Getting rid of a spider?

[pivoxa15]

When there is a large spider in your home, what is the best to get rid of it? How about sucking it into a vacuum cleaner? I have done that a few times in the past but when I got around to opening the cleaner, the spider wasn't to be found? What happened to it? Did it escape or disintegrate into pieces? But I didn't see the remains of it. Anybody know the inside of a vacuum cleaner?

 

[radou]

When there is a large spider in your home, what is the best to get rid of it? How about sucking it into a vacuum cleaner? I have done that a few times in the past but when I got around to opening the cleaner, the spider wasn't to be found? What happened to it? Did it escape or disintegrate into pieces? But I didn't see the remains of it.

Unless I'm mistaken, there are special small bags ment to catch spiders found in homes and let them out again, without doing any harm to them.

I personally hate spiders, and I have some kind of phobia, but that's because I actually don't encounter any here when I live (only small 'house-spiders' from time to time). The only dangerous one in my country is the black widow, and it's deadly, but it's not to be found in the part of the country where I live.

So, depends on how big the spider is, but I definitely wouldn't vacuum clean a big one. Try to think of something else or get this spider-removal-equipment.

P.S. Your question about the vacuum cleaner and the spider inside was one I always found interesting, too. Can't answer, though. :tongue:

 

[Astronuc]

What is meant by big spiders?

Usually I pick up a spider in my hand, carry it outside and put on a plant or on the ground.

For big spiders, I place a cup over them and slide a card or paper underneath gently so as not to injure the spider. Then I carry it outside and deposit it on a plant or ground.

Since my wife and kids do not like spiders, a do this occasionally.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I do nothing, since they keep down the flies I tend to just let them be. If you have to though the plate and cup method is best for those who can't bear the thought of touching them.

 

[BobG]

I wouldn't kill a spider - it's bad luck.

“Kill a spider, bad luck yours will be
Until of flies you’ve swatted fifty-three.”

Most spiders aren't dangerous to humans and keep other insects under control. The only drawback is walking through a web they've woven across your door, plus you eventually have to clean up the old web full of insects (the web continues to catch insects for quite a while after the spider has gone).

 

[quantumdude]

Two weeks ago a spider bit me in my sleep. I woke up with 4 pairs of little red pinpricks on my face, which later became open running sores and my left eye was swollen shut. There are still large scabs on my face.

So what will I do when I see a spider? I'll step on it, of course!

 

[brewnog]

I like having spiders around the place, so I just leave them be.

 

[Gokul43201]

So what will I do when I see a spider? I'll step on it, of course!

But what if you're not in your car?

 

[quantumdude]

nyuk nyuk nyuk :tongue:

 

[Moonbear]

Wow, Tom! Usually I only hear of spider bites as a defensive response (someone gets a bit too close to stepping on one, or grabs one inadvertently while picking up some old wood, not knowing there's a spider hiding beneath it). Was it positively identified as spider bites? Sometimes I wonder if spiders are scapegoats for the handiwork of other nasties in the house.

Anyway, I don't step on large spiders, because they make too much of mess! :yuck: I'd rather relocate the live spider than clean up a splatted dead spider. If they move under their own power, I don't have to touch them. I find herding them where I want them to go with a broom works (and if they're resistant to herding, playing golf with them works too...be careful though, if you swat them too hard, you'll knock their legs right off them ). The other reason I prefer not touching the spiders is I simply don't know which ones around here are likely to bite (venomous or not), and don't want to find out by trial and error. Anything that has thick, hairy legs and is prowling the house rather than sitting quietly in a web, I assume must pack a good bite.

 

[quantumdude]

Was it positively identified as spider bites?

By the time I went to the emergency room, the pinpricks had given way to the large open sores. So it wasn't possible for the doctor to make that identification. But he said it sounded reasonable.

The other reason I prefer not touching the spiders is I simply don't know which ones around here are likely to bite (venomous or not), and don't want to find out by trial and error.

