Any unwanted critters in your home? (besides any relatives)

[asimpson2006]

Had ants problems earlier in the summer but that has for the most part stopped.  The other big thing and this is mainly the a big problem with the Mid-Atlantic region is stink bugs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug.  Now we don't too many in the house but they are EVERYWHERE outside.  You see them all the time outside and you can't step on them, because they give off a terrible smell (I haven't smelled it myself so I can't give an info on that.)

I've just learned to accept them and do my best to avoid stepping on them. 

[retrorussell]

This year I'm being mobbed by spiders!  I'm terrified of spiders!  Normally, my cats take care of them, but this year there are babies!  Teensy weensy baby spiders dangling centimeters from my face!  At first I think it's a fleck of dust or a little fuzzy, but then my eyes focus on the horror before me!  And then I stumble away gasping for help and no one can see the darn thing and I have to get all close to it again to point it out!  In many ways these microscopic menaces are scarier than the big guys.. what if I inhale one? or one gets tangled in my hair? or plops into my cereal??  I've ran into about 5 of these in the past few weeks.

Maybe hunt around the outside of the house or in corners of the ceilings inside of the house and see if there's any egg sacs.  Spray the hell out of them.  There's also a product called "Catchmaster" specifically designed for spiders.
http://www.cleanertoday.com/Spider-traps-s/86.htm

[indianasmith]

You know, Paquita, one out of five adults have a spider living in their ear canal . . . .

[Andrew]

Had ants problems earlier in the summer but that has for the most part stopped.  The other big thing and this is mainly the a big problem with the Mid-Atlantic region is stink bugs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug.  Now we don't too many in the house but they are EVERYWHERE outside.  You see them all the time outside and you can't step on them, because they give off a terrible smell (I haven't smelled it myself so I can't give an info on that.)

I've just learned to accept them and do my best to avoid stepping on them. 

We've got them in droves here in DE.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

As far as decidedly unwelcome house guests, does anyone remember the British family that recently had a Camel Spider living in their house?

One of their sons, a military vet from the current Afghanistan war, somehow brought it back with him (might have stowed in his duffle bag) and it wreaked so much havoc the family had to move out. Now there's a truly creepy crawler!   

[The Gravekeeper]

As far as decidedly unwelcome house guests, does anyone remember the British family that recently had a Camel Spider living in their house?

One of their sons, a military vet from the current Afghanistan war, somehow brought it back with him (might have stowed in his duffle bag) and it wreaked so much havoc the family had to move out. Now there's a truly creepy crawler!   

Catch it! People buy those things as pets. Talk to the right people and you could probably get some cash for your pest.

Anyway, the aphids have gotten pretty bad around here. You step outside, and you're in a swarm of them. You can't get away from them, because they're EVERYWHERE. You breathe aphids outside, every gentle breeze sends at least a half dozen crashing into you (around here we're HAPPY to get a gentle breeze; it's usually just flat-out wind), if you open your mouth you risk swallowing one by accident. At least ladybugs are starting to show up, so hopefully they'll put a dent in the aphid population.

[AndyC]

I think I finally caught the last mouse. I have a little pile of Niger seed on the basement floor that the little buggers seem to like. They scatter it pretty quickly. Every time I catch one, I sweep it back into a nice, neat pile and watch to see if it gets scattered again. So far, the seed is staying together.

[Jim H]

Oh man.  My house is right next to a big thing of woods.  We have mice living in our basement (it's almost pointless to try to kill all of them, since they can obviously relatively easily get in from the woods).  Also, cave crickets, which I friggin' HATE.  Occasionally we find asian cockroaches (they're slow moving, black, and don't have full wings).  We get spiders too. 

All of these I can deal with.  What I can't deal with is our cats got fleas a while ago.  And we simply CAN'T get rid of them.  Nothing seems to really help long term, even doing the topical drugs which are supposed to kill every flea on the cat in a matter of hours, there's ALWAYS some on them still alive when we check - even if we isolate the cat for half a day so it can't pick them up from the carpet (which, yes, we vaccuum just to get fleas).  I really don't know what we're going to do, as it's rather frustrating and it means we find fleas in random places every so often.   

[3mnkids]

With the weather getting cooler the flies arent as big of a problem but Im still getting the occasional one in the house. I hate flies. They are disgusting. After living in FL for so long and dealing with love bugs, palmetto bugs, fire ants, and some of the biggest spiders I've ever seen, Cave crickets and flies in IL arent so bad.   

[retrorussell]

I don't know what kind of spider it was that I found on my living room ceiling in the corner, but it was so damn HUGE I thought it was a big cricket at first glance.  I got on a chair with a wad of paper towel in hand, jumped up and tried to mush it.  It fell to a loud thud (for a spider, anyway) and I didn't see where it went.  Turned on the light and there it was on the floor trying to hide from me.  Didn't work. :) Mush!!!

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

As far as decidedly unwelcome house guests, does anyone remember the British family that recently had a Camel Spider living in their house?

One of their sons, a military vet from the current Afghanistan war, somehow brought it back with him (might have stowed in his duffle bag) and it wreaked so much havoc the family had to move out. Now there's a truly creepy crawler!  

Catch it! People buy those things as pets. Talk to the right people and you could probably get some cash for your pest.

Try to get it? Not when it's 10 inches long, I ain't. You first  

These things are bigger than the Amazonian bird eating tarantulas, which in itself are 1 and a half times the size of a man's hand. Let me know how it went for you  

[AndyC]

Camel spiders are freakishly hideous even by spider standards.

[Mofo Rising]

When I first moved into this house we had a real problem with cockroaches. The big two-inch cockroaches, which you just can't ignore. I used to walk around with bare feet until I had the experience of the pitter-patter of little feet crawling across my own feet.

A heavy dusting of boric acid mixed with cockroach pheromones seems to have taken care of most of them, except for the few who crawl in from outside and don't have the sense to die.

My problem now is worse, since any inch of my house I don't keep up becomes the home to a black widow. I womp them with a broom when I see them, but I really don't relish the idea of being surprised by a black widow. Now, I'm not going to die from a bite but...

Ah, life without health insurance...

[Trevor]

Right now, it's builders here, the garden flat I live in and the attached house are being renovated. I suppose I shouldn't grumble really as it's positive progress.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

Camel spiders are freakishly hideous even by spider standards.

You ain't kiddin, man!  As a side note, my next door neighbor's son is currently in the U.S. Army and he's had 2 tours in Iraq, and he said that one thing the guys would is out on desert patrol is catch Camel Spiders and make bets on which one would win in the ring.  And yes, he said pretty much what you did, that these things are hideous.