Tarantulas. You like 'em, come get 'em

[daveshoot]

Normally we get about one tarantula a year, somewhere around the house, in the fall.

We have had 5 in the last week, two from the attic.

If you're in the "they're so cute, let them go" school of thought, look elsewhere. Now. We do not want to hear it.

#1 was on the main entrance door when we came home at night.
#2 was on the outside wall just around the corner from main entrance.
#3 fell from the bathroom air vent while momma was on the toilet. It landed next to the sink. It was pretty big. This did not play out well.
#4 was about 18" from my face when I went up in the attic to finish a hot and nasty wiring project up there, and I do not mean the kind of hot and nasty that our lowest common denominator will interpret.
#5 was on the eave above the main entrance door in the eave about 9 feet up. That would be 3 m if you're a communist, or something.

These have all been within a one week span. I have killed them all with the kid's shovel. Go mourn for your little friends. I am fixin' to kill a whole lot more.

I have been in California long enough to know "they are wonderful and misunderstood little animals", much like pit bulls, but without the charm. However, I am generally ok with well-mannered pitbulls, but to coin the phrase, I am tired of all these m*#+#*rf@*+$g hairy ***** spiders in this m*#+#*rf@*+$g house. Momma is ready for restraints and tranks.

What's up, and what stops them? The first local pest control outfit we called was a) incredulous and b) unhelpful. I don't mind calling professionals but these people are geared to ants or something. I want an airstrike.

 

[Jstpssng]

Do they make good fertiliser?

Sorry, that's the only good use that I can see for a spider that big.... (Unless it's a Spyder- )

 

[Buckgnarly]

It's posts like this that make me feel all warm inside during those LONG, COLD Winters up here!

 

[murphy1244]

Yes you need some chemical warfare!

 

[daveshoot]

Gentleman, I am from Michigan. Noting your various locations, I can assure you I am of the same mindset. A few inches of snow and a fortnight of sub-zero, and this post would be unnecessary. But here we, and they, are.

Some shovel snow, some shovel tarantulas, but this is freakin' abnormal.

The local mother Gaia types will tell you how they control other pest insects. I was and am overrun with pest insects. Nothing I can't live with, but they were just as bad before and will just as bad after these nasty buggers are gone. They aren't controlling beans except the wife.

She is ready to shoot blindly into the ceiling with a Big Gun and that would not be very Kalifornian, although she is a native. I was thinking there would be a kindler, gentler way, like flamethrowers or cyanide. Perhaps some Southwestern types will have an opinion or experience.

I went to the really good local hardware that knows everything. The old guy there that knows everything about everything, who can tell you how to do every little repair and kill every little weed, reacted incredulously. "Tarantulas! I'd bomb the attic." And he walked away, mumbling, "bomb the attic, bomb the attic." It was like a scene from Jaws.

 

[Jstpssng]

Gentleman, I am from Michigan. Noting your various locations, I can assure you I am of the same mindset. A few inches of snow and a fortnight of sub-zero, and this post would be unnecessary. But here we, and they, are.

Some shovel snow, some shovel tarantulas, but this is freakin' abnormal.

The local mother Gaia types will tell you how they control other pest insects. I was and am overrun with pest insects. Nothing I can't live with, but they were just as bad before and will just as bad after these nasty buggers are gone. They aren't controlling beans except the wife.

She is ready to shoot blindly into the ceiling with a Big Gun and that would not be very Kalifornian, although she is a native. I was thinking there would be a kindler, gentler way, like flamethrowers or cyanide. Perhaps some Southwestern types will have an opinion or experience.

I went to the really good local hardware that knows everything. The old guy there that knows everything about everything, who can tell you how to do every little repair and kill every little weed, reacted incredulously. "Tarantulas! I'd bomb the attic." And he walked away, mumbling, "bomb the attic, bomb the attic." It was like a scene from Jaws.

Well, not knowing what it's like out there, but two thoughts keep colliding.
1) The old guy probably knows hus stuff, and
2) Isn't Arnie (aka, Terminator) looking for work?

 

[daveshoot]

Isn't Arnie (aka, Terminator) looking for work?

Yes, he was fired (fi-uhed). I believe he is looking for a new housekeeper.

