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My cats bring strange crawlies in all the time. Two nights ago, I bent down to put my slippers on, not noticing the buzzard look my cat had directed towards my slippers. Just as I reached down, I saw the biggest fattest spider, closing in on my slippers.
Rather than do the brave thing (smash it with my ineffective monkey slipper) I freaked and hollered at DH, who also kinda freaked. He squished it and then we both felt guilty. Willing intruders deserve a squish, but this poor spider was probably minding her own business when my cat came along and decided she looked like a good plaything.
#&&% cat.
Jackbuilt
__________________ "Whatever you are, be a good one." ~Abraham Lincoln
Once I bought a box of granola. Sealed and everything, but when I opened it, and tried to pour it in a bowl, it was one big mess of crazy, sticky cocoon-like spider webs.
I can't buy granola without thinking about that.
I had a caterpillar (and it's poo) crawling in a container of basil just a month or so ago.
I've had a moth in the bottom of my chicken ceasar salad that I was almost finished with. Thank God it was the WHOLE moth.
I'm also certain I keep the world's fruit fly population going somehow by bringing them home in boxes of taffy apples and strawberries.
I swear I'm sober when I grocery shop. And I swear I inspect stuff.
__________________ Stacey
The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass. (Martin Mull)
I am SO glad I dont have a gross bug story... I think I'm gonna have hubby check every can, container, bucket, fruit etc in the house. I of course will be hiding at my craft desk with my computer! lol
This isn't spider related, but gross just the same. Years ago I worked for Walmart. I was the Dept. Manager of the Garden Center and we had gotten in pallets of boxes of lawn chairs.. the kind with tubes.. I don't see them any more.. but anyways.. we were opening boxes and hanging up the chairs and one group of chairs we hung up, something fell out to the floor and it looked like some dirty nasty underwear.. we were all a bit freaked and went and got a rake to scoop them up and put in a trash bag.. eeck!
speaking of spiders.. I went out in the garage the other night to put one of my kids lunch boxes in the freezer and there on the floor near the cooler was a spider that was about 4" or bigger in diameter.. I shrieked and my hubby came and killed it.. it's sitting here in a ziploc bag right here near the computer.. I wanted to find out what kind it was.. but didn't have any luck seeing any pictures that looked like it.. other than a tarantula I seen at Fort Hood, TX crawling in the street, this was the biggest spider I have seen in my life.
Pam
I had one like this in my house 2 weeks ago. I'd NEVER seen a spider this big, other than a tarantula. I threw a shoe at it and it ran so fast into my CLOSET! I didn't go in the closet for 2 days. Haven't seen it again since, but hopefully he found his way back outside however he got in.
So does anyone have any bedbug stories? I keep hearing about them on the news and I'm totally freaked out. I'm almost afraid to stay in a hotel again!
My contribution - - when I was about 15, I went to Orlando to visit my aunt. She lived close to a couple lakes (one was across the street, behind the apartments there). One night, I walked outside to go see the girl next door (I was barefoot). The sidewalk was covered with these tiny little frogs and I was stepping all over them! To this day, I can't stand frogs!
Janet
__________________ (My Avatar is my son in Iraq and his dog, Bodie -- note Bodie's haircut!)
I can't tell you how totally grossed out and anxious I am now. I have an aversion to insects, expecially spiders. I have had two of the wolf spiders in my house and I freaked out big time!
this is like one of those t.v. shows that you just can't turn off because its SOO disgusting -but soo interesting at the same time..haha
Last summer I went outside with my puppy-and I was playing with him with his toy that was right near our fence-and the fence had our neighbors shed on the other side. Well, I looked up and saw the BIGGEST spider I have ever seen in my life-just sitting there weaving it's little web..It was atleast as big as my hand-if not bigger. So, I panicked a bit-but didn't want the spider to fall to the ground (I didn't want it to EAT my puppy-HAHA) so I went to our shed and got some wasp and bee killer...
I kid you not-when I sprayed that thing with the killer it literally HISSED...
oo-and earlier this year-I opened up a packet of Gushers (those fruit-snack type things that kids eat)...and there were little mealy worms in them...snacking on the gushers..SICK)
Pam,
You probably found a Carolina wolf spider. I know about them because I found one in my kitchen last year! They're not dangerous unless you count the heart attack that they cause! I had to call my kids to see him because I knew my husband wouldn't believe me when I told him how big it was. Here's a picture, but they can be different shades of gray or brown. Is this your critter? This isn't my kitchen-just a picture off the net.
I just saw this on msn and thought I'd share. Yuck!!
