Spiders.

Discussion in 'Wildlife in the Garden' started by Philip Nulty, Sep 26, 2011.

  1. Philip Nulty

    Philip Nulty Strong Ash

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    Some time ago i spotted a rather large spider running along the garden path,..i took a picture and am sure i posted it,..somewhere,.. :rolleyes: ,..anyway of late was sitting in my front room and a bigger spider wandered inside,..quite big,..no i didn't squash it,..nor let the cats play tag with it,..its safe back in the garden.


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    Previous Spider. ( photo / image / picture from Philip Nulty's Garden )





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    Recent Spider. ( photo / image / picture from Philip Nulty's Garden )
     
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  3. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    We seem to be having an influx of big spiders here too Philip. I've been chasing them around the house for what seems like weeks. :rolleyes: I think ours are coming in through an air vent at the front of the house.
    I know they're harmless and just common garden spiders but I do wish they'd stay outside where they belong. I'm always a bit worried that they'll jump out of the container I trap them in before I take them outside. I'd hate it if one landed on me. :sete_079:
     
  4. Philip Nulty

    Philip Nulty Strong Ash

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    Up to this year i don't recall seeing big spiders around at all,..but like you i notice many this year,..while i don't mind them during the day or night,..while i am awake,..i would hate one to drop in my mouth,..presuming it might be open while i sleep,lol.
     
  5. kathyd

    kathyd In Flower

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    Here in New Jersey we've had a lot of everything also...rain, ants (trying to get out of the rain) mosquitoes (hatched because of too much rain) stink bugs, and spiders too. Turned the light on in the bathroom in the middle of the night and the white ceiling seemed to be covered in moving dots. It was dozens of baby spiders...probably just hatched. I grabbed a towel and swished it across the ceiling a few times. Needless to say it was hard to sleep after all my late night carrying-on. All this to say if the spiders had been as big as yours I think you could have heard my scream across the pond...and I even like spiders a bit. :-D
     



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  6. Philip Nulty

    Philip Nulty Strong Ash

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    Lol,..i can just picture you swishing the towel at the ceiling,..i don't mind one of my cats returning home then climbing on to my bed,..but anything else crawling about stresses me,..so used to the worry of Scorpions and the like crawling into the heat from cold nights outside,.. never left me,..we often found them in our boots.
     
  7. dooley

    dooley Super Garden Turtle

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    That's like the big spider I posted. Toni said it's a writing spider. It moved from the trellis to the other side of the deck. Now, it's hanging under the edge of the house.
    dr had scorpions in his shoes once. He came in from outside and slipped his shoes off, went down the hall to the bedroom to get something. Went back and slipped his shoe on and got stung. He wasn't gone two or three minutes. There are a lot of scorpions where we lived in Arizona.
    dooley
     
  8. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    Philip, I heard that the average person EATS 8 spiders a year in their sleep. :eek: :setc_090: YUM. :rolleyes:
     
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  9. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    I did not know spiders were on my sleeping menu. I wonder if it is just their fault for crawling into our mouths? How to creep out the arachnophobics in the group. Is it really per year or in a lifetime?

    Jerry
     
  10. Philip Nulty

    Philip Nulty Strong Ash

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    Hi Dooley,
    a writing spider?,..i must have words with Toni,..as i am scratching my head here,..i have a sister that writes like a spider,..foolishly i told her so,..she hasn't wrote to me this past 18 years,..nor spoke to me either, :rolleyes:your dr had a scorpion in his shoe and was bitten,..oh boy,..how bad did it affect him?.

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    Carolyn Keiper and Jerry Sullivan,
    flufflewoof and dangrabbit to both of you, :rolleyes:,..i like spiders,..as pets even,..but crawling into my mouth,..even the thoughts you two have instilled in my brain has me looking for adhesive tape to hold the strainer in place over my mouth tonight,..many years ago as a young soldier i found myself posted with a few lads who were scared of lizards,..to prove the lizards were harmless i caught one,..held it by the tip of the tail positioned over my open mouth,..not knowing that a lizard can shed its tail,..oops it did,..i spat it out,..but still dread THINGS crawling into my mouth, :eek: :oops:
     
  11. cherylad

    cherylad Countess of Cute-ification Plants Contributor

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    I knew better than to click on this posting! :sete_079:
    Each and every one of you will be held responsible for my nightmares for the next 2 weeks!
    :eek:
     
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  12. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Don't worry Philip as each of us swallowing approx. eight spiders a year in our sleep is only an old wives tale. Think about it - surely we'd inhale them instead of swallowing them and, if so, then we'd choke rather than swallow!! Spiders, it seems, are rarely, if ever, suicidal, clumsy or attracted to mammalian orifices. :D :D
     
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  13. Cayuga Morning

    Cayuga Morning Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    I am so grossed out....I am ok with spiders, but not when I am asleep and NO WHERE NEAR MY MOUTH!!!!

    But my mother-in-law used to tell us in Cuba as a young girl, she would catch lizards, and as they opened their mouths, she would place them on her earlobe as a "earring". She said that by the time she caught the 2nd lizard, and had him positioned, the first would have dropped off, much to her chagrin!
     
  14. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    Jerry, I really did hear this. I really grossed me out. Thats why I remembered it. I didn't make this up. Around here most spiders are harmless, (although I do have a bite on my leg, that is ulcerated, that I think is a spider bite). So I don't really worry so much about actually doing this as much as I maybe would in another area of the world. sorry for grossing everyone out with this little tidbit of information.
     
  15. Philip Nulty

    Philip Nulty Strong Ash

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    Hi Cheryl,
    the thought of sleeping with mouth open and spiders crawling about does wake you up before going to sleep,lol,..but not that i gave it a thought last night, :rolleyes: ,..an improvement on the Hannibal Hector Mask briefly flashed through my mind,..say a smaller mesh covering the mouth area.


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    Hi Cayuga Morning,
    yep,..Gross is right,..so your Mother-in-law and i had something in common with the lizards,lol,..not many people would be relaxed enough to do so.

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    Hi Eileen,
    i know i often swallowed flies when awake,..going somewhere fast with mouth open tends to be an ideal way of catching flies,..and i have often watched people sleeping with mouth agape while flies investigated the possibility of grabbing a left over morsel,..the spider introduction is new to me,..and while i am still thinking about it,..food for thought you could say,..i wont let it bother me at night,..well not a lot,
    :rolleyes: .

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    Hi Carolyn,
    thank you for that information on the statistics of consumption of spiders per year,..it appears i may have eaten 528 spiders to date,..give or take a leg or two,..yikes Carolyn what a web you have woven, :)
     
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  16. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    Oh that mask is too funny to look at, all you need to add is a little screen for the mouth.
    Philip, I hope you don't feel too cheated at, maybe, missing a couple legs. why don't you go just grab another spider or two, just for good measure. I saw a PBS show on the congo or somewhere with native indigenous people actually catch those great big hairy, fat, juicy spiders and roast them and eat them. OH YUM!!! (actually, I am still retching at the remembrance of it).
     

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