TWO spiders in my sink!!!

[billyskank]

:wtf:

[texanwitch]

1. I will trade you five roaches in mine.

:toast:

[billyskank]

6. Lemme check the exchange rate

... :)

[texanwitch]

12. We are talking about big Texas roaches.

[Fridays Child]

2. What are they doing?

[billyskank]

4. Dunno, but they were looking pretty shifty

I'm sure they were up to no good.

[Robeson]

3. If they look like these, you may have a problem....

...otherwise, they're your buddies. They're nature's natural insecticide...

[billyskank]

5. Nope

Just boring old house spiders.

[Fridays Child]

9. These might even be worse...

[billyskank]

11. Looks like the thing that John Hurt french kissed in Alien

:scared:

[In_The_Wind]

7. maybe ... they were thirsty ...

:shrug: just sayin'

[billyskank]

13. Never thought of that

:think:

[Heidi]

8. Do NOT turn on the water!

billy, we often find spiders in our bathroom sink. They can get in, but because of lack of traction and the configuration of the porcelain basins, they can't get back out without help.

If you're afraid to capture a spider and give it a "ride to the great outdoors," do this: drape a long strip of toilet paper across the bottom of the sink, leaving a bit hanging over the side. This will give the spiders the traction they need to get out of the sink.

[billyskank]

10. Of course not!

I trapped them with a glass and dropped them out the (ground floor) window!

I couldn't harm them.

[Heidi]

14. One more reason

why I adore you. :loveya:

:thumbsup: billy! Good job!

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. I always just guide them into my palm...

and then take them outside. An ex-girlfriend of mine was terrified of spiders--if she saw one, she'd shriek and demand that I "kill it!" My reaction the first time this happened was to just look at her and carry the spider outside, and then to come back in and explain to her why she shouldn't WANT to kill spiders, and the basis for the myth that killing one brings bad luck (It didn't work, but at least I tried.)

[chknltl]

15. Check out this link:

www.hobospider.com
If they are hobo spiders then please feel free to squish em. Those guys are as dangerous as black widows, are more aggressive then black widows and are not well known yet by most Americans. Their venom is very nasty business. They are most mobile in the summer and fall months. They are primarily active at night. I strongly advocate learning about hobo spiders, this link is a good start, a few minutes there could save you or someone you know a nasty experience.

[billyskank]

21. I expect they probably don't live in Britain

:)

[chknltl]

22. Actually the Hobo spider originated over in Europe.

And like the Norwegian wharf rat migrated to America via boats and wound up primarily in our port cities. They have spread from there over the decades with those same port-cities gaining in populations.
I remember seeing them when I lived in Germany, we called them "wolf spiders" back then. Decades later a friends' 4 year old daughter had one in a large jar as a pet. She called it Fernando. We got online and discovered more about Fernando, the more we learned the more we grew concerned, Fernando turned out to be a large female Hobo spider.
These spiders are most active summer and fall, like to stroll about looking for mates at night and are notorious for crawling into beds via blankets which fall partially to the floor while in use. Slippers, shoes and articles of clothing left on the floor are other fave places for them to hole up in just before dawn.
If this hasn't creeped you out yet their venom should: A bite, depending on amount of venom injected and personal reaction to it, can range from barely noticeable to death. My daughter's boyfriend slept out on my deck one night and got bit on the chest, the bite swelled up to about 3 inches in diameter and stuck out of his chest over an inch high. It secreted a foul looking pus when squeezed. There are studies linking chronic migraine headaches to Hobo spider bites, these can reoccur for years after the bite. I know of a lady who was temporarily blinded in one eye from a bite to her cheek. (Actually it is hoped this condition is temporary, it happened about 2 months ago, she still has no use of that eye.)
Doctors rarely diagnose these bites as belonging to Hobo spiders, this is changing as the word gets out. Quite often when "spider bite" is the diagnosis here in North America, the spider is assumed to be the Brown Recluse. Newer studies have shown that a large portion of those Brown Recluse bites were actually Hobo spider bites!
So there you have my rant on Hobo Spiders....Yes I do have respect for most critters of this planet, live and let live is my motto, except for the Hobo spider: Learn about it then squish on sight!

[billyskank]

23. Thanks.

These two were definitely regular house spiders. :)

[chknltl]

24. That is very good.

No reason spreading the Hobo's bad rep to innocent victims. I save all other spiders too when found in my home. Unrelated: I can not get used to the fact that I can communicate so fast with someone on the other side of the planet from me. I am almost 51, I tell younger folks how cool it is to live in the future. For me this is a future I could not even conceive of back when I was a child. Air cars and police lasers and colonies on the moon were what I expected for this era. Computers, cell phones, the internet, the loss of Democracy...I could never have dreamed up those things, now look where we are. It is 4am where I am at. In another hour I hope to record a debate on CSPAN. It took place a couple of days ago but will air today. It is between George Galloway and Christopher Hitchens. (Perhaps you may be familiar with those names). Thanks for reading my rants
:smile:

[billyskank]

25. I'm 29 but I also find it most discombobulating

especially when I post "goodnight lounge, I'm going to bed" threads, and someone responds with "wtf? It's half past 2 in the afternoon!" I use this DU web site and it responds as if it was in the next room. When progmom does her radio show from Michigan on Saturday afternoons I can listen to the stream on the internet and it sounds better than FM radio does from my home country!

The present is a very strange place.

[chknltl]

26. Didn't know that about her...

...progmom has a radio show! The present just got stranger, plus I just found out that the debate I wish to record is not on until 9pm EST. progmom has a radio show, the stuff one learns from staying up late...I knew there was something special about her, gonna have to show her a bit more respect from now on. Speaking of "goodnight I am going to bed threads".... It is 4:30am here and I am going to bed, It has been great chatting with someone half a world away. :toast:

[billyskank]

27. Sweet dreams, dude

:hi:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

17. I usually have more than that in my bathroom.

All it takes is a quick pinch using toilet paper and then flushing them to oblivion.

[Heidi]

18. Are the spiders in your house venomous? (nt)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

20. No idea.

But I'm sure venomous to them. :)

[giant_robot]

19. There are many, many spiders in my bathroom...

...unfortunately, many of them become cat food before they can be safely relocated outdoors.