Check out this web page and read the story and see a picture of it. Again I say YUCK!
Bug from Borneo is the world's longest
Insect is nearly the length of a human arm, British scientists say
You guys are cracking me up with all the bug/spider stuff! I am a 5th grade teacher and I teach science to 3 classes. I love bugs and we always make s bug collection. The kids bring in all kinds of bugs they find. I put them in the freezer of my mini fridge. None of the other teachers will put anything in my fridge! lol The janitor always brings me bugs in cups or bags so I can save them. He's even brought me a few black widow spiders. I put them in the freezer when they first die so when you get ready to set the legs you can thaw them out and move the legs without breaking them. Then you leave them pinned and let them dry out.
And I have a spider story! One of my kids brought in 2 spider egg sacks she found. They were in a rubbermaid container and she kept the lid cracked a little so they could get air. We went home for a long weekend. When we got back and started class that morning and one of the kids wanted to know why there were little, tiny spiders on his desk. Well, we got to looking and there were baby spiders everywhere!!! We pulled everything off the back counter and squished baby spiders. There were tons of them all over! I didn't tell any of the other teachers because I knew they would never come back in my room. It didn't bother me but some of them would freak out!
Pam,
You probably found a Carolina wolf spider. I know about them because I found one in my kitchen last year! They're not dangerous unless you count the heart attack that they cause! I had to call my kids to see him because I knew my husband wouldn't believe me when I told him how big it was. Here's a picture, but they can be different shades of gray or brown. Is this your critter? This isn't my kitchen-just a picture off the net.
Here's my contribution..........I'm sorry for not just posting the picture, but I can't find it now, but here's the thread where I originally posted it last summer: (it's a wolf spider also..........this one from Wisconsin.......if you have time click on the picture, it really shows some detail, although not quite as nice as Susan's)
This thing freaked me out a bit, and then yesterday there was another one on our back porch, although not as big as this one was. I let the one from last summer survive in the garage, but the one yesterday was in my home, so my DS felt awfully manly when I called on him to save us from it.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who freaks out (though I am getting a bit braver). My worst ever was when we were renovating and I didn't go in our back room for ages because we were just storing stuff in there. WELL- opened the door and I guess a nasty big spider must have layed its eggs in there cos there were hunsman spiders EVERYWHERE. Ceiling, all walls, window, in the closet. You get the picture- major freakout. I had to exit in a hurry and then calm down before returning with a years load of spray. Had trouble sleeping that night!
__________________ Kathy visit my gallery Stop dreaming about it, make it happen!
Hi guys, I am new to this thread, think it is just great and feel I must reply.
I am, like you all freaked out when I see spiders but I came across this great remedy on an Australian web site.
Wipe all entrances and ceiling corners where the horrors tend to gather with a solution of eucalyptus oil (water soluable) and water. It's also safe to use in cupboards and wardrobes too. Kind to pets and kids, gives off a nice smell and gets rid of spiders (and other bugs). It really works - haven't seen a spider, ant or roach all summer.
Spiders are my biggest fear in the entire universe, right ahead of my irrational fear of crocodiles. I SWEAR spiders are minions of the devil! I'm so afraid of them that I can't even kill them. The only ones that don't scare me are daddy long legs. I especially hate the kind that hunt instead of spin webs. When I was growing up in MI, we used to get these little, hairy wolf spiders that jumped. They would also spin around really quickly and wave their front two legs in the air if you got near them, which of COURSE I would never do on purpose.
My mom tells a story about how when I was in high school, there was a spider on the ceiling of my bedroom. She thought that if she made me kill it myself, I'd get over my fear. NOT! She said I literally had a mini seizure and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I was so terrified. :eek:
In 2001, I got bit on my right pone by a spider that had taken up residence under the toilet seat of the apartment where I lived alone. That sucker abcessed and I ended up having to get a shot to soften it, since it was too big and hard for the doctor to lance. I wouldn't wish the pain from that spider bite on anyone....except maybe terrorists. Or child molestors. Perhaps the board of my HOA. You get the picture.
Last story. In 2001, I was driving home from work on the expressway in Atlanta. It was fall/winter, so the sun was already setting at 5 o'clock. I reached up to pull down my visor and a spider was RIGHT THERE looking at me like some kind of sick, hellish, jack-in-the-box surprise. Fortunately, I was already in the righthand lane getting ready to exit, because I pulled to the shoulder and jumped out so fast, I didn't even put the car in park! I had to kind of trot to catch up with my car with the door hanging wide open, reach in and slam the car into park. (If you are a compassionate person you are NOT LAUGHING. ) A co-worker drove by, saw me standing on the side of the road and stopped to help. All she ended up doing was hitting at the spider and making it run and hide. My fellow arachnophobics out there know that the one thing worse than the spider you see...(say it with me) is the spider you don't!!