Well, venomous or not, he's not going to bite through my boot. :p

 

[Moonbear]

By the time I went to the emergency room, the pinpricks had given way to the large open sores. So it wasn't possible for the doctor to make that identification. But he said it sounded reasonable.

Yikes. It seems weird that it bit you 4 times (you said 4 pairs of bite marks, right). If it was a spider, you must've been swatting at it in your sleep, and it sure must've been persistent to keep trying again. That, or it was really out to get you. Maybe revenge for a relative you stepped on!

Well, venomous or not, he's not going to bite through my boot. :p

Just wait until they catch on.

"Okay, Legs, I'll climb in his boot, and you distract him by running across the floor."

 

[turbo]

We've got some pretty potent spiders in Maine. I woke up one morning to find my middle finger on my left hand very badly swollen and hard to move. I still have scars from the fangs more than 5 years later. I don't kill spiders - I just relocate them to the vegetable garden.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9564/spiderbitewx8.jpg [Broken]

 

[hypatia]

My husband still thinks its so weird that I can autopsy a brain, yet, can not be brave enough to squish a spider. {faints}:

 

[russ_watters]

The best way to deal with a big spider (or small snake) is to capture it in a jar and place it on the desk of a particularly skittish co-worker...

 

[quantumdude]

The best way to deal with a big spider (or small snake) is to capture it in a jar and place it on the desk of a particularly skittish co-worker...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That gives me a great idea. I'm not going to step on the spider that bit me. I'm going to put it in my roommate's bed!

 

[arunbg]

Tom, you'll really have to step on it, if this baby comes to town .

http://www.horror-wood.com/BUG5.jpg

 

[Moonbear]

The best way to deal with a big spider (or small snake) is to capture it in a jar and place it on the desk of a particularly skittish co-worker...

Okay, since I'm not so skittish about spiders or snakes to freak out if they're already well confined to a jar, I have to admit that would still be funny if someone wasn't skittish. I'm sure if someone left a spider or snake in a jar on my desk without any note, I'd sit there staring at it a good long time trying to figure out why, and wondering if I should start inquiring, and to whom?

This reminds me a bit of something that happened when I was in grad school. One of the other grad students came back in from the farm one day with a shoebox and a puzzled expression. She found the shoebox left outside one of the barns with a note taped to it. The note said something like, "Can someone identify this for me?" and then included someone's name and phone number. I guess they got as far as the campus and then had no idea where to go or who to ask to identify the contents of the box, so just left it out on the farm figuring someone would find it by the barn door. That was weird by itself, but then, of course, with such an ambiguous note, and a closed shoebox, it took us a good long while staring at the lid of that box trying to decide if we really wanted to open it to see what was inside. Our biggest fear was it would be something like a live snake, and the next biggest fear that it would be something dead. It wound up being some spectacular caterpillar (big, fuzzy/spikey) and a twig off the plant we presume it was found on. We all breathed a sigh of relief that nothing jumped out at us. Then we spent a little time marveling over the thing, and since one of the students was married to an entomologist, she decided it was his turn to get the mystery shoebox.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That gives me a great idea. I'm not going to step on the spider that bit me. I'm going to put it in my roommate's bed!

Your roommate's that bad, huh? :rofl:

 

[quantumdude]

Your roommate's that bad, huh? :rofl:

No. I am that bad.

 

[russ_watters]

The snake I put in a jar, the spider I took a picture of and left alone. I blew up the picture and put it on his desk. This was when our office was in the boss's house - both the spider and snake were found in the basement. (I posted threads of them).

The snake actually bit me, but was so small he couldn't get his mouth around my thumb.

 

[larkspur]

My husband still thinks its so weird that I can autopsy a brain, yet, can not be brave enough to squish a spider. {faints}:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: It's not like that brain is going to jump off the table and crawl up your leg!
Spiders bring out great big EEEEWWWs from me. I think it is because my brother used to put them in my hair or throw them on me when we were kids.

 

[Moonbear]

No. I am that bad.

:rofl:

The snake I put in a jar, the spider I took a picture of and left alone. I blew up the picture and put it on his desk. This was when our office was in the boss's house - both the spider and snake were found in the basement. (I posted threads of them).

