Sorry I am a bit absent still from 365, but we have been out at our U3A Christmas lunch today.
Yesterday when we got home from Newcastle I spotted this huntsman spider in our ensuite bathroom.
I don't mind huntsman spiders, but I am not too keen on the thought of this one wandering into our bedroom, so it had to leave. I won't kill huntsman spiders, but we had a terrible job trying to coax it into a waste paper basket using a feather duster and when we got the basket outside we found that the spider wasn't in there. I came back into the bathroom and discovered that it had attached itself to the feather duster. I wandered outside with the spider on the duster, but by the time I got to the front door the spider was almost close to my hand, so I just threw the duster in the garden.
The silly spider then decided that she wanted to come back inside, but David managed to move it further away down the garden.
When I looked back in the bathroom I spotted about 40 tiny baby spiders. Sadly they didn't survive, they were sprayed with Mortein. I don't mind one large huntsman but 40 babies was a bit too much to keep indoors.
For those who are interested, this spider is about 13 cm across (5 inches), so you can imagine the difficulty getting it out of the house.
It was about 29 degrees C here yesterday and as the weather gets warmer the spiders move much faster. This one could have taken part in the Olympics for spiders I reckon.
Brave girl -- if it was me I would be out in the garden while the spider still resided in my bathroom !! and to have a whole nest of baby spiders -- that would be too much ( As you can gather II have a phobia re spiders !! )
Yikes! Lucky you spotted the babies! I remember seeing one of these enormous spiders when we visited Oz on the wall outside our hotel room - when we came back from eating it had disappeared! Needless to say I did a thorough check of the bed, bathroom etc in our room.
Agggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Reminds me a tale my Aussie cousin told me of being on a date, getting back to the car and finding one of these on the dashboard inside. She leapt out of the car, looked at him, expecting him to do something as it was his car. He said "I'm not getting back in there, there's a bl**dy big spider in it!!" She had to walk the 5 miles home, so she never went out with him again!
Fabulous shot Babs. I'm rather fond of these guys, but like you I wouldn't like one in my bedroom. I don't fancy the idea of waking up with it crawling on me :)
Great shot - glad it's very far away :) Loved your tale. Reminded me of when hubby was working in a house and the owner kept catching a mouse and releasing it. Hubby said he bet it was the same one so when it was caught for the last time they dabbed it with a little paint. Sure enough!!! As the owner was using a humane trap it caused great hilarity and continues to do so when being recounted. Its final release was in the field further away.
Such a funny story Babs! I can just see you with that feather duster holding it well away from you! Glad you managed to get rid of them all, horrendous to think of all those babies growing bigger & bigger in your house!
It's bloody huge...... I'm the same, I don't mind the huntsman spiders, and have always relocated them outside. The old glass over the spider and slide a bit of paper under it, usually does the trick.
I don't mind huntsman spiders and I won't kill them. They are one of the least dangerous of all our spiders, it is just that they are huge and look bloody awful when you spot one on the wall.
There was one on my car door this morning when I went shopping and it ran under the wheel arch. I hope it doesn't come inside the car, they give you such a shock when they appear on the dashboard as you are driving.
@casablanca Ha ha, great story, what a wimp he was. I had a huntsman on my car door this morning when I went shopping and it ran off under the wheel arch as I approached. I hope it doesn't go inside the car though they do give you a fright when they appear behind the sun visor or dashboard when you are driving along. I have rescued many huntsman spiders from my car
@merrelyn Same here Merrelyn. A friend of mind told me the other day that she felt something tickling her leg in bed and when she investigated what it was she found a huge huntsman in bed with her.
@mandygravil Ha ha, great story. Mice and huntsman spiders seem to be rather territorial don't they, hope this one doesn't come back indoors though. We do see them regularly at this time of year.
@deborah63 I don't mind them either Debbie, but the glass over the spider trick wouldn't have worked here, this one was far too big, I would have had to amputate a couple of her legs to fit her under a glass.
13 centimeters ....wow, for me it's a monster, I'm not used to this giant insect.... i could collapse if i ever see that in my house ! Are they dangerous ? they bite ?
@cocobella They may be big but they aren't dangerous to humans. They keep down cockroaches, crickets and the occasional mouse. I don't mind huntsman spiders in the house, but not in the bedroom or our ensuite bathroom which is why it had to be put outside.
I don't mind huntsman spiders and I won't kill them. They are one of the least dangerous of all our spiders, it is just that they are huge and look bloody awful when you spot one on the wall.
There was one on my car door this morning when I went shopping and it ran under the wheel arch. I hope it doesn't come inside the car, they give you such a shock when they appear on the dashboard as you are driving.