Forgot to say in my previous 'thread' is this the right jargon I'm new to all this?
You can use the ecaluptus oil/water solution in the car too, the little devils just disappear.
I would add that my fear of these creatures manifested itself when I was twelve up to that time I used to even collect spiders and keep them in jars in my bedroom, but one dark day when exploring an old mine (I shouldn't have been there anyway) with a great friend of mine, we came upon a sheet of corregated iron. I was unfortuneatly on the far side of it when my friend lifted it up to expose a nest of deadly red back spiders. She freaked dropped the torch and fled leaving me in the dark with them. I was totally freaked out. Luckily I escaped without being bitten but have been scared stiff of any spider since.
(If you are a compassionate person you are NOT LAUGHING. )
So I wa reading in rap attention, more intriegued by the story than anything... then I hit this little insert and then (and only then) I started laughing, more from the suddeness of the intejection than anything... really, I was really serious, hand on the mouth, eyes wide and everything.
I totally feel for you pain, I have a daughter and granddaughter that freak out with the sight of a spider, they are really afraid of them, so I do understand where you are coming from.
__________________ ~~@Marcia Luisa@~~ Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance. -Bruce Barton
Guess that just proves fruit is dangerous...should stick to individually wrapped chocolates...LOL
Good Point!
Guess what? Flowers are dangerous, too.
I once worked as a florist and was told horror stories about what people found in the boxes of leather fern...it comes from Florida and there was a story of someone being bitten by a poisonous snake that had come in the box.
Well, I had more than one surprise in the leather fern; once I found a spider and another time a frog. I screamed both times and I'm not afraid of either, Just wasn't expecting it.
__________________ He set His STAMP of ownership on us, and put His spirit in our hearts as a deposit 2 Cor 1:22Jan
OK: The story about the spider under the toilet seat bugs me.... I've always suspected that's where they'd get me:(
The other story about the spider under the visor is deja-vu! I had one time I was driving to work and turned a corner with the sun in my face. I pulled down the visor, and a black spider with a red belly (black widow, ewww) fell upside-down in my lap. I slammed on the breaks so hard and jumped from the car (throwing the spider off in one motion), and only then realized that I could have caused a nasty accident. As it turned out, dh had hauled a bunch of firewood in the back of our Explorer the day before and the little friend must have thought our car was a better home then the old wood. Needless to say, I was wide awake at work that morning!
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejai1922
Spiders are my biggest fear in the entire universe, right ahead of my irrational fear of crocodiles. I SWEAR spiders are minions of the devil! I'm so afraid of them that I can't even kill them. The only ones that don't scare me are daddy long legs. I especially hate the kind that hunt instead of spin webs. When I was growing up in MI, we used to get these little, hairy wolf spiders that jumped. They would also spin around really quickly and wave their front two legs in the air if you got near them, which of COURSE I would never do on purpose.
My mom tells a story about how when I was in high school, there was a spider on the ceiling of my bedroom. She thought that if she made me kill it myself, I'd get over my fear. NOT! She said I literally had a mini seizure and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I was so terrified. :eek:
In 2001, I got bit on my right pone by a spider that had taken up residence under the toilet seat of the apartment where I lived alone. That sucker abcessed and I ended up having to get a shot to soften it, since it was too big and hard for the doctor to lance. I wouldn't wish the pain from that spider bite on anyone....except maybe terrorists. Or child molestors. Perhaps the board of my HOA. You get the picture.
Last story. In 2001, I was driving home from work on the expressway in Atlanta. It was fall/winter, so the sun was already setting at 5 o'clock. I reached up to pull down my visor and a spider was RIGHT THERE looking at me like some kind of sick, hellish, jack-in-the-box surprise. Fortunately, I was already in the righthand lane getting ready to exit, because I pulled to the shoulder and jumped out so fast, I didn't even put the car in park! I had to kind of trot to catch up with my car with the door hanging wide open, reach in and slam the car into park. (If you are a compassionate person you are NOT LAUGHING. ) A co-worker drove by, saw me standing on the side of the road and stopped to help. All she ended up doing was hitting at the spider and making it run and hide. My fellow arachnophobics out there know that the one thing worse than the spider you see...(say it with me) is the spider you don't!!
Ok I hate spiders, just reading about them in this thread makes my heart race. When I actually see them my whole body freezes up in fear and my heart thumps so hard it feels like it's going to come right out of my chest, it's so awful.
