How big, and of what variety are these invaders? We get a lot of "daddy long legs" here, which don't bother me too much, but we also get some smaller, but more hardy-looking variety that creeps me out much more.
We have the invasion of the "sugar ants", the tiny little, harmless black ants that get everywhere.
The ants tend to remain outside, but we are like grass spider/funnel weaver heaven here. There are a group of quite blond grass spiders that get into the house, and I saw one in the trunk of the car already. Not sure what fell on my head, although it didn't look too gruesome, once it wasn't crawling around on my body.
As spider season really kicks in, there will be an influx of house spiders, grass spiders, and those patroller spiders who fall into the tub and can't get out. Harvestmen almost never get into the house, even though they like the brickwork near the door - are your daddy long legs the harvestmen, or the true spiders with disorganized webs and super thin legs?
I just get tired of having to handle the laundry so carefully in summer, because they like to nap there. Maybe if I set the laundry baskets on a table? I dunno.
well, I had to wiki to see the difference and I'm still kind of confused, and since I don't really look that closely at them, I'd just say that the very spindly legged picture of the brown thing on the Harvestmen page looked most like what we get, so I guess that's what we have. :) Mostly they are in the garage, but I do see 'em in the house on rainy days. Haven't noticed webs, try to avoid seeing them. :)
We called those guys with bodies that look like discs, like pills, no web, like to sit in the brickwork, daddy long legs, even though sites like this one say they're harvestmen. It's all confusing.
The harvestman in the photo is too gray to be local to us - we get super thin black legs on ours, like nylon bristle, almost, none of this gray coloring. Some of them are wider than my hand.
The site says they don't have venom. We used to play with them as kids, so they must not do too much biting even without venom. :)
Oh! Right, me and my loud objections to ads. I need to practice more patience.
In re the spiders, when one dropped on me in the car, I nearly crashed into a pylon. The person behind me must have thought I had lost my mind. "What is that woman doing? Is she having a seizure or something?"
spider, hah! My dog Gracie was barking in the garage last night (we close her in) in an unusual location, and wouldn't shut up. I told the husband maybe there was something in there with her. He went down to look, sure enough, a baby copperhead (poisonous) was in there under one of the cars. Babies, by the way, are just as poisonous as adults, just don't produce as much venom per strike. It really was a pretty snake. We decided to bring the dog in the house and chase the snake out of the garage rather than kill it. The Mr. pulled it up on a hand cultivator and slung it down the hill!
My spider story: one was living under my pillow and bit my finger when I ran it under the pillow as I turned in bed. I was standing up in bed screaming before i got my eyes open! Almost gave the husband a heart attack. The spider was still hanging around, and I killed it the next day. Finger swelled and blistered, hurt, peeled, was totally cruddy for about 3 weeks.
I find spiders and snakes very beautiful, but don't want to be intimate with them.
Re: Must kill (not)bec_87rbMay 8 2008, 18:41:04 UTC
Wolf spider? Those big hairy fellows? Or a jumping spider, sort of square, black, like a little bulldog? Godallmighty, my uncle had cabins in the woods, and they were lousy with wolf spiders, especially the beds. And those bites hurts like a muther! Huge lumps, itchy, burny, awful bites. *shudder* You have my sympathy, totally.
This area up here is almost devoid of snakes, except a few black snakes, but I haven't ever seen a snake around my house, and I've seen like everything else up here. I can't imagine what the problem is; it certainly isn't a lack of mice!
Re: Must kill (not)suegyptMay 8 2008, 19:06:22 UTC
I don't know what my spider friend was, as I killed him in a frenzy! He wasn't as big as a wolf, just a little "pillow spider," although his bite was plenty toxic (not poisonous, thang gooness)
Lots of snakes up here in the hills, copperheads, timber rattlers, cottonmouths/water moccasins in the river areas. Lots of non poisonous, too, like garters and kings of all kinds, greens, hognose, black racers. One year we saw one of our cats trying to chase a 10-foot coachwhip in full gallop (the snake, not the cat)! We also get a lot of black widows and brown recluses! Mutha Naycha!
Re: Must kill (not)bec_87rbMay 8 2008, 19:17:40 UTC
We even have a little creek nearby, so the lack of snakes is downright weird. I wonder if suburban neighbors, not acquainted with what a black snake was, and why you want them around, killed 'em all? I also have a suspicion the ground water is contaminated, since there is also a suspicious lack of toads or frogs here, too, in the last few years. When the frogs die out, it's time to go, hmmmmmm.
You may keep the black widows and brown recluses, thank you. I try not to inspect all the spiders for fiddle markings, lest I become unable to sleep at home!
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We have the invasion of the "sugar ants", the tiny little, harmless black ants that get everywhere.
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As spider season really kicks in, there will be an influx of house spiders, grass spiders, and those patroller spiders who fall into the tub and can't get out. Harvestmen almost never get into the house, even though they like the brickwork near the door - are your daddy long legs the harvestmen, or the true spiders with disorganized webs and super thin legs?
I just get tired of having to handle the laundry so carefully in summer, because they like to nap there. Maybe if I set the laundry baskets on a table? I dunno.
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http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/daddyvenom.html
We called those guys with bodies that look like discs, like pills, no web, like to sit in the brickwork, daddy long legs, even though sites like this one say they're harvestmen. It's all confusing.
The harvestman in the photo is too gray to be local to us - we get super thin black legs on ours, like nylon bristle, almost, none of this gray coloring. Some of them are wider than my hand.
The site says they don't have venom. We used to play with them as kids, so they must not do too much biting even without venom. :)
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(Stalking you from the 40+ group.) :)
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In re the spiders, when one dropped on me in the car, I nearly crashed into a pylon. The person behind me must have thought I had lost my mind. "What is that woman doing? Is she having a seizure or something?"
Reply
My spider story: one was living under my pillow and bit my finger when I ran it under the pillow as I turned in bed. I was standing up in bed screaming before i got my eyes open! Almost gave the husband a heart attack. The spider was still hanging around, and I killed it the next day. Finger swelled and blistered, hurt, peeled, was totally cruddy for about 3 weeks.
I find spiders and snakes very beautiful, but don't want to be intimate with them.
Reply
This area up here is almost devoid of snakes, except a few black snakes, but I haven't ever seen a snake around my house, and I've seen like everything else up here. I can't imagine what the problem is; it certainly isn't a lack of mice!
Do you get alot of copperheads?
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Lots of snakes up here in the hills, copperheads, timber rattlers, cottonmouths/water moccasins in the river areas. Lots of non poisonous, too, like garters and kings of all kinds, greens, hognose, black racers. One year we saw one of our cats trying to chase a 10-foot coachwhip in full gallop (the snake, not the cat)! We also get a lot of black widows and brown recluses! Mutha Naycha!
Reply
You may keep the black widows and brown recluses, thank you. I try not to inspect all the spiders for fiddle markings, lest I become unable to sleep at home!
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