If I wanted them to have driver's licenses and vote, he'd be the man. I just want them gone, in real life.

 

[ragkar]

Last birthday, at her request, I gave my girlfriend a five inch tarantula bedded
in Lucite. She has a phobia against spiders and hopes that it will help her
overcome her fear of the little ones found around here.

 

[Wagtail]

No need Mate, we're doing just fine down here with our friendly Huntsman spiders. Heck, I even name the ones that come in the house, they go away after a few days.

This one's George, he chilled out in my bedroom for about a week. It was fun to see where he'd wander to on a given day.



(about the size of the palm of your hand, including the legs)

 

[jinman]

Hey Dave, I'll trade you my scorpions for your tarantulas. We've killed four scorpions in our house this week. I can't guarantee that my wife would agree, but I kinda like tarantulas. We normally see a few every year, sometimes crossing the road and sometimes in our house. I think the roadrunners keep their population down. We have lots of them too.

 

[brin]

I was bit on the bridge of my foot in my shop one time by a Scorpion...the pain was sharp, awful and immediate and by the time I got in the house ( only 30 ft. away ) it was swollen up like a baseball was on it....I took a couple of Advil and the pain lasted for at leas 8 hrs. or longer but by the next morning the swelling was down...No other bad effects...I killed the Scorpion.

 

[jinman]

Bob, I've only been stung once when I had one in a stack of wood and I turned over the wrong plank. It got me on the finger. The pain was like a wasp sting to me, but it did not subside for a very long time (maybe 4 hours). I luckily do not have a large swelling or reaction to stings, so just some redness and the constant pain were my only reminders. A wasp sting on me will quit stinging within 1/2 to 1 hour, but the scorpion venom did not subside for a very long time. I sure don't want to experiment with another sting for comparison.

 

[brin]

Jim, I have been stung by all of them...wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, bees , spiders , chiggers etc. ..but the scorpion was by far the most sudden onset of pain and lasted the longest...the stings from the others, like you, not much - after an hour or so all gone and no swelling...but that scorpion...yikes...

 

[houstonscott]

Yeah, we got them. This on was on porch one evening, saw him again next day in garden.


HS

 

[SPIKER]

Not been stung by Scorpion or Tarantula but by most OTHER stinging critters. Worst in my book are Yellow Jackets as they come at you by numbers. They not only sting but bite at the same time with a bacteria that can get infected if in fall/summer as they feed on dead critters a lot.

few years back I got stung/attacked bad by walking the then yr old dog he has a good nose & sticks in anything that smells. So happened he stuck it into a ground nest of yellow jackets, they came after both of us bad.

It was Late July/Aug and I was in shorts no shirt at the farm. He ran toward me & on past bringing the swarm along I got nailed on both elbows knees and sides of face/hands etc. Him his snout & ears were swelled up for 2 days. I took off running away up the creek him in tow. I stopped 50 yards away unfortunately right on top of a 2nd nest! I didn't know I was on a 2nd nest and was beating/killing them figuring there were stragglers latched on to us. He was yanking around while I'm trying to knock the )(&%# off his nose & ears & smash em. They were on ME & him while more are showing up! I ended up in agony for DAYS from that one with swollen joints & was close to hitting Doc for relief. Took a bunch of Antihistamines & pain killers/anti-inflammatory stuff with some help...

I think the poor dog was scared of me for days as I was smacking them off him and he is Yelping & Hopping all over getting stung stirring up more of the bees. It took me a few sec to figure more were showing up and looked around to see a ton come out of the 2nd hole at us. Off I ran dragging the dog by the leash towards the house. One thing is the smashed bees & stings leave a chemical trail for more of the yellow jackets to follow. So more bees smell the chemicals and chase / attack what ever the other bees are after... Honey Bees do similar but only sting 1 time & dont really bite you either.

