You're Never More Than 3 Feet Away From A Spider

[Ash]

I recently heard somewhere that "A person is never more than 3 feet away from a spider at any given time."

I just seem to be attracting insects/arachnids wherever I go.
I had that horrible experience with the two wasps the other day and last night (9-4-04) I had a run-in with not two, but 3 spiders.
(my computer is in one of those creepy unfinished basements which are havens for spiders....actually, it's half finished)

I spotted the first one crawling up the basement wall.
A small wolf spider.
It skittered up the wall and disappeared into a crack.

The second one I saw running across the floor and it was also a wolf spider but it was a big one.
I normally leave them alone because I pride spiders on their pesky insect killing abilities but if it comes within a foot of me, it will die.
That second one did indeed cross my set boundary line and I took off one of my sandals.
I said aloud, "I'm sorry" and brought my sandal down upon it.
I hate taking life of any kind and I fear that when I die, I will stand before God and be judged.  
I fear that God will show me every instance of me taking ANY kind of life...spiders included and that I'll be punished accordingly.
That's why I said, "I'm sorry."

Several hours later, I see another different kind kind of spider descending down from the basement ceiling.

This spider seemed like it was going to drop straight into my beer (I had poured a beer into a glass mug) but it was a little off and didn't.
I flicked it with my left middle finger and it went flying.

Do you believe that you're never more than 3 feet away from a spider?
Are you scared s**tless of arachnids?
Other than Arachnaphobia, what other good spider movies are there?



Post Edited (09-07-04 05:00)

[Susan]

Luckily i don't have roaches or ants in my apt, but i sure have a big problem with these tiny spiders all over the place. Normally i'd freak out since i hate spiders, but they're the really small ones that almost look like babies. I used to not mind bugs as a child until I lived in Arizona, then on a regular basis i was confronted with the most HORRIBLE THINGS EVER.

We had black widow webs in the house, I saw large tarantulas running around outside alot. In fact if someone ever abandoned their house you could tell because it would be covered outside with tarantulas. Once i reached over the fence gate to unlock it and felt something fuzzy, as i quickly retracted my hand and peeked through the fence i saw a tarantula running across the yard into a hole. I used to have dreams of a giant spider ripping the roof off of my house and putting me in it's mouth and carrying me to the mountains. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Worst Experience ever that has traumatized me for life:
   One night it was in the 3am area, and something pulled me slightly from my slumber. A slight tickle on my hand which in my half state of sleep I figured was a hair or something. I stretched and closed my hand and inside the palm of my hand I felt a very large, plump spider wiggling furiously with some of it's legs caught outside my fingers. I woke up so fast it's like someone threw me into a cold swimming pool. I opened and threw my hand as far as I could, stood up on my feet in my bed and in the darkness, pondered in sheer horror of what had just happened. The worst part was I couldn't get to sleep that night until I found the damn thing, so i tore up my bedroom, mattress leaning on the wall, raid fumigating everything....

Ever since then i get paranoid about them joining me in bed. I always have a fear theyre going to climb into my mouth or something. Sometimes i imagine them on the ceiling above my head and i have to turn on the light just to make sure.

[Mr. Hockstatter]

I'm a big fan of spider movies.  Arachnid is good, so is Spiders, and I even like Spiders II - Breeding Ground.  There seems to be a link between giant spiders and girls in tight T-shirts.

[Yaddo42]

I've killed my share, and then some probably, just depends on when and where I encounter them. And when I think of how often we used to play with Grandaddy Long Legs when we would find them as kids......

It's stupid but what I hate more than finding a spider is walking into an unseen spider web. Even once I've gotten the stuff off me, I still feel like something is crawling on me. And I jump and twitch  at the slgihtest thing convinced its sure to be a brown recluse or black widow with my name on it.

Just a last pointless digression. If the jokes and rumors on that show about myths, lies, and legends in country music are true, David Allen Coe carries a spider with him at all times. Supposedly he a one tattooed on, er....................."Little Dave".

[Eirik]

I believe that that is probably true most of the time.  Maybe not when you're in your car on the Interstate, but definitely in your house.  Spiders go where the bugs are and bugs are attracted to people for all the edible junk they leave around.  I really like to have spiders around for that very reason...  We'd be swimming in bugs without them.  I heard once that a daddy longlegs has the most powerful venom of any spider in North America - even black widow.  Their problem -- and the reason so many get their legs torn off by kids -- is that their mandibles are not large enough to grip and penetrate human skin.  Poor doomed bastards.

My favorite all time spider scene is not in a movie but in a book - The Princess Bride by William Goldman.  In the book, Fezzig and Inigo have to pass by three guardians to get to the bottom of the Pit of Despair.  They best the first two, and are aware that the third is most deadly but they do not know what form it takes (it is a special kind of venomous spider on the underside of the handle of the final door).  It's a cool scene so I won't spoil it.  I strongly recommend the book - the movie cut a bunch of scenes, but it has the same very funny tongue in cheek tone.

