What do you do with your house spiders?

[P.P.'s Mom]

I have a few true spiders in the house that have made their home in corners and closets. They are just about as interesting to me as my T's. I was hoping that I am not alone or crazy as my husband would like to think. What do you all do with that web in the window sill or corner at your place?

 

[Camberwell]

i caught a spider from my living room only the other day, its now in a little jar and has eaten 3 pinheads, hehe

 

[Immortal_sin]

I pretty much leave them alone. They eat the bugs that get in, so they are doing me a favor. When my M-I-L comes over, she takes my broom and sweeps the cobwebs out of the corners, they drive her nuts! I don't let her do it unless there's no spider there

 

[Lorgakor]

It really depends on what kind of spider it is. The big Tegenaria sp. that I find in the bath tub or running around on the floor I take outside. I figure they are safer there than in the house with the cats. Smaller spiders I just leave be. I don't mind them and they catch other nasties. Although I put some jumping spiders outside too, the cats tend to go for those as well.

 

[MrFeexit]

Relocate outside. Some of the smaller ones I will place in a houseplant but mostly outside they go.

 

[cacoseraph]

up until my collection passed around the 50 cephalothorax mark i had a decent collection of house/local spiders. i still have the odd black widow, funnel web weaver, or whatnot, but mainly ran out of space

They are indeed very interesting, with the added bonus of very different prey capture techniques for some of the web-catchers

now unless i see something particularily interesting (like the Yellow Sac Spider that made a sac-house and egg cluster in my A. seemani's cage) i just let them catch all my escaped crix for me

 

[wicked]

I voted other. It depends on the spider and where it is. There is some type of garden spider with a web in my kitchen window (much to the horror of my aunt who was visiting this weekend). I leave her be since she doesn't wander or get in my way and I really hate flies (The spider not my aunt).
Black widows get a first class ride straight out the door and away from the house. The roaming spiders like jumping spiders and wolf spiders usually get put outside too.
Spiders in the basement usually get left alone unless its a widow. My kids have even started catching bugs and feeding the spiders that are under our deck.

 

[spydrhunter1]

I leave them where they are, figuring they do their part in pest control. I currently have 2 very small ones living in the bathroom and 1 in the kitchen.

 

[Code Monkey]

I leave them be, if I am messing with them it's to relocate them from a decidedly dangerous location like my shower to a better place in the home. I'll even feed them on occasion. One of the most dissapointing occurences was a large female tube web species that had a web in my old apartment kitchen, the web was easily 2 feet across, covering most of the window sill and extending to nearby shelf. She was there for almost 2 month and was fat as can be because I was feeding her left over roaches when I fed my Ts. Then the apartment exterminator SOAKED the window and window sill with bug spray killing her and everything else in the vicinity. I was so mad, it's as if they thought I hadn't noticed the nearly opaque web covering more than a few square feet. After that, I never let them spray again under the guise that I didn't want pesticides used near my infant daughter.

I'm thrilled that we're now in a new home since no pesticides were ever used inside and none ever will be barring something serious like termites. The spiders do an excellent job of controlling the invaders.

This is a jumper that showed up about a week ago that I've been having a blast seeing where it shows up next. It's quite the mover showing up in different places on the main floor of my house as it hunts.

 

[Silver.x]

Feed them off to my spiders.

 

[nightbreed]

I normally relocate them but thats more for my wifes sanity than anything else.

Code Monkey, that jumper is so cute how big is it?

 

[ta2edpop]

I dress them all up like clowns!---Send in the clowns. I would much rather have them in my house than the bugs they are eating for me. Plus I think it is much more amusing to watch a little jumping spider on the window rather than a roach eating a turkey leg!

 

[Cirith Ungol]

I've either given them their own little makeshift tanks (if the spiders are large) or I've put them in the pillbug container. Because as long as they live there they'll get an unlimited ammount of food and I get to see them once in a while. If they die they'll become food.

 

[Code Monkey]

I normally relocate them but thats more for my wifes sanity than anything else.

My wife lacks my manic passion for spiders, but she doesn't mind them at all and is warming up more and more as the years go by.

Code Monkey, that jumper is so cute how big is it?

She's about 3/4"

 

[Tescos]

Code Monkey, that jumper is so cute how big is it?

Why am I having problems with looking at your avitar and then imagineing you saying the word cute?

 

[nightbreed]

My wife lacks my manic passion for spiders, but she doesn't mind them at all and is warming up more and more as the years go by.

My wife started as a complete arachnophobe, shes getting better though, especially with the Avics, but house spiders running around loose are still a major no no

She's about 3/4"

Ahhh I have a major soft spot for jumpers, I think its the large eyes, they look almost intelligent, well they are pretty smart as far as spiders go.
We only get little Zebra jumpers (Salticus scenicus) around here and they max out at about 5 - 7mm, the UK needs bigger jumpers dagnabbit

Why am I having problems with looking at your avitar and then imagineing you saying the word cute?

I get that sort of thing alot, I can say cute but my definition doesnt always seem to fit in with most other peoples idea of "cute" ;P

 

[bagheera]

Leave 'em be. They are earning their keep!

 

[cryptly]

Last year, I reloacted the house spiders. I got overrun with flies and other pests.

This year, I've decided to just let them be. I've got unidentified house spiders living in corners, in the house plants (the non-carnivorous ones), under the kitchen sink. . .everywhere. Considering that I no longer have any problems with pesty bugs I don't mind the house spiders at all.

My cats keep the house spider population in check. It's like a mini ecosystem in my house. Kinda fun to watch.

 

[MizM]

I find "wolf" spiders (Chip, I think they are your tube-web spideys) in my roach colony every week. I give them a good talking to and take them outside, but they just can't resist all that juicy goodness just sitting there waiting for them!

 

[jdcarrel]

if it is just a common house spider I will freakishly run around in circles for a few minutes and then murder them in cold blood with my hand while listening to Shostakovich's Symphony No 13.


if it is a jumping spider or wolf spider I might consider catching and keeping, but more than likely I will just do my spider ritual.