I remember the picture of the spider (the one on the door frame, right?), but I don't remember the snake.

The snake actually bit me, but was so small he couldn't get his mouth around my thumb.

What kind was it?

I've never had to deal with a snake getting inside. Usually, I just see them outside and the plan of action is to just keep my distance (unless I recognize it as a harmless garter snake). I just give them a chance to make their own escape. I'd brave picking up a little baby too small to get its mouth over my thumb, but would probably leave a bigger snake for someone else (unless I could find some sort of really long tongs). I think snakes are cute, so I'm not afraid of the snake, per se, just of getting bitten.

 

[russ_watters]

I remember the picture of the spider (the one on the door frame, right?), but I don't remember the snake.

Hmm, looking around, I can't seem to find the thread. Maybe I just though about posting it. Well, here he is...

He looks big when you put the camera close to him, doesn't he? On my screen, he's more than twice his real size.

What kind was it?

I don't know snakes, but the most common small snake around here is a garter snake.

 

[Mk]

What is all this about "not injuring spiders?" I say "it's a f**king spider," you don't have to treat it with the same care you'd treat a person. I really like the vacuum cleaner idea, just because I have a small arachnophobia and don't like smashing it with a paper towel. No tarantula's around here I've seen.

 

[Moonbear]

Hmm, looking around, I can't seem to find the thread. Maybe I just though about posting it. Well, here he is...

He looks big when you put the camera close to him, doesn't he? On my screen, he's more than twice his real size. I don't know snakes, but the most common small snake around here is a garter snake.

Yep, that's a garter snake. Hee...you even got a picture of it biting you.
http://www.umass.edu/nrec/snake_pit/pages/cgarter.html

What is all this about "not injuring spiders?" I say "it's a f**king spider," you don't have to treat it with the same care you'd treat a person.

Spiders are really good killers of insects, like mosquitoes, so I'd rather leave some spiders hanging around corners and doorways than have mosquitoes biting me. That's generally why people will escort a spider back outside rather than kill it...they're good to have around, we just don't care to share the living room with them.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Spiders are really good killers of insects, like mosquitoes, so I'd rather leave some spiders hanging around corners and doorways than have mosquitoes biting me. That's generally why people will escort a spider back outside rather than kill it...they're good to have around, we just don't care to share the living room with them.

I miss my cupboard spider. She used to eat all the Indian meal moths. I need to recruit a replacement for her.

 

[turbo]

Hmm, looking around, I can't seem to find the thread. Maybe I just though about posting it. Well, here he is...

He looks big when you put the camera close to him, doesn't he? On my screen, he's more than twice his real size. I don't know snakes, but the most common small snake around here is a garter snake.

That's no garter snake, that's a garter snake. I have no pictures, but when I was a kid, I captured one that was over 3' long and it had apparently just swallowed a rat or a bullfrog, judging from the big lump in its midsection. I lugged it around the town showing it to people and got a little careless, so that it muckled onto the base of my thumb. Those guys may not be venomous, but they've got something in their saliva that REALLY hurts.

I used to love capturing snakes as a kid and would often come home with several grass snakes (little green guys) or red-bellies (kind of stinky) tucked down my shirt. It really impressed the girls when I would pull out my shirt-tails and a half-dozen snakes would fall at their feet. :rofl:

 

[BobG]

We get bull snakes in our building occasionally, especially in the fall when the weather starts getting cooler. They rarely find a way in, but it's not unusual to find one near one of the doors.

Our buidling is in the middle of nowhere with open fields around it. The rabbits like the shrubbery around the building, since it gives the babies some cover from the hawks. That lures in the bull snakes, which is good. Lots of bull snakes keeps down the number of rattlesnakes, which we also get occasionally (but so far, never in the buidling).

We also occasionally get a field mouse in the buidling when the weather starts to change.

 

[Moonbear]

That's no garter snake, that's a garter snake.

:rofl: Yeah, it's just an itty bitty baby. Awwwwwww.

