Giant House Spiders have taken over one of my outside deck boxes

[Charliemum]

Hmmm... the forecast says we will be getting some of the coldest days of the winter so far, over the next few nights. Down to 24F, which is -4.4C in English. I do think there is some kind of hanging sack that I have seen when I open the lid. I think I already messed up the webs a bit whenever I open the lid, since they seem to connect their webs using both the inside of the box lid and the gas cans etc, so when I open it up I destroy their carefully crafted creations.

I guess this is a conundrum - I'm pretty sure the adult spiders would be better off in our attic, since it will almost certainly be warmer there than in the outside box. However I don't want to mess with their desire to protect their offspring. In my experience, spiders are best left alone as much as possible, but that's just my gut. I want to help them, but not destroy their chances at protecting any eggs they have in there.

Any consensus on which would be the best course to take here?

To be clear, the gas isn't really an issue, it's no skin off my nose if I leave the whole thing untouched until spring. If I do that, when will the eggs likely be hatching? Are they triggered by warmer weather? Is it the first warm weather, or best to wait a bit until Spring is fully sprung before bothering them again (if I go that route)?

Thanks again,

-Well Meaning Monster

You can always try insulating the box they are in, a few bits if polystyrene or even layers of cardboard or even an old blanket could be the difference for them. It's what I would do
And yes baby's usually hatch around spring although I have had autumn baby's too so it could be an old sac but if it was me I would be trying to insulate the box . Just incase

 

[oregonprepper]

Do you mean insulate inside the box, or outside? If I put stuff on the inside, I'd be afraid I'd be destroying more of the webbing. Putting anything more on the outside is problematic since it gets so wet (and sometimes windy) here in the wintertime. Right now the box has a bench cushion on top, I put that there for the cats to lounge on. Right now it's soaking wet, but it probably gives some top insulation at least. The box itself has double walls, and as mentioned previously the gas cans probably have some thermal mass that might help, I don't know.

You know, I'm inclined to just leave them be for now. They are experts in being spiders, whereas I am a rank novice when it comes to knowing "what would be good" for them. I'm just afraid that my well-meaning efforts would screw them up more, so I think I'll just leave them alone and wish them well, and not bother them again until we are well into the warmer spring weather.

I know this might sound like an anticlimactic cop out (Where's the exciting footage of the rescue operation??? Where is the blog website with spider-cam set up in my attic, where my new spiders become stars with fans from all over the world watching raptly each day as Wilma and Bernadette reconstruct their webs, just go to MyAtticSpidersBlog.com and make sure to click 'Subscribe', and check out my new store with merchandise - are you Team Wilma or Team Bernadette, vote now and book your tickets for the Geat Attic Spider Meetup happening in Las Vegas this March - bring your Giant House Spider and.... oooh, sorry, that kinda got away from me there)...

Thanks again.

 

[Charliemum]

Do you mean insulate inside the box, or outside? If I put stuff on the inside, I'd be afraid I'd be destroying more of the webbing. Putting anything more on the outside is problematic since it gets so wet (and sometimes windy) here in the wintertime. Right now the box has a bench cushion on top, I put that there for the cats to lounge on. Right now it's soaking wet, but it probably gives some top insulation at least. The box itself has double walls, and as mentioned previously the gas cans probably have some thermal mass that might help, I don't know.

You know, I'm inclined to just leave them be for now. They are experts in being spiders, whereas I am a rank novice when it comes to knowing "what would be good" for them. I'm just afraid that my well-meaning efforts would screw them up more, so I think I'll just leave them alone and wish them well, and not bother them again until we are well into the warmer spring weather.

I know this might sound like an anticlimactic cop out (Where's the exciting footage of the rescue operation??? Where is the blog website with spider-cam set up in my attic, where my new spiders become stars with fans from all over the world watching raptly each day as Wilma and Bernadette reconstruct their webs, just go to MyAtticSpidersBlog.com and make sure to click 'Subscribe', and check out my new store with merchandise - are you Team Wilma or Team Bernadette, vote now and book your tickets for the Geat Attic Spider Meetup happening in Las Vegas this March - bring your Giant House Spider and.... oooh, sorry, that kinda got away from me there)...

Thanks again.