[trekgeezer]

If you haven't seen it  Mr. Hockstatter, you should check out 8-legged Freaks.  It has some hilarious giant spider action.  I thinks they are all done with CG, but they look very good.    Someone dumps toxic waste near the Arachnid Museum and all hell insues.  Ends up with the town folk hiding in th Mall and using the old mine shafts under the town to get around.

[Ash]

trek_geezer wrote:

> If you haven't seen it  Mr. Hockstatter, you should check out
> 8-legged Freaks.  It has some hilarious giant spider action.  I
> thinks they are all done with CG, but they look very good.  
> Someone dumps toxic waste near the Arachnid Museum and all hell
> insues.  Ends up with the town folk hiding in th Mall and using
> the old mine shafts under the town to get around.
>

Ah...how could I have forgotten 8 Legged Freaks!
That was a good flick.

[odinn7]

I have had a Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula since '95 (they can live to about 20 years) and I keep it in a 10 gallon aquarium where it spends most of the day sleeping. This spider is about 5 inches across at the legs so it is a decent size. I've always found spiders to be fascinating to look at but I still will not pick this spider up for 3 reasons. The first being that even though I like spiders, I can not play Fear Factor and actually bring myself to hold it. The second reason is that I am not sure if I am allergic to the bite from one of these. The bite is like a bee sting to many but if you are allergic, it could possibly cause you some major problems. The third reason is that if you drop it , it's posible to break it's "shell" and cause it to die.
My wife is creeped out by 'Gomez' and can't bring herself to look at it. She was very upset when I bought it and brought it home with me way back when. I was forced to take it to work with me and keep it there for almost a year. She finally got over it somewhat and allowed me to bring Gomez home. Anyway, this brings me to a funny story...
In  late '96 I purchased some sort of tree spider that an un-informed pet store had listed as a Rose Hair. He was a little more than 2 inches across and quite formidable looking (mean and ugly). I rigged a 5 gallon aquarium with a snug fitting lid to keep him in, much the same as I was keeping Gomez in. We had them on the entertainment center and everything was fine for a few months. One day I was walking by and didn't see the tree spider on his branch where he would normally sit. I looked closer and closer still. He had somehow breached security and escaped though I could find no evidence of how it happened. "Oh my God...what the Hell am I going to tell Darcie (my wife)..." I calmed down and then started looking for it...behind the entertainment center, under the couch, the curtains, everywhere. I then started to think that perhaps he had escaped and the cats hammered him as soon as they saw him. When my wife got home I had trouble telling her but I had to. She turned white, I mean white as paper. I thought she was going to pass out. I told her that the cats had definitely gotten him and he wouldn't be a problem. She didn't quite believe me but thought that I could possibly be right. Sleeping was very difficult...for both of us. I tried to act like I KNEW the cats got it but I was worried that I would wake up one night with this overtly predatory tree spider sitting on my face. I was more than worried, I was scared. My wife had trouble sleeping for the next couple nights and I had to beer myself to sleep. After a few days with searches turning up nothing, we both agreed that the cats got it and then we forgot about it. About 2 weeks later, the cats were acting strange around the entertainment center. I got up and looked but didn't see anything. I got a flash light and poked my head around the back with the light so I could get a good look. All of a sudden, my eyes focused on this SOB about 3 inches from my face. I jumped back and after a few seconds I was able to get my heart started again. Anyway, I managed to capture it and get it back in the cage which I then duct taped every possible opening except for a few air holes. When my wife got home I told her I had re-captured it at which point she got pale again and then started smacking me. Apparently she was upset that we had lived with it running free for 2 and a half weeks. She made me get rid of it. I was still allowed to keep Gomez however because she is a good spider and never causes any problems :-)
It's funny now but back then it was a rough time.
On a side note...This spider molts about every 18 months (they do it more often when they are young) and she leaves a really cool looking exo-skeleton complete with all the fuzz, legs and everything. I have used these "shells" to do some really fun practical jokes. You can leave them in desk drawers, on shelves, in co-workers lockers...loads of laughs.

[Ash]

odinn7 wrote:


> In  late '96 I purchased some sort of tree spider that an
> un-informed pet store had listed as a Rose Hair. He was a
> little more than 2 inches across and quite formidable looking
> (mean and ugly).

That is so creepy that your spider actually stuck around the house.
I would've figured it would've made its way outside eventually but nope.
A house is a pretty big place for a spider.
It makes you wonder where he went in your house and who's face he crawled on while you both were sleeping.

It would be cool if you could hear the spider's thoughts as he plotted what he was gonna do to you after he escaped.
He was angry that you kept him locked up in that terrarium and had planned to make good on his revenge.
It could be like the movie Cat's Eye...the cats protected you for 2 1/2 weeks from the spider.
Any idea of what species/type of spider it was?
I'm curious to know what it looks like.
(maybe find a pic online?)



Post Edited (09-05-04 18:06)

[Kory]

Never more that 3 feet away?!?!?  NOOOOOOO!!!!!

