Does anyone remember the animated The Hobbitt? And the scene in the spider forest where the drawf troup is captured?
Well, I was left to babysit (age 14)and we (Becca, sister-age 11; Hank-age 8; Ju-ju-age 2) had argued over whether to watch the movie on broadcast (NBC if I remember correctly). I won the arguement 
and we sat down to watch. We were all kinda enjoying the movie. But it was broadcast. So there were commercial breaks. This was before satellite, BIG CABLE, and PPV. And the editors saw fit to cut to commercial right after Bilbo discovers the situation. So Becca goes to the restroom and comes back WAY to quickly and screams, “They are in my bedroom! The spiders are in my bedroom!”
And I think to myself, “Cool! Big cartoon spiders. This I must see.” :smack:
Nope. Just your regular everyday quarter-sized house-spider.
Becca is directing me from the hall to. “Kill it, kill it!”
So I take my shoe off and ::WAP:: it against the spider which falls behind her bed and vanishes.
Could not find the expected “legs folded” corpse. :: oops:: 
Even moved the bed. No soap. I now think it was killed but landed in her sheets::EEEWWWHH:: :eek:
But I have never said anything to her about it.
I may have told the nephew as a story and told him not to repeat it to his mom.
That’s it! Thanks, astro. Big bastard, isn’t it?
I’m not a spiderphobe, but these big-ass spiders are giving me the creeps. I don’t know what I’d do if I found something like Clock Spider in my house.
Twice I’ve had encounters with garden spiders. They’re harmless, but they’re creepy-big. One built a web across my bedroom window and another built one across the access door to the garage.
So far threnodyangelfire has a commanding lead for best story.
astro spider vs mouse was cool!
Spider, spider on the wall,
Ain’t you got no sense at all?
Don’t you know that wall’s just been plastered?
Get off that wall you silly… spider.*
Well since last night, I’ve been turning on the lights and checking the walls before I enter the room and now that I’ve read these stories, especially banana spider story, my soul is crying and doing the Icky dance. I need a cat. One that will actually do it’s damn job. My dog’s cat can’t catch anything! (If she could, I’d keep her at my place rather than Nan’s).
I dealt with a big bugger the other day, by inventing a new game: Spider Snooker. Take a long broomstick, or if you’re lucky enough to have one around, one of those extension poles for painting the ceiling. Prod spidey gently with the other end, changing his course with your “cue” until he scuttles out the nearest door, then close and lock door, cover gap under door with door snake, despite 40dg heat, then Icky Dance as per OP.
Then I take it you’ve never been introduced to this little snuggums.
(Every time there’s a thread about creepy-crawlies, somebody or other is sure to trot him out. It’s my turn this time.)
I went in to work completely hung over one morning. I sat in this back dungeon office . . . I was an intern at the time. I set down my bookbag, sit in my chair, and then am aghast to see an ungodly huge, hairy, and mean looking spider racing across the carpet. I grab my notebook, take careful aim, and WHACK . . .
. . . at which point, literally 50 or 60 baby spiders EXPLODE out of the original spider and start scattering everywhere!!
Keep in mind, I’m EXTREMELY HUNG OVER, so it took all my strength not to vomit. I called for backup, because I couldn’t believe my eyes. At my co-workers urgent suggestion, I massacred all of the fleeing baby spiders in a panic-stricken frenzy . . . smashed them all with my notebook.
Later I find out that wolf spiders carry their young in a pouch or something to protect them after they are hatched.
It was a wolf spider all right.
I feel like I’m going to puke now.
Earworms crawl in
Earworms crawl out
Earworms play pinochle
On your snout…
Ok. I love spiders. I really do. I played with our pet tarantula in middle school.
However, not too long one got the better at me. I arrived at work a little earlier than everyone else. About 10 feet from my desk I found a spider, not a big one, about quarter-sized, walking up the wall. I left it alone, as no one was there to make me kill it - I am the Insect Killing Queen in the office - and went about my work.
Well, about two hours went by. And everyone was in the office. You guessed it - the spider came over to say thanks, or something. I turned my head at one point and the damn thing was* in my hair*. NOOOOOOOO! No bugs in my hair! I screamed and covered about four feet without touching the ground in between. My coworkers had never heard me scream, so they were more than a bit shocked. I heard one say “What was that?” And the other said “I think it was **Anaamika **screaming.”
Yuck -s tay out of my hair!
I’m hoping the unit of scale in that photo was inches and not feet… :eek:
Nasty hanta virus and Lyme disease bearing rodents. Good on 'em to the spider.
It is commonly known as a house centipede. It took me a long time to believe such a thing actually existed in nature. Apparently they are very common in some areas. The creepiest thing about them is they move FAST – and when they run and all their legs are flying, you get this crazy centipede-leg ripple effect. shudders
I don’t know what it is about centipedes. I like every other kind of insect that exists. I like millipedes. I LOVE spiders of all kinds. I’m not even particularly grossed out by cockroaches. But man… those centipedes…
If your dog can have it’s own cat, I think you can have one as well. 
You’d think so wouldn’t you? It was supposed to be my brother’s cat, but she prefers the dog to any other human, save my grandma’s boyfriend because he feeds her. She goes nuts without him. I’d have a cat too but I’m but a poor student and can’t really afford one right now.
[/hijack]
No one has mentioned that late fall is tarantula season on the left coast. In the foothills of central and southern California,the males are out in force, seaching for eight-legged love. It’s common to see them crossing roads in large numbers in places like Henry Coe State Park, where the TarantulaFest is an annual event.
I can’t find the link now, but there was a great short story over at desertusa.com about someone’s encounter with a veritable army of the hairy arachnids while driving in the Anza-Borrego desert.
I own a massive Goliath Birdeater. Not recommended for beginners, but I’ve been keeping such animals for many years now.
threnodyangelfire, why did I click that link? Tears are rolling down my cheeks as I rock back and forth, moaning, “Festooned…it was festooned!”
Okay…now that’s just *wrong. * What in the ever-loving FUCK do you feed this beast? I like you just fine and everything, but this is a detail of your personal life I would have been happy to never know. 
Well, that pretty much guarantees I won’t ever be coming to visit!