# It's unfortunate that I had to burn my house down **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 2, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815 "2013-09-02T16:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/41 "2013-09-03T19:08:42Z")
Burn the ashes just to be sure. Then burn the server this board is on. Again, just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/42 "2013-09-04T00:51:10Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > You probably should have waited until it climbed up the water spout… > > Check your ears…I have heard they lay eggs in your ear drums while you are asleep. > > Pleasant dreams. Ear plugs people. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/43 "2013-09-04T02:00:33Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Evanston!!! FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!! I am NEVER going to Century Evanston again, to hell with the matinees. One of them might be under my seat!! I was hoping you’d moved to South America. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/44 "2013-09-04T02:28:34Z")
Here I thought you were talking about centipedes. I’m way phobic of centipedes (and blame reading the wrong short story at the wrong time), but just a couple weeks ago out here in the western suburbs of Chicago, I turned on the water in my tub and saw a centipede that was about 4" long go skittering across the bottom of the tub after I turned the water on. I had the presence of mind to pull out the drain strainer, set the water to full hot, and turn the shower-head-on-a-hose to “concentrated stream”, then blast the unholy beast down the drain. Really, it makes the fact that the landlords are trying to sell this property almost appealing, because this place is already destined to be a teardown and so hopefully any remaining multi-legged beasts from hell will perish in the destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/45 "2013-09-04T02:50:39Z")
It could be worse. You could be living in the South Seas and have [coconut crabs](http://www.buzzle.com/articles/a-giant-spider-that-can-crack-a-coconut-no-its-a-crab.html). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/46 "2013-09-04T03:23:08Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > You guys are wimps. Come back when you find something like [this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5v79wWmEBo/TdZrMyp49EI/AAAAAAAAh08/5AXQ3r9UEN0/s320/Day+9+%252838%2529.JPG) in your tub. (seen at the May Natural History Museum) We get these guys in the houses all the time. [svensguide.com](http://svensguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Spider_Dads_hand.jpg) Very common, good to clean up flies and mossies. > **[Huntsman spider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider)** > > Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), catch their prey by hunting rather than in webs. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to as wood spiders, because of their preference for woody places (forests, mine shafts, woodpiles, wooden shacks). In southern Africa the genus Palystes are known as rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders. Commonly, they are confused with baboon spiders Mo... ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/47 "2013-09-04T03:57:46Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > It could be worse. You could be living in the South Seas and have [coconut crabs](http://www.buzzle.com/articles/a-giant-spider-that-can-crack-a-coconut-no-its-a-crab.html). 🙂 That looks tasty ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/48 "2013-09-04T04:03:58Z")
We had a brown recluse infestation when we first moved into our rental home a year ago. The house had stood empty for so long the bastards moved in and were breeding in the attic. It took 6 treatments from the pest control guys, but we are finally down to only the occasional spider. It was about 3-4 sightings a day. I would stay up all night with a flash light spotting them on my bedroom ceiling. God was that awful. The first time they laid glue traps to monitor how bad the infestation was the tech counted 76 dead spiders after they had been set for a week. I wanted to die. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/49 "2013-09-05T00:11:58Z")
I was reminded of this thread today when [=112949421&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]I almost ran into this]([Photobucket | Make your memories fun!](http://s1135.photobucket.com/user/Dottie_Cat/media/Random/mailboxspider_zpsebc5df74.jpg.html?filters)[user) while trying to check the mail. It’s still out there and the sun is going down. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/50 "2013-09-05T01:15:56Z")
**Mods**! I’m reporting this thread which contains a _whole page_ of mean people! :mad: :mad: :mad: Sincerely, **Spiderman** ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/51 "2013-09-05T04:28:09Z")
Well **Spidey** , if you weren’t so terrifying then we wouldn’t be so mean For you guise, how many spiders do we swallow in our sleep? [The rumor / invisiblehairsuit :: sleep :: spider :: comics (funny comics & strips, cartoons) / funny pictures & best jokes: comics, images, video, humor, gif animation - i lol'd](http://joyreactor.com/post/697033) ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/52 "2013-09-05T04:46:01Z")
I wouldn’t burn my house down if I found that in there. I couldn’t go back inside. I’d have to pay someone to come in and burn it down for me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/53 "2013-09-05T06:21:10Z")
I wanna know her secret for staying so slim. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/54 "2013-09-05T12:32:20Z")
Suddenly the muffled scream I let out when a spider smaller than my fingernail ran across the dashboard as I was driving to work seems like an overreaction. ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/55 "2013-09-05T13:08:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I wanna know her secret for staying so slim. The effort required to construct a new web daily with the tensile strength of carbon nanotubes and capable of entrapping the insect equivalent of a fully loaded Airbus probably burns a few calories. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/56 "2013-09-05T14:38:53Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > Suddenly the muffled scream I let out when a spider smaller than my fingernail ran across the dashboard as I was driving to work seems like an overreaction. Perspective is good. Spiders are bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/57 "2013-09-08T20:29:41Z")
> [@Bob\_Blaylock](#): > > Not a girl. See the swollen pedipalps (the shorter appendages, in front, that aren’t legs)? This is a male spider, ready to mate; and probably looking for a suitable girl spider. Not only is it a male spider, but male spiders are almost always much smaller than females of the same species. Think about **that** for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/58 "2013-09-08T20:37:38Z")
I just evicted a ceiling spider from in front of the fridge. I don’t know what kind it was, but it wasn’t a GHS. It was tannish/goldish, and it would have been covered by a quarter in its legs-bent position. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/59 "2013-09-08T21:38:35Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > But I found [this girl](http://imgur.com/a/3EBST) in the bathtub. She was as big as a Buick. Was. Could that possibly be a Brown Recluse Spider. If so, the arson was justified. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/60 "2013-09-08T22:02:10Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Could that possibly be a Brown Recluse Spider. Doubtful. It looks too big, and it lacks the violin shape on its back. I still say it’s a GHS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815.md?page=4)