I have a million and one spider stories I could share but I'll share the one that scared me the most...
When I was in college I lived in this fabulous apartment on my own for the last year of school. It was on the basement floor so I was unfortunately getting nasty little critters inside all the time, but one night I opened up the back door to take out my dog and I was literally IN THE DOORWAY when I look down at my chest and notice there is a spider about the size of a silver dollar, hairy and brown, basically sitting on my chest. It is only then that I notice I have walked into the spider's web that it built across the doorframe of my patio door. I basically just froze and stood there for a minute, almost had a heart attack from the sheer panic I was feeling, and then finally reversed my steps right back inside and slammed that door. I kept the blinds shut on it and the door shut until the day I moved out about 8 months later, which was sad b/c I liked my back porch. But not enough to face that spider again...ughh.
Oh I feel for you all! How nasty, I do have another horror story about the spiders (many years prior to the back room episode). When I was a teenager I remember bringing in the washing off the line and sitting down to fold it up. I felt a little itchy between my breasts, so naturally I scratched. To my absolute HORROR a reasonable sized spider crawled up from between my breasts and towrd my neck. I don't think I have ever moved that fast.
Must have been something about that washing line because I remember also my little sis going to put her swimmers on straight of the line. She put both legs in the leg holes then looked down to pull the swimmers up. A very large Hunsman was sitting right in the crotch. AARGH!!! NOTE: ALWAYS check your pants before you pull them up!!! Poor darlin, she was only about 6 at the time.
__________________ Kathy visit my gallery Stop dreaming about it, make it happen!
Spiders are my biggest fear in the entire universe, right ahead of my irrational fear of crocodiles. I SWEAR spiders are minions of the devil! I'm so afraid of them that I can't even kill them. The only ones that don't scare me are daddy long legs. I especially hate the kind that hunt instead of spin webs. When I was growing up in MI, we used to get these little, hairy wolf spiders that jumped. They would also spin around really quickly and wave their front two legs in the air if you got near them, which of COURSE I would never do on purpose.
My mom tells a story about how when I was in high school, there was a spider on the ceiling of my bedroom. She thought that if she made me kill it myself, I'd get over my fear. NOT! She said I literally had a mini seizure and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I was so terrified. :eek:
In 2001, I got bit on my right pone by a spider that had taken up residence under the toilet seat of the apartment where I lived alone. That sucker abcessed and I ended up having to get a shot to soften it, since it was too big and hard for the doctor to lance. I wouldn't wish the pain from that spider bite on anyone....except maybe terrorists. Or child molestors. Perhaps the board of my HOA. You get the picture.
Last story. In 2001, I was driving home from work on the expressway in Atlanta. It was fall/winter, so the sun was already setting at 5 o'clock. I reached up to pull down my visor and a spider was RIGHT THERE looking at me like some kind of sick, hellish, jack-in-the-box surprise. Fortunately, I was already in the righthand lane getting ready to exit, because I pulled to the shoulder and jumped out so fast, I didn't even put the car in park! I had to kind of trot to catch up with my car with the door hanging wide open, reach in and slam the car into park. (If you are a compassionate person you are NOT LAUGHING. ) A co-worker drove by, saw me standing on the side of the road and stopped to help. All she ended up doing was hitting at the spider and making it run and hide. My fellow arachnophobics out there know that the one thing worse than the spider you see...(say it with me) is the spider you don't!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one with HOA issues, lol! I'd never thought about using spiders as a defense mechanism against them, but it sounds like a delightful idea (JUST KIDDING!).
Eager to know what the gov't response is to your find Granny!
ETA: I have been bitten so many times by spiders...now I always check the bed & covers and I NEVER NEVER NEVER leave any clothing on the floor.
yeah - me neither...some things are better off NOT being seen... ;)
okay, for those refusing to click, it just looks like a branch. because i know you're imagining some icky gooey disgusting bug from a horror movie! i looked and wasn't grossed out at all!
These stories are great!! Just the other day I was heading down into my basement to do some laundry when I noticed the biggest spider I had ever seen sitting on top of a quilt that was on the ground. I did an immediate about-face and headed back upstairs. I called my husband and told him to get home as fast as humanly possible to kill the thing. I am not even all that scared of spiders. I used to work for a pest control company!! (Administrative, not hands on!!) Every few minutes until he got home I would "sneak" up to the basement door and peek one eye down the stairs to make sure it didn't move. If it would have I would have packed up my son and moved!!!
