The weather here has been absolutely perfect the past week or so, so we’ve had all the windows and doors open (with screens, of course, but the screens aren’t as tight as the windows/doors, and a few bugs still get in). So, yesterday I killed 4 quarter-sized spiders, after a couple of months of no spiders in the house. Spiders freak me the hell out. I really, really hate spiders. Really. And there are horrible, horrible huge wolf spiders here. Ugh.
So yesterday there was also a 2" translucent lizard in the bathroom, and I left him there, even though lizards, too, are a bit freaky just running around like that. But they eat spiders, and that’s good. Now there is a larger 3" translucent lizard staring at me from the wall behind my computer screen. I have not seen any spiders today. But there is this lizard.
The lizards seem pretty skittish (it just ran behind the book case) so I hope they will refrain from running across my face while I sleep. Please tell me they will.
I don’t think they’ll crawl on you if you keep moving…the lizards, I mean.
Those wolf spiders don’t really care. They’re bold bastards. If you try to kill them, and miss, well, they know what you look like and they will be back for you when you’re asleep. I’m convinced of this. I detest the things. They’re what nightmares are made of.
I’m in Indiana, and we have them here, too. BIG ones.
Good luck, and I wish you LOTS of lizards (ANYTHING to kill those damn spiders)!
Gah! I just killed another spider. The lizards* stay.
*actually, searching for a pic (I didn’t get one before he ran behind the bookcase) they seem to be geckos. is close, although it’s a crappy pic.[EMAIL=http://seppo.ihalainen.fi/albums/album154/gekko.jpg]This
Personally I don’t worry about quarter sized spiders. It’s the full sized ones that freak me out.
I notice that your location says Okinawa. My brother was stationed there for 4 years and according to his stories wolf spiders don’t have anything on the giant wood spiders. You should be thankful.
I would google “giant wood spider” but I don’t really want to know. The things I’m calling wolf spiders look like the ones in the states. They’re about the size of the palm of my hand :eek:, and aggressive. And really fast. I don’t think they are actually dangerous, but it doesn’t matter in the slightest.
The lizards are just waiting for you to go to sleep. Then they will Have Their Way With You. See, they like to creep up on your face, and give you little lizard licks. Then they’ll neck with you for a while, curling up on your neck and snuggling, because you’re nice and warm and and they’re coldblooded. Then they’ll creep lower and lower until they find a nice dark warm MOIST spot, if you know what I mean. And before you know it, they’ve set up housekeeping Down There.
That gecko’s cute. I like them, although I’ve never seen any outside of a terrarium. I’ve had a soft spot for them ever since I read Gerald Durrell’s account of them in My Family And Other Animals, wherein he described a horrific battle between one and a giant praying mantis.
He said they liked to cling to the ceiling near a lamp and pick off months, spiders and other bugs attracted to the circle of light. I think it’d be cool to have them running around upside down in pursuit of their dinner.
Eee. Mentions in this thread of my two least favorite bugs - spiders and the praying mantis.
I’m not girly. Seriously. I’m the kind of person you see walk into my office building in jeans and a Tshirt (because I can get away with it, because of the job I do). I wore my uniform to the Navy Ball, I know how to change a tire, I know how to replace an alternater - et cetera. I’m not girly.
You have never HEARD me scream so much as when I found a praying mantis outside of my parents’ house. I didn’t even know we had those here! At least the spiders I can usually bring myself to kill, or at least spray with noxious-smelling fluids. I wouldn’t get near the praying mantis. My boyfriend had to catch it for me and let it loose somewhere else (even he wouldn’t bring himself to actually crush it - ick).
Wolf spiders are agressive and annoyingly large (at least, what I’m assuming you mean by that kind of spider - not sure if you mean an actual wolf spider), but nothing gets me as much as the black widows we have out here. Those buggers are huge, shiny, black, and kind of aggressive about chasing you if you’re near their nest. I don’t care what the entymologists are telling you, those things WILL chase you. I’ve had it happen to me several times, and I didn’t even realize the things were there until they were running after me in my kitchen. They’re creepy as all hell, too.
Those creatures wouldn’t be there if there wasn’t something to eat. Perhaps the geckos eat the spiders, but what do the spiders eat? Think about it. They’re doing you a favor.
My boss has his degree in entemology and is endlessly fascinated by bugs. Whenever he comes across one in his daily activities, he captures it in a jar to take home to his kids. Which leads, of course, to horrid discoveries by the unwitting:
