind of girl. If they’re too nimble to be captured, mine have always disappeared. My yours do the same.
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I like that 🙂 I imagine mine will make its way back to its corner… and I won’t disturb it for a while 🙂
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🙂
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Ew!! Sue I would be exactly the same! Hope you don’t meet your lodger any time soon!
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As long as I meet him face to face, not foot to body… 😉
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Oh goodness, I hope for your sake that you don’t!!
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So do I 🙂
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You certainly have a fascination for spiders Sue. I catch them in a jar and throw them over the fence into the neighbours, or if feeling naughty liberate them into the nearby kindergarten yard, (at night time). Sounds like you may have something from Africa or South America by the behaviour. These visitors come with cases of fruit then wander off once liberated. Are there any dead birds swinging in webs in the windows?
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If they start catching birds, Denis, I may reassess my living arrangements… 😉
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Uh! Reminded the time when we moved to this house more than ten years ago. It was abandoned and empty for five years, and so any possible creatures settled comfortably in every corners and cracks in every room … what a disaster …
The first week doing the cleaning and organizing was easy until we started to do the wallpaper and installed new floors … that is where you’ll find some little monsters lurking inside their lair, waiting for the right time to come out …
That morning I opened the windows in the living room, letting in some fresh air into the house when what is entering are not air – those were spiders …. Ugh! Not one, not two, not three … not even ten … there are like maybe over twenty or thirty (who knows how many) just came down from the roof side and starting to enter … It was like a sudden spider invasion and I called out to my husband to help me getting rid of them … We would not want to hurt ’em, but there were too many and they were fast. I just do not want those things entering other part of the house and settle their nest somewhere … Ugh! I remembered the kids scream and my hubby had no choice but to smacked them all with the broom.
Oh what a horror …
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Ugh… one at once is enough for me, thank you!
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Oh yes. The other the kids found a giant spider among the rose bushes in our garden. Because of my two years old boy my hubby moved it far off down the field.
😛
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I don’t blame him, some of these things are huge!
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Yes, like those Tarantula or any Amazonas spiders. Some spiders can jump high. Eeeewwww …
A few times I ran right into invisible spider webs during the run in the forest … sometimes it is too dark to see anything in front of your face! Ugh!
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I get that a lot here too when walking Ani.
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God! I am petrified of the things!! I know I am bigger than it and all that but it doesn’t help. I think I need an Ani watcher as neither of my two bother with them at all and happily let them sneak up on me! Then wonder why I jump up and down like a fruit loop if one gets too close to me :). Haha! KL
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Oh Ani would sort them, no problem… she does like to play with them though…
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Sorry, I would have hit the deck as I can’t get that close. Hubby has 2 spider catching kits depending on the size of the beast. I don’t mind the little ones, but he is well armed with a coaster and wine glass or a place mat and pint tankard!
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I usually carry them out with the feather duster… with Ani chasing 🙂
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The spider is usually chasing me out of the house! I did a post on it https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/love-em-or-eight-em/
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I’ll go have a read 🙂
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Cheers!
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i do hope that you find the lodger and evict them from the property. I quite like spiders but not when they are the size of that one. eeek
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I’d rather have a big one I can see, I think… 😉
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I don’t like spiders – it’s the way they move, I think – and always call for help to get them removed. However, I have been fascinated by one living outside my study window. He/she has a web across the corner and is kept incredibly busy. When small flies land on the web she’s soon there, wrapping them in a parcel which is then taken to the top of the window frame and fastened in the now well-stocked larder. It has been there for a couple of months now. While the weather is so dire there seeems little point in cleaning the outside of the window but I can’t postpone it indefnitely and I’m beginning to feel anxious about my spider’s untlimate fate. I’m not going to go near it once that pane of glass is not between us. How long do they live?
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Most spiders only live a couple of years… though some up to 20 😉
They are really fascinating to watch in their webs, aren’t they?
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Yes, with a sheet of glass between us – but I can’t not clean my window for two years.
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He’ll rebuild the web, if you clean it away… or move house 🙂
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A “thunk” ? Oh, no. Keep your eyes open for that one. ☺
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A very definite thunk…
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I feel much the same way about spiders. I don’t mind them particularly, and I even find the small jumping one quite cute, but I can live without a huge one crawling over my hand or foot.
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Now the big ones are easier to keep track of…
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Great story Sue, and a wonderful photo of said spider! I think it might be a false widow, the markings are correct, but it may be a little to hairy to be that particular type of spider. If it is a false widow, they are totally harmless, unless you are a fly of course! Lol! 🙂
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Not the right picture of the spider, though we get a good few of these. It is reassuring to know that on the whole, UK indigenous spiders are pretty harmless.
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It certainly is 🙂
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Arghh..I don’t really like them and, you said, “but this one was the size of a small bungalow.”!!!!
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It was, Maniparna. Huge 🙂
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😦 …
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Oh, dear, don’t tell your son! 😉
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I couldn’t resist 🙂
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Know the feeling, Sue… Due to the damp and humidity here, they migrate indoors.. found 4 in my bathroom recently… a bit of an internal shriek later… 🙂 harmless, still not pleasant.
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Yep, bathrooms do seem to attract them, even in chilly Britain for some reason… and they really stand out against white porcelain 😉
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I love animals of all shapes and sizes but rest assured, the flame-thrower would have been involved in the chase!
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I feel bad enough hoofing them from a nice warm house in winter…
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Toby eats spiders. I don’t know why when he has plenty of lovely food and treats on hand (or should that be paw?) Glad you both won the battle…I hope?
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I lost… The spider remains. Ani sometimes eats them too…
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Oh dear. I hope it stays where it is. There’s cold weather on the way so maybe it will decided to move to the garden when the snow arrives? Good luck with the battle, Sue.
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As long as it stays out of sight, it is welcome to stay in the warm 🙂
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Er…snow? No telly so I never see the forecasts…
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Oh, I really can’t deal with the big spiders. Sometimes, if they’re still, I’ll put a glass over them and take them out, but only if they’re very very still. Yikes! Has it reappeared yet?
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No, it is still lurking somewhere..and it is welcome as long as it stays there 🙂
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Yes, that’s it – stay in their own place and that’s just fine. We had a massive huntsman spider who lived in our porch in Australia – he never ventured into the house and so he and I came to an understanding. I even named him – Solomon. I was quite sad when one day he wasn’t there any more.
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We’ve had a few that ended up with names… most of them at Nick’s place. Which made de-cobwebbing a bit difficult 😉
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Yes, it would. Solomon didn’t really leave a lot of webs – for such a large spider he was surprisingly tidy. Plus I think huntsmen tend to live under things, rather than in big webs. They also get around by dropping onto any thing large that happens to wander by, which can make a walk through the woods a lively experience!
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No, I wouldn’t fancy that, I have to say!
Nick’s were all smaller and web-builders. There was a brief period when he tolerated their presence… now we are back to ‘Muuum’…
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😀 I do tend to call my husband when it’s a really big one, then he has to put up with me and our daughter squealing ‘Don’t kill it!’ as he tries to get it outside. Funny that they invoke such a strong response in us, compared to other creeping creatures.
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Both my sons are likely to call for help. Big as they are. Me, it’s the whole wet worms thing…
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I love that 😀
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Not wet worms I hope….;)
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Ha ha, nope 😀
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Phew! 😀
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