Spiders

[Sean Regan]

My wife has a morbid fear of spiders. I've just come back from the village, she sent me to get some bananas. "Check for spiders, before you buy them!"

So some spider stories.

In one of my stores, the greenfruit supervisor and the rest of his staff, always "initiated" a new member of staff, usually a girl. She'd ask them to take the protective sheet off the next box of bananas before bringing it out. The cardboard boxes are re-usable and have an aperture in the lid, the supplier puts a sheet of insulating material over the bananas.
What the poor girl didn't know, was she put "Charlie," in there. He was a soft toy black spider they kept, a good nine inches across with his legs, with huge orange eyes.
You'd here the shriek halfway down the sales floor.

A teenage friend worked in the East End in the fifties in "dockland." He was in the print business and their workshop was in the basement of building next door to a fruit importer's warehouse. He said huge spiders used to come through the wall from next door. He said they were so big, you could hear their feet when they were coming!

In a TV documentary on the Blitz, many years ago, two little old ladies were being interviewed, the reporter asked them why they never went down to the shelter.

"Bombs are a possibility, spiders are definite!"

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I love spiders! They do great work.

 

[marlingardener]

I used to fear spiders, but now have learned to respect them, if not love them! We have argiopes (aka gardener's friend) and a variety of venomous and non-venomous spiders. I've learned to never put your hand in where you can't see, and if you encounter a spider, just let it do whatever it wants as long as it isn't climbing on you.

 

[alp]

Such wonderful spider photos. I don't mind them; but if they come with bananas, that will be a different story. I never buy bananas in bag though. I like to choose and choose and choose!

 

[roadrunner]

I keep my running/cycling cap and bandanna on my fence gate; I've learned to check it thoroughly before donning, else I will be taking some stowaways on my trip. The vast majority of stowaways are spiders.

I was doing a self-contained bike trip thru the Appalachian mountains (Blue Ridge Parkway) and camping at night along the route. I was always very careful when setting up my tent to close the door after throwing stuff in there, so as to not allow any trespassers in.

One night as I was drifting off to sleep I was looking at the top of the roof and could swear I saw something above my head (I still didn't have my night vision); I couldn't stand it any longer and got my flashlight out and pointed it up at the ceiling of my tent and I saw the largest wolf spider dangling from a thread/web directly over my face-- I didn't scream like a woman...

I grabbed it by the web, opened the door and swung it outside, but of course the spider hit the side of the tent and started scrambling deeper into my tent. I finally got it out, with about half of my stuff -- they stayed outside for the rest of the night.

I also saw this spider on one of my cycling trips, but it was during a lunch stop.

 

[marlingardener]

Now, now, "scream like a woman"? I don't think so . . . .
Roadrunner, we have a plumber who is very "macho" and has faced down bulls in pastures, but he just goes all-over white and faint at the sight of a spider. I've had to check nooks and crannies where he was going to do pipe work on our house to make sure the spiders were gone. So far I haven't laughed at his phobia.

 

[Sheal]

I came across this spider while trimming a hedge some years ago. Having disturbed her she decided to move the 'egg' from the ball shaped web where it nestled. The web was about the size of a golf ball.

 

[Becky]

I don't mind spiders at all, as long as they stay outside What I don't like is when they get all warm and cosy inside the house and then I have spider webs and spider poo to clean up

We have a great spider catching device that we use to grab them and chuck them outside where they belong