Okay, well, you'll all be witness to me slowly going out of my mind in the days & weeks to come.  Eventually they'll put me away.

THANKS ASH!!!!!!!!!!

[odinn7]

Ash,
The tree spider really had no choice but to stay in the house. It was winter here and he would've been dead outside. I like to think that he just stayed on the entertainment center and never left that general area but I doubt it. I often think about how he was probably stalking us.
Anyway, I'm not quite sure what kind of tarantula he was as I wasn't too good at identifying them other than a few common species that I was sure of (and I know he wasn't a Rose Hair as the guy at the pet store claimed). I consider him a tree spider because generally they have very long, thin legs with thin bodies. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of different species of spiders and I am just not knowledgeable enough to be sure. I suspect that it may have been a Puerto Rican Pink Toe but I can't be positive. As far as a picture goes, I have a link to a picture here of something real similar in appearance other than mine was tan. The body and the legs are nearly identical.

http://www.swiftinverts.com/species/Cander1m.jpg

The most unfortunate thing about him escaping was he ruined my plans for future purchases of tarantulas. My wife will allow Gomez to stay but I am not able to get another tarantula...ever. I had wanted to get 2 more very interesting ones: the King Baboon Spider and the Goliath Bird Eater. If you find spiders creepy, do a search on these 2 and see what you think.


http://www.swiftinverts.com/species/Cander1m.jpg

[Ash]

odinn7 wrote:

> Ash,
> The tree spider really had no choice but to stay in the house.
> It was winter here and he would've been dead outside. I like to
> think that he just stayed on the entertainment center and never
> left that general area but I doubt it.

I can imagine all sorts of scenarios.
The spider made its way into one of the dark & dry cupboards and is clinging to the side of a cereal box.
Your wife opens the cupboard, grabs the cereal box, not knowing that Mr. Tree Spider is sitting centimeters away from her fingertips.
She happens to be chatting away on the phone as she grabs the cereal.
She takes the box out and brings it to the table...the spider is still on the box but she doesn't see it.
The spider drops off the side of the box and skitters away.
It makes its way across and down one of the table legs.

Or...

You are sitting at your computer typing up a thread or checking e-mail.
You get up to take a p**s.
While you're gone, that spider was under your keyboard or on the side of the desk.
It scurries over top of your keyboard where your fingers were typing away just minutes ago.
It stops, waits a minute or two and then disappears down the other side of the desk.

Or....

You're sitting on the toilet taking a dump.
Maybe you're reading the newspaper or MAXIM Magazine.
You finish your business, flush the toilet, close the toilet lid and turn away to wash your hands in the sink.
You dry your hands and as you turn to leave, you see the spider sitting there on top of the toilet lid you just closed.

Or...

Your wife is taking a shower.
She has just rinsed shampoo out of her eyes and is reaching for the soap.
The spider has perched himself on the soap and she grabs the spider instead of the soap!
She gets it almost to her face before she realizes it's a spider.
You hear screams from the bathroom.

All those scenarios play on the fact that the spider kept on the move while he was free.
It's so easy to believe that he remained sedentary.
It's much creepier to know that he was moving around all over the house constantly.
He must've been good because he managed to evade your cats.
And that ain't no easy feat for your average Tree Spider.

I could go on & on with more scenarios...
I think I may actually write some of them down.



Post Edited (09-06-04 06:41)

[dean]

I think the creepiest thought I'd have with this particular spider is knowing that he could be watching you sleep, just sitting on the wall, or on the cupboard, eye's glinting in the night sky, plotting the moment when he shall attack, biding his time until all thoughts about him were forgotten... and he makes his move.


Spiders are generally very creepy, but pretty cool.  I have a certain respect for them.  I tend to leave the daddy long legs alone, since I have nothing against them [unless of course they break Ash's 3 foot rule] and they are fairly respectful of me too.

That is, despite all I have done to them.  Me and my friends used to go to a holiday house when we had a break from school, go out into the bushland nearby and get all kinds of bugs in jars and watch them fight to the death.  We would find all manner of big huntsman spiders and watch them catch flies, or throw in some bull-ants and see how can beat who.

Unfortunatley, huntsmans are babies, they run away from the flies most of the time, and the bullants are just really agressive: the huntsman just wants to be left alone, not kill them, even if it could.  The bull-ants constantly gave a good show, especially when they are opposing nests, with the spiders, you have to watch them all the time, otherwise you'll miss the moment when they finally pounce [which is very cool by the way].

Since I'm Australian, we have all manner of really nasty spiders around.  Sure they're poisonous, and often quite nasty, but  most of them are fairly small and I'd take the little ones over the big 'i'm-scared-outta-my-effing-mind' tarantulas and hairy ones that other countries have.

[Susan]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!




An actual species of tarantula - the largest in the world.
 mommy



Post Edited (09-06-04 17:14)

[Mr. Hockstatter]

Thanks for the tip - I've been meaning to rent that.