__________________ Wendy Lord great wonders workest Thou, to Thy sway all creatures bow.
Write Thou deeply on my heart, who I am and who Thou art. Scrappractical - The Blog
I worked in a grocery store for years when I was in high school, college and grad school. There was this one time I was bagging some bananas and this spider about at big as my hand came out of the bunch when they were picked and packaged. I of course screamed and ran away as fast as I could. It was a banana spider and it must have been an egg in the bunch. The produce guy came and killed it and the store had to send it to the Department of Ag. It was the nastiest thing I have ever seen and it gives me a creepy feeling just thinking about it. I'm glad your spider was deceased.
Good grief! I was looking up "banana spiders" after I read your post and on Wikipedia it says:
The Brazilian wandering spiders, armed spiders or banana spiders (not to be confused with the relatively harmless species of the genus Nephila) are a genus of aggressive and highly venomous spiders found in tropical South and Central America. These spiders are members of the Ctenidae family of wandering spiders.
The Brazilian wandering spiders appear in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous spider and is the spider considered directly responsible for most human deaths due to envenomations from a spider bite.
That's a nice thought! I may never buy a banana again!!
Also, to the post about bed bugs...they are horrible. They've just started to make a comeback in recent years due mainly in part to all the overseas travel people do nowadays. They are hard to get rid of and easily spread. I never buy second hand clothes, furniture, etc. Just for fear of bedbugs! They won't kill you, but yuck!!
__________________ Wendy Lord great wonders workest Thou, to Thy sway all creatures bow.
Write Thou deeply on my heart, who I am and who Thou art. Scrappractical - The Blog
i had bed bugs in college - for real. i had little bites all over my belly and back... luckily, the dorm was really quick to buy a brand new mattress for my bed, and that took care of the problem!
(the thing is, college students scavenge on the curbs for house furniture - i really hope no one "scored" a new mattress while it was next to the dumpster!!)
I HATE spiders! We get those big wolf spiders in our basement oncein a while they find their way into the sorted laundry and it freaks me out!! EWEWEWEW! I have to say that the best spider scare was when I took an open bag of fries out of the freeze and dumped them on the pan and a HUGE spider fell onto the pan! I freaked out only to find that it was a fake one planted in the bag by my then 5yr son! Stinker!!
__________________ There is NO vaccine against Stupidity!
All I can say is, Thank Goodness I already ate! I think i lost my appetite for tomorrow too!! Acckk!!
I HATE spiders and living in FL near the coast there are lots of them!
__________________ ~Tori Pink Cat Studio's Digi DT Member * GD Whiff of Joy Stamps - April/May 2010
Check out my Blog! - The Fishy-Scrapper's Chronicles
I just found this thread and for some strange reason ... I keep reading LOL ...one time I had bought a plant from store called the Plantation .. it was a pretty zebra plant. It was on the coffee table and I was sitting on the sofa reading and out of the corner of my eye I could see it moving ... I thought ... nnnaaaaaaah ... couldn't be ....
Next evening same thing .... so I took it outside and dug around in the dirt and it was totally infested with some kind of bug .. maggotty things ... it was disgusting ... out in the garbage it went directly!!!
My neighbor said oh no you should have baked the dirt and that would kill the bugs ... heck no ... not in my oven ... not even maybe !!!
I have looked at the plants again cuz they are pretty ... but cannot bring myself to purchase another ...
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Wanted to add a story: Over here, we have what are called Camel spiders--they are as large as dinner plates. They will not hurt you, but they like to be in the shade; like in your shadow. If you move, they will follow your shadow; if you run, they will run after you trying to follow your shadow!!!!! If THAT doesn't get your heart pumping, NOTHING will !!!!!
Wanted to add a story: Over here, we have what are called Camel spiders--they are as large as dinner plates. They will not hurt you, but they like to be in the shade; like in your shadow. If you move, they will follow your shadow; if you run, they will run after you trying to follow your shadow!!!!! If THAT doesn't get your heart pumping, NOTHING will !!!!!
eeeewwwww that's a horror movie in the making!
__________________ Lynn
"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right�--Lincoln
This thread is interesting - and creepy. The worst I've found is bugs in my flour. Maybe I should look more closely at what I'm cooking, or maybe not....
The story about Taco Bell - shame on them. Makes me mad at them FOR you.
The story from post CRials, #78, is hilarious - or not, depending your perspective. If you're arachnaphobic sounds like you need to avoid Camel spiders!
Remember that we have a higher standard of cleanliness in the U.S. and other developed countries, such as some in western Europe, and Australia than in a great deal of the world. So when you travel, be careful!
spiders!!!
