Too many spiders

Hermia

bluedog wrote:

I was offered hypnotism by a friend who deals with phobias but couldn't face the idea that they would make me have to confront this fear!

I did actually go on London Zoo's Friendly Spider course a couple of years ago which uses hypnotism and what I assumed was a bit of cognitive behavioural therapy. The sucess rate of the course is very high and I did actually hold a tarantula and touch the leg of a house spider, but I still have problems now. My mum does think I am better than I used to be, but I still absolutely dread seeing a spider.

I would recommend these types of courses (a few zoos run them) and you are certainly not forced to do anything. Everyone on my course volunteered to hold the tarantula.

angelatgraceland

Do you live near woodland? If you have woods or suchlike, insects are an ongoing battle. We get loads and I never ever ever kill them. DD has a bit of a phobia about them but knows not to kinll them. I got a gadget from either Kleeneze or betterware which catches them(good for bees or wasps also) and it has a slide on the bottom so you can let it escape outside at arms length. Because it is clear and you can carry it, you can also learn tolerance and lessen your fear over time to them.Look out for spiders webs and get rid of them and look out for the little eggs they lay-we hasd a family of spiders hatch at the end of a shower curtain once! Tiny little things-I left them alone as they dont bother me. But if you find them, destroy them before they hatch-they look a bit like cottonwool.

oops_a_daisy

I live next door to woodland so used to get loads of spiders in here. I got some of them ultrasound plug in pest repellent 'thingies' from QVC ( but Im sure you can get them in DIY places now and probably cheeper ) I rarely get spiders in my house now...probably 3 per year. If I do get a spider in I leave it alone unless it crosses my path and than Im afriad its gotta go! I dont squish them though - makes too much mess.

princess

I can definitely vouch for what bluemoon says about the cellar spiders driving away the more terrible house spiders. If you can tolerate having a few of these in your home you will find many less of the really gross ones. I can honestly say I havent had any for several years since i let the cellar ones (just a few!) stay

kittiwoz

We always got a lot of spiders in my parents house and my little brother used to be very scared of them but when he was about four my dad held my brothers hand out and put a spider on it and made him hold it til he relaxed. Then he asked my brother what it felt like and he said, "it tickles". No problems with spiders after that.

linzibean

ahhh so thatswhat they're called... cellar spiders! In my OH's old digs in Aber there was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge spider and a little spindly one in the hallway. Hoho I said, that spindly one's going to get eaten! But we came back a little later to find the big hairy one was lunch!! I was shocked, but now I know! I dont like either type, but I could cope more with the spindly ones, as you cant see the legs so much... I think its the legs that bother me....

taplady

bluemoon wrote:

Do you get daddy long-legs in your house? Also called Cellar Spiders.
Here's a pic: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spiders/cellar/cellar.htm#longbodied

We get quite a few of these and I try to leave them be when I come across them because they tend to stay out of the way and they provide a very useful service - they eat the much scarier house spiders (Tegenaria types)! So, if you can be brave enough to leave a few cellar spiders around the place, that might help some.

What a lot of people don't realise about the Tegenaria spiders (I am 99% certain that if you look for a picture of a Tegenaria you'll find that this is the one that makes most people scream!) is that they don't 'come in' - they are indoor spiders, so only blocking the gaps to outdoors won't solve this problem.

I can't help much beyond that, however, since I'm trying to cope with a phobia myself, and after many hours spent researching prevention methods I've decided that my phobia is what needs to be treated - rather than the presence of spiders, which I don't think is ever going to go away!

In the meantime, I use (or rather DH uses) one of these - http://www.spidercatcher.net/ You even get a plastic spider to practice with - it's just a shame that real spiders aren't so docile!

Thanks for the information.We have the cellar spiders and they don't bother me much as they usually hide out of the way.Like most people its the BIG ones that petrify me. I have ordered one of the spider catchers you recommended as they look great and I might just be able to use it if OH isn't around to do the deed himself!;)
We used to get load of them around September time on our stairs which had dark brown carpet on but since we changed carpet to a different shade they dont seem to hang about there for some reason.
I have every sympathy with spider phobic people. I am also FROG phobic and absolutely loathe them. We have loads in our garden and I know they are goodies really but I can't bear them.They seem to lie in wait for me and leap out when I'm gardening!:eek: Next door has a pond so I suppose thats where they come from. Anyone elso hate frogs?

Stompa

My vacuum cleaner is very good at catching them.

Essex-girl_2

Just thought I would share this with you just before I go and but a pest repeller plug in thingy.

Was in my kids playroom 10pm last night trying to fix the telly - when saw something poking from underneath the tv unti - it was a spider leg attached to a rather large speciman. My yell of surprise woke DS who watched the spider (so it didnt go hide elswhere) while I got OH, in meantime DD got up and freaked (she is worse than me). OH then spent 20 mins trying to catch it - it was a runner but thankfully he did.

Anyway was reading this thread yesterday and though would look into getting a repellent - well im going to do it NOW!

By the way we havnt got any cellar spiders here - wish I did though as dont mind them half as much.

Essex-girl_2

Just ordered them - feel happier already but cant wait till they come.