# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/61 "2013-09-08T22:09:17Z")
Killed a similar looking spider in my bathroom this morning. Its legspan front to back was only about 2.5", still, too damn big. It was watching me undress before my shower, too, which I minded. ---
**Author:** ![LAV25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/97f17d/32.png) [@LAV25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAV25)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/62 "2013-09-08T22:14:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I wonder if the new cat will find any and get to them before I do? That would be unfortunate for the GHSs, but probably fun for the cat. Hope the cat wins… ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/63 "2013-09-08T23:52:17Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > 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. I don’t know how broadly true that is. It is certainly true of some species of spiders, but I am equally aware of some others of which it is not true at all. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/64 "2013-09-09T02:56:22Z")
All these spiders are so cute! (Brown recluses are a lot smaller than that. And more reclusive. They’re not likely to turn up in your tub. They prefer quieter, darker places - like your shoe!) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/65 "2013-09-09T03:57:27Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Ear plugs people. Actually, my son’s pediatrician told us that one of the main uses of ear wax is a bug repellent. The cleaner the ears the more likely an creepy crawly would go in them. She once found four bugs in one ear. We stopped buying q-tips immediately. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/66 "2013-09-09T06:23:40Z")
The picture does look like a Giant House Spider. However, while a GHS is harmless to humans, they are in the same genus and look very very similar to the Hobo Spider, share the same habitats, and telling them apart can be very difficult. The Hobo Spider is not harmless to humans, and so even when I am pretty sure that a specimen is a GHS and not a Hobo, I don’t play games and I get rid of it. I don’t make a practice of killing spiders though, even suspect Hobos. I just catch them and put them outside. I do make exceptions for black widows though. Those fuckers are creepy and terrible and I just spray 'em with spider killer when I get the chance. Nuking them from orbit would be my first option of course, but I’m fresh out of nukes. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/67 "2013-09-09T13:37:10Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > **Mods**! > > I’m reporting this thread which contains a _whole page_ of mean people! :mad: :mad: :mad: > > Sincerely, > > **Spiderman** My first official action as a moderator will be to side with the mean people in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/68 "2013-09-09T15:29:36Z")
I do some work on the Wabash River. Me and an intern opened up a pipe that holds an oxygen meter. And apparently now a fishing spider. My intern screamed so loudly that people on shore yelled back to see if we needed assistance. (Really, it was the intern, it wasn’t me!) When we got back to the office I told management that the instrument was lost in the last flood so we never needed to go back there again. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/69 "2013-09-10T14:07:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Looks like a [giant house spider](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_house_spider). I catch a few of them every autumn. They’re harmless. Looking at that distribution map, I’m surprised they’re not more widespread. They’re everywhere here in the UK, especially at this time of the year. Just a couple of days ago I removed one from the wall above the airing cupboard whose leg span neatly filled a pint glass. > [@](#): > > The Giant house spider is indigenous to north western Europe. However, it was unwittingly introduced to the Pacific Northwest of North America circa 1900 due to human activity and strongly increased in numbers for the last decade. See, we love to share our things. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/70 "2013-09-10T18:06:38Z")
> [@LAV25](#): > > Hope the cat wins… [Obilgatory documentary evidence](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okKq5xZVBdQ) ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/71 "2013-09-10T18:15:09Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Ear plugs people. What, to hold the babies in? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/72 "2013-09-10T18:50:24Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > **Mods**! > > I’m reporting this thread which contains a _whole page_ of mean people! :mad: :mad: :mad: They’re not mean; they’ve just been misled by the _Daily Bugle_’s yellow journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/73 "2013-09-11T04:33:02Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > 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 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider) I was wondering when an Aussie would show up. 10 years here and Huntsmen are just housepets. These lovely little things in this thread are just adorable. Tiny and cute. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/74 "2013-09-11T04:43:15Z")
> [@Silvorange](#): > > I was reminded of this thread today when [=112949421&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]I almost ran into this]([Photo Storage](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. My spider moved to a bush about six feet away after I tore down her original web. She is getting quite fat. I suppose she’ll be decorating the nursery soon. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/75 "2013-09-11T14:02:30Z")
