So, I’m taking my shower this morning, lathering, rinsing, repeating, etc. before I get dressed to go to my friend’s graduation. After I finish and turn off the water, I look down to see a yellowish brown spider with a body that was about half an inch in length with a dark mark running down his back. Needless to say, I expediciously removed myself from the bathtub, lest the spider be annoyed that I turned off the hot water. After I looked back in the tub, the spider began walking along the side of the bottom of the tub in the direction of the wall where the faucet and drain were.
What kind of spider was this? Was I in any real danger of being bitten in retalliation for my bad singing? Since when did personal hygiene become such an issue for spiders?
Sounds vaguely like some orb weaver garden spiders I’ve crushed. Maybe? I suggest pressing it between two pages of a large book you’re not overly fond of, scanning the flattened criter and then uploading a picture. It’s the only way to be sure.
Not to induce paranoia or anything, but I do see you hail from southern regions, where creepy crawlers are more common. My mother always said that spiders are quite fond of showers/tubs because they’re moist and cool…I’m not at all positive how true that is, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to give a quick scan in future before you hop in.
Could be worse. Warning: If you are paranoid about spiders, DO NOT READ:
Sitting in AP Environmental class yesterday, listening to presentations, my teacher interrupted one of the presentations to tell the kid sitting in front of her, “Move out of your seat. Fast.” Unfortuneately, he did not do so fast enough, and a the spider my teacher had seen landed on him. And bit him. ON HIS EYE.
I used to be really, really afraid of spiders, but now that I know more about them, I’m on their side (for the most part). Spiders eat insects. I have two “cellar spiders” (also known as daddy longleg spiders) in my garage and I leave them alone – they spin disorderly webs (unlike other spiders), but catch many biting bugs such as mosquitoes and no-see-ums. I moved to Florida seven months ago, and believe me, any creature that helps get rid of biting bugs, I’m all for. And, yes, once I found a spider in our shower stall which meant a yell to hubby (that’s one thing men are good for, right?) and he captured it and put it outside. Despite my unreasonable fear of creepy-crawly things, I insist that they not be killed but captured and released outside.
Now, I think it helps if you know your spiders…and there are very, very few that can cause serious problems. The black widow and the brown recluse are the ones you need to look out for. Maybe others – I’m not sure, but those two are the worst. Most spiders are where they are because there’s a food source. But in the shower? Capture it and put it ouside. We use a tuppeware bowl to capture the little lizards and spiders, slide a file folder under the bowl, then take it outside.
I used to have no problem with squishing them, but as I said, if they’re there, it’s because there’s an environment that they like – if it’s a food source, you may want to leave spidey alone; otherwise, capture him and put him outside.
Most people don’t like to think about the fact that they have spiders in their house and at night they’re out patrolling, looking to eat the other bugs you also have in your house, and may not know about.
Occasionally one gets stuck in your bathtub, and if you keep your bathtub clean, the sides are too slick for the spider to crawl back out. Spiders try to be polite, and go back into hiding before you wake up, but in this case, your little spider friend was stuck.
I doubt you were in danger of being bitten so much as you were in danger of being used as an impromptu thing to crawl on, thus escaping the bathtub and that terrifying stream of hot water.
When I find a spider in the tub I generally just catch 'em in a jar and put 'em outside. It’s good karma, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Heh, well, I spend most of my shower time immersed in aforementioned stream of hot water, so he was probably just sitting at a safe distance going “Why the HECK would he want to do that?”
Of course, if he had tried to use me as a ladder at any point, he would have quickly discovered that a 20 year old guy screaming like a 6 year old girl and kicking frantically would potentially be more terrifying for him than some hot water. Not that I’m afraid of spiders in general, but that kind of thing would just startle me badly.