Long story but funny one, bare in mind this all happened in course of about 3 minutes.. A bit of background first.
Back when I just moved into Edwards AFB in Southern Ca. I had been there 2 weeks but didnt have a room. Finally got assigned a room, it was the LAST DORM and the Ground Floor & LAST ROOM farthest away from everything. Great views and lots of wildlife all new stuff for a Ohio Boy never been out west or in a desert. Anyhow I had a BBQ grill (little charcoal type) setting on the outside gravel by some bushes away from the dorm & made lunch while moving stuff. By the time I got stuff out of storage it was getting dark and had most of my stuff setting half inside the room and half outside in the yard. I picked up something (forget what it was now) and a Black Widow Spider was setting on top 3" away from my face. So I moved it over to a bush and kept working, I got all my stuff inside in a pile in middle of the room. The BBQ had been setting all day off to the side of the building with the lid at an angle on the gravel in the landscaping. I picked up the Lid and set it down in the gravel & took the wet ashes out to dump into the dumpster. I came back and picked up the lid, a BIG Scorpion fell out from under the lid and onto my bare foot. I kicked him off pretty quick and cut him in half with the lid. Well I put the BBQ away & headed into finish putting my stuff away. I opened one drawer to find another black widow spider. Squished that one & cleaned out the web. Opened the draw on the bottom which was full of sweaters from previous occupant. I reached into pull them out & just as I did something jumped onto the back my hand! (ME Screaming like a little girl) swinging my hand around jerking and stepping backwards falling over the pile of stuff in the middle of the room crashing back into the stuff. Well reactions are pretty quick when in a few minute times span you run into spiders and scorpions real fast time span. Needless to say I kind of felt bad for flinging the little Gecko into the ceiling at 800 mph. He seemed OK for wear as he took off under the cabinet almost as fast as I had launched him into the roof. I ended up catching a LOT of Black Widow Spiders and Geckos right around the corner but only saw 2 more scorpions (none the size of the first one) while exploring. Had a Road Runner and Coyotes right up to 30 feet from my dorm room over the next 2 years there too. Seen one or two rattlers while there none by the dorm room but on the roads or out at the flight line. The one BW spider I put into a 1 gallon wine bottle (was in room when I got there) and had it as a pet for the two years. Fed it housefly's and crickets (how I found other scorpions looking for crickets for the BW pet.) Fun time for sure lol
One of the weirdest things I found there was some bird dumped on hood of my car. I think I could have assembled two or 3 little lizard skeletons out of the pile hehehe


Mark

 

[Car Doc]

No need Mate, we're doing just fine down here with our friendly Huntsman spiders. Heck, I even name the ones that come in the house, they go away after a few days.

This one's George, he chilled out in my bedroom for about a week. It was fun to see where he'd wander to on a given day.


(about the size of the palm of your hand, including the legs)

Man that looks exactly like a brown recluse a small but poisonous spider we have waaaay too many of in my house. I would be shooting them on site if they were that big yikes that gives me the creeps looking at that HUGE pic you posted I hate spiders too!

 

[Wagtail]

Man that looks exactly like a brown recluse a small but poisonous spider we have waaaay too many of in my house. I would be shooting them on site if they were that big yikes that gives me the creeps looking at that HUGE pic you posted I hate spiders too!

I've heard of the brown recluse... nasty things. We've got White Tip Wolf spiders which are similar in colouring to the Huntsman but smaller.

It took me many years to finally get comfortable with the Huntsman spider. They're actually a pest-controlling, friendly to humans, BIG HAIRY spider. OK, maybe I'm still not all that comfortable with them, but I no longer kill them on sight.

This cartoon helped a lot:

 

[RobertBrown]

We have spiders like that here. They are VERY common. We call them "Wolf spiders".
Wolf spider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The thing I don't like about them is their speed. They can be across your living room ceiling I the blink of an eye. It's very disturbing as they won't hesitate to jump.
I have seen them catch their weight in mosquitoes. They catch them and tuck them away somewhere underneath.

 

[westcliffe01]

If your home is sufficiently fireproof, something I found that always worked was an aerosol deodorant can and a lighter. Instant flamethrower and it only takes 1 second and they are done. Just keep it away from curtains and the like... I have lived in homes made from concrete all my life until I came to MI...

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

I've heard of the brown recluse... nasty things. We've got White Tip Wolf spiders which are similar in colouring to the Huntsman but smaller.

It took me many years to finally get comfortable with the Huntsman spider. They're actually a pest-controlling, friendly to humans, BIG HAIRY spider. OK, maybe I'm still not all that comfortable with them, but I no longer kill them on sight.

This cartoon helped a lot:

View attachment 329701

Nope, not gonna help! LOL