This thread inspired me to try to ID the large spider who has been hanging out on a large orb web between the lamp-post and a tree branch near our condo. I see her only at night; during the day the web is tattered and appears abandoned. It’s been hard to get a good look at her, because she’s somewhat above my head and it’s usually dark when I see her. She’s big (to me); about the size of a quarter, counting her legs bunched around her body. The web must be between two feet and three feet in diameter with long lines anchoring it. We’re in Virginia. I originally assumed she was some kind of garden spider. However, there are three reasons I don’t think she’s a [Black and Yellow Garden Spider](http://www.spiderroom.info/va_gardenspider.html) – she doesn’t sit with her legs out in the X position, she’s more hunched up; her web lacks the stabilimentum, the highly visible zigzag of white silk; and I don’t see the long abdomen with the really dramatic black and yellow markings, although she is a mottled yellowish-orangish-brownish. However, after looking around, I think she must be a [Barn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_Spider) [Spider](http://www.spiderroom.info/va_barnspider.html). The descriptions seem to closely match my observations, and Wikipedia says they’re most commonly seen in the fall. Apparently this is the _Charlotte’s Web_ spider. Yesterday I tried to find her daytime hiding place. I looked at the underside of the tree branch to which her nightly web is anchored, but failed to see her. I did, however, have a large cicada fly into my chest while I was craning my head up looking for a large spider who might drop onto me at any moment, which made me jump a bit. I didn’t find her, but I did see a small black jumping spider leap from the lamp post to the branch, a very impressive hop. I might try to get a photo of her; focusing on spiders in midiair has been pretty tricky for me in the past, however. ---
**Author:** ![CLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@CLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CLee)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/76 "2013-09-11T14:44:07Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > This thread inspired me to try to ID the large spider who has been hanging out on a large orb web between the lamp-post and a tree branch near our condo. I see her only at night; during the day the web is tattered and appears abandoned. > > It’s been hard to get a good look at her, because she’s somewhat above my head and it’s usually dark when I see her. She’s big (to me); about the size of a quarter, counting her legs bunched around her body. The web must be between two feet and three feet in diameter with long lines anchoring it. > > We’re in Virginia. I originally assumed she was some kind of garden spider. However, there are three reasons I don’t think she’s a [Black and Yellow Garden Spider](http://www.spiderroom.info/va_gardenspider.html) – she doesn’t sit with her legs out in the X position, she’s more hunched up; her web lacks the stabilimentum, the highly visible zigzag of white silk; and I don’t see the long abdomen with the really dramatic black and yellow markings, although she is a mottled yellowish-orangish-brownish. > > However, after looking around, I think she must be a [Barn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_Spider) [Spider](http://www.spiderroom.info/va_barnspider.html). The descriptions seem to closely match my observations, and Wikipedia says they’re most commonly seen in the fall. Apparently this is the _Charlotte’s Web_ spider. > > Yesterday I tried to find her daytime hiding place. I looked at the underside of the tree branch to which her nightly web is anchored, but failed to see her. I did, however, have a large cicada fly into my chest while I was craning my head up looking for a large spider who might drop onto me at any moment, which made me jump a bit. > > I didn’t find her, but I did see a small black jumping spider leap from the lamp post to the branch, a very impressive hop. > > I might try to get a photo of her; focusing on spiders in midiair has been pretty tricky for me in the past, however. Some orb weavers rest with legs bunched up, and the mottled colors sound like a marbled orb weaver [marbled orb weaver - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=672&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=fIEwUuj9Como9gTwlIDgBw&q=marbled+orb+weaver&oq=marbled+orb+weaver&gs_l=img.3..0l7j0i5l3.18526.21600.0.22117.15.15.0.0.0.0.118.926.14j1.15.0....0...1c.1.26.img..12.3.281.7Ha-a6KZjF4) ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/77 "2013-09-11T15:05:22Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > But I found [this girl](http://imgur.com/a/3EBST) in the bathtub. She was as big as a Buick. Was. You posted that to Imgur without a “banana for scale”? ---
**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 11, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/78 "2013-09-11T19:10:46Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > My first official action as a moderator will be to side with the mean people in this thread. A box of specially-trained pointy-stick wielding Sri Lankan spiders has been dispatched your way; please open immediately upon receipt! :eek: Think of them as a, umm, gift, a gift on becoming a moderator & not some retaliatory act. Yeah, yeah, a gift; that’s the ticket! > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > They’re not mean; they’ve just been misled by the _Daily Bugle_’s yellow journalism. There’s no need to disparage people’s place of employment now, is there? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/79 "2013-09-11T20:51:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Looks like a [giant house spider](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_house_spider). I catch a few of them every autumn. They’re harmless. This made me laugh, from your link: _Males can often be seen wandering around houses during the late summer and early autumn looking for a mate._ So true for many species. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/80 "2013-09-11T21:01:00Z")
> [@Silvorange](#): > > I was reminded of this thread today when [=112949421&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]I almost ran into this]([Photo Storage](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. Oh that’s the lovely yellow and black garden spider, or writing spider, that **sailboat** linked above! [I wrote](http://nouveausoileau.com/2010/08/30/say-hello-to-my-little-friend/) about ours a few years ago. I can’t believe I missed this thread earlier. I love spiders! They get rid of nasty bugs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815.md?page=5)