Those guys may not be venomous, but they've got something in their saliva that REALLY hurts.

That's something I've been cautioned about since I was a kid...apparently they either have bacteria or something else in their mouth that can still give you a nasty infection or reaction when they bite, even if they aren't venomous. If you do get bitten, you still want to get it cleaned out and looked at by a doctor, just like you would any animal bite. Though, I'm not sure a bite from a baby snake so small it probably barely breaks the skin is much of a concern. (Though, if it's a venomous snake, even the babies carry venom and can pack a punch...lots of children wind up in the ER after being bitten by baby rattlers they didn't realize were venomous...apparently, the baby snakes will inject all of their venom in a single bite, while an adult will just inject "enough" but always has reserve, so even though they are little, they can really inject a considerable amount of venom.)

It really impressed the girls when I would pull out my shirt-tails and a half-dozen snakes would fall at their feet. :rofl:

:rofl:

 

[turbo]

That's something I've been cautioned about since I was a kid...apparently they either have bacteria or something else in their mouth that can still give you a nasty infection or reaction when they bite, even if they aren't venomous.

I've got a feeling that it might be some neurotoxin, because even though the bite hurt like crazy for hours, there was also a persistent tingle, like when your foot falls asleep. Even though garter snakes are not considered venomous, they probably have some substance that can paralyze their prey. If you were a snake and wanted to swallow a rat, you wouldn't do too well if the rat was struggling, clawing, and biting inside of you.

 

[russ_watters]

It was my understanding that pretty much every insect with a sting or snake with fangs has venom in it. We may not call them "poisonous", but the venom is what makes them hurt.

This link discusses allergies to bees and their venom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/allergies/allergicconditions_venom.shtml [Broken]

Yeah, here it is for spiders:

All spiders have some amount of venom with varying degrees of potency.

http://www.calpoison.org/public/spiders.html

That's not going to make the squeamish ones happy...

 

[Hurkyl]

I've always wondered if I should leave the spiders in my apartment alone, instead of flushing 'em down the toilet. I never see any bugs around, so I guess it's no big deal.

I don't know if I could escort them out: I usually just grab the spider with a paper towel. I don't know if I'm actually injuring it, or if it just rolls up as a defense mechanism (it's usually still alive when it goes in the toilet).

 

[russ_watters]

And for snakes...

Many researchers have argued that different lineages of venomous snakes, like rattlesnakes and cobras, evolved venom independently. They observed that the closest relatives of these venomous snakes were nonvenomous.

Dr. Fry discovered that they were wrong. "Most of the snakes that we think of as nonvenomous are actually venomous," he explained. Garter snakes and many other supposedly nonvenomous snakes actually produce tiny amounts of venom.

http://www.carlzimmer.com/articles/2005/articles_2005_venom.html [Broken]

Since the venom is basically specially evolved saliva, reactions to even the supposedly nonpoisonous are not surprising.

I'm ok though, thanks for asking.

 

[turbo]

Yeah, here it is for spiders: http://www.calpoison.org/public/spiders.html

That's not going to make the squeamish ones happy...

Good link. My buddy and I were shoring up the foundation of his old barn when he bought a farm here in central Maine, and while we were crawling around under the floorboards, he was bitten on the back by a spider. Apparently, it had a potent anticoagulant in its venom because an area of skin the size of a dinner-plate turned all blue/black like a bruise. We never found out what kind of spider it was - there were all kinds of them under the barn, though. There were some pretty large wolf spiders under there, so it might have been one of them.

 

[turbo]

And for snakes...
http://www.carlzimmer.com/articles/2005/articles_2005_venom.html [Broken]

Since the venom is basically specially evolved saliva, reactions to even the supposedly nonpoisonous are not surprising.

I'm ok though, thanks for asking.

Aha! That confirms things pretty well. Another thing that I forgot to mention - when that big garter snake bit the base of my thumb, it took hours to get the bleeding stopped, so you can probably add anticoagulant effects to neurotoxic effects. He was a pretty potent fellow.