I ment outside , just use some rope to tie the cardboard/polystyrene/blanket whatever to the outside done dusted you won't worry about Bernadette or Wilma you don't have to disturb them n they get to carry on doing their spoody thing ( I love the names btw ) no need for Vegas .... but if Vegas did an educational spood program am there

 

[oregonprepper]

Ok, I have an idea - we have some large trash bags outside with bedding straw (for the cat shelters, we buy a straw bale and always have too much left over). So I'm thinking to just pile these bags around the deck box, up against it, thus hopefully providing more insulation.

Oh, but wait, hang on... those bags have been sitting there for some months now, so I can bet my bottom dollar that there are probably critters sheltering for the winter in/under them. They are resting on top of some firewood, so I'm sure there are residents snuggled in there waiting for spring.

Seems like if I leave anything lying around, quite soon someone will claim it as their home and start living there, then it gets much harder to move it. Well it wouldn't be hard for normal people, they just do whatever they want and don't think about spiders and whatnot having their homes destroyed, but when you're a somewhat OCD well meaning monster who thinks far too much about such things then everything just gets much more difficult. Life, often, grinds to a complete halt, at the whim of some tiny creature who had the temerity to set up shop in some inconvenient place. Don't even ask me about the wood pile, I got it for firewood but now there's so many people living in it (yes, spiders and other critters are people too, non-human but people nonetheless) so now it's pretty much theirs and not mine.

So I will go and find something to wrap around or next to the box, or maybe drape over it (perhaps a tarp), though I'll have to be careful to leave room for coming and going, don't want to trap anybody inside obviously.

I just wish I could put all this wildlife on my tax forms as "dependents". Sigh.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

That is a fine idea, yes we do have a loft (attic) and they could certainly go up there. But I guess I would have one more question about doing that - are they currently guarding egg sacks? Do they need to be around to protect their egg sack from other insects, spiders etc? I'm not sure how that works, I seem to remember some spiders do protect the sac until the kids hatch out, but is that the case with these giant house spiders? I'm fine with relocating them (could probably catch them in a glass) but I don't want to break up families or ruin their only chance to pass on their genes etc. How does this work for them, can anybody fill me in how this goes? Are they guarding something (I do see lots of little white packets around the place, so presumably those are eggs, and there was at least one hanging thing, not sure if it was an egg sack or stored food), or is it more of a "leave and forget" deal for them? Are they guarding, or just simply using the box as a place to overwinter (in which case our loft might be much nicer and probably warmer)?

Apologies for all the questions, I just want to try and make sure I'm not doing more harm than good. I am the well meaning monster, sigh.

Thanks again.

The more questions the better, yeah sorry if there is egg sacs (sounds like it) best leaving them being just now, remember there very hardy and have adapted to live through quite harsh weather. If you can leave them there for now that's probably best. Keep an eye though they do tend to have Phantom sacs quite a lot once mature which could be the case as you said you noticed multiple sacs. In that case you could go ahead and just move them

 

[oregonprepper]

They have their winter quarters, for better or worse, I will just leave them be and hope they chose wisely. If I can find something to put around the boxes without disturbing access then I will, otherwise I'll look when the weather gets warmer in the Spring, and see how things turned out. I'm rooting for them.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Charliemum]

They have their winter quarters, for better or worse, I will just leave them be and hope they chose wisely. If I can find something to put around the boxes without disturbing access then I will, otherwise I'll look when the weather gets warmer in the Spring, and see how things turned out. I'm rooting for them.

Thanks again for the advice.

Whatever you decided those Tetchy will be fine they are hard combat boot wearing middle finger up spiders if they have survived there all this time they should be fine and if there is more then one it's clearly a great spood spot, try not to worry about them .
You will go bk n check in spring the cubby will be full of web n Tetchy just like I said to start I promise these spiders are hard they survive our UK weather np n its wet n rainy/snowy 24/7 and I can't go a foot in my garden without finding a Tetchy web, and tbh if she laying sacs she is on limited time anyways once these start producing sacs they will keep going till they exhaust themselves. Its sad but its been true of all pregnant females in my experience.
I am sure in spring there will be babys move into your loft/attic space without your intervention little ones get everywhere .

Ps your definitely not a monster not just anybody would be sitting worrying about a couple of Tetchy in there cubby, most would squash them n carry on , just you coming on here to ask shows your a very caring person, the fact you help cats n possum too well that just proves it, no monsters here .