Tweets --

In response to my questions and comments on huge spiders, Michael Price
offered one of his usual literate and witty replies...

>finding one trapped in the bathtub (put a towel over the
>edge for it to climb out on)

A good hint. But I would offer the additional suggestion to spread the
towel out, rather than folding it. Back in the last house one spider
decided to take up residence inside the fold of the bathmat I used for the
purpose...

>My fave was the time I was reading at my desk late at night and my
>peripheral vision told me that a section of the floor had suddenly decided
>to go for a walk. In the spirit of true scientific inquiry, I thought: I'm
>not gonna look over there; I want my mommy. With great will, I looked
>directly at the biggest house spider I've ever seen. Eventually caught it
>(trap it under a drinking glass and slip a piece of stiff paper underneath
>it, escort to nearest door or window, open, thank it for visiting, heave). I
>measured the hideous little rascal before taking it to the door and giving
>it the bum's rush, and it was 5 *inches* across with a 1"-long body.

Great story! Two more hints: at 5 inches, it sometimes takes a jar with a
sizable mouth in order to be sure of not amputating one of those legs. And
please everyone, "heave" gently. I once had the sad experience of scooping
one of these fellows (sorry - "ladies") out of a bathroom sink with my bare
hand -- moving quickly because arachnophile or not, I don't like the tickly
legