# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/81 "2013-09-11T21:27:58Z")
Getting back to the Giant Eurpoean House Spider, I seem to remember reading that they might in fact be native to British Columbia after all, rather than having been introduced 100 years back. Did anyone else see this, or am I imagining things again? ---
**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 12, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/82 "2013-09-12T03:02:03Z")
> [@CLee](#): > > 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) Pretty! But too colorful for our mistress of the night. Check out these pics I just took: [Barn Spider?](http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinfeatherphotos/sets/72157635490843106/) They’re moderately high resolution, so expand them for more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/83 "2013-09-12T03:59:41Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > 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. This one is perfectly welcome in her current spot, but I was not thrilled to have her on my mailbox, and at face level! One summer, my older sister and I had one as a “pet” in the back yard. The most exciting thing I remember from that year was when a cicada got in her web. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/84 "2013-09-12T17:59:14Z")
They’ve been reading this thread. I got home last night to find [this fellow](http://i43.tinypic.com/2lay9eb.jpg) right in the middle of my hallway. Just looking at me. Didn’t even flinch when I stepped over him twice (my need to get to the bathroom outweighed my need to get rid of the spider). Quite a small one as house spiders go - it only filled a tumbler rather than a pint glass. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/85 "2013-09-12T18:38:20Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Ear plugs people. But then you can’t hear them creeping up on you! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/86 "2013-09-12T19:34:56Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > 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. They make horror movies that start this way, and you know what? You know what _every member in the audience is thinking_ after the first 10 minutes? Of course you do. Let’s all say it together: Why the hell did you stay? You know there was a 10-pounder up in the attic pumping out hundreds per day, right? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/87 "2013-09-12T21:49:35Z")
Good lord! shudder (why do I look??? why?) ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/88 "2013-09-12T22:45:10Z")
> [@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. Looks like a giant orb weaver. Very Pretty. I can`t even come close to what some of you have put up here but we have had one of[these](http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/research/lifeSciences/invertebrateZoology/bugsfaq/jewelspd.htm) land on us (By us I mean my SO, whose screams could be heard miles away). I whacked it off her hand with the spatula I was cooking dinner with. It made a pronounced whack and I felt the impact as it hit…The body was as big as my thumb to the first joint. And because I`m evil (and like spiders…) Dare you to look at[this](http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/bugs-animals/spiders-and-scorpions/tarantula_goliath/). ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/89 "2013-09-13T01:27:18Z")
> [@Bob\_Blaylock](#): > > 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. According to wiki, it is true of many spider species. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual\_dimorphism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism) I have never personally observed a spider species with males larger than females, and I look at them carefully all the time, spiders being one of my areas of focus at college, though I don’t doubt for a moment they exist. If you look long enough you can find almost anything in nature. ---
**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 13, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/90 "2013-09-13T04:39:54Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > According to wiki, it is true of many spider species. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual\_dimorphism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism) > I have never personally observed a spider species with males larger than females, and I look at them carefully all the time, spiders being one of my areas of focus at college, though I don’t doubt for a moment they exist. If you look long enough you can find almost anything in nature. I know that with most tarantulas, they are very close to the same. In fact, it’s difficult to tell a male tarantula from a female. The males only become obviously different at their last molt, where hooks appear on the front pair of legs, that serve a purpose in mating. At this point, the male spider hasn’t much longer to live. Females live significantly longer. I suppose, at some point, you can know that you have a female if it is still alive past the realistic life span of a male. ---
**Author:** ![bowlweevils](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e5b9ba/32.png) [@bowlweevils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bowlweevils)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/91 "2013-09-14T08:46:56Z")
I grew up on Long Island, and lived in a basement apartment there for a few years. I’ve also lived in basement apartments in Ann Arbor and Chicago. And non-basement locations in Terre Haute, Schenectady, and metro Boston. Long Island seems to have more spiders than the rest of these places combined. But I have no authority other than my own experience and am wondering if Long Island is some sort of spider diversity hotspot. Our small basement apartment had at least 8 kinds of spiders in it. Obviously we couldn’t do a technical species differentiation process, but just by looks alone we had 8. There were so many spiders that we left alone any spider with a leg span smaller than a quarter. The bigger ones had to go, and there were a lot. One night, we dealt with 12. The worst crawled out of the ceiling space when we were changing a light. It was so big that when the bug spray finally took it out, its legs were hanging down each side of your standard size door. The body was the size of a mouse, and grey, and disturbingly heavy. To end the rambling, let’s go back to my question - is Long Island some sort of spider playground? Also, why hasn’t anyone brought this up yet? [http://www.travelwireasia.com/2012/02/5-must-try-cambodian-dishes/](http://www.travelwireasia.com/2012/02/5-must-try-cambodian-dishes/) ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815/92 "2013-09-14T09:10:13Z")
> [@Cell\_Guy](#): > > Burn the ashes just to be sure. > Then burn the server this board is on. Again, just to be sure. Exactly. You underreacted if anything. I’m thinking of burning my own house down merely because the picture of it is now on my computer. Auughhhh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-unfortunate-that-i-had-to-burn-my-house-down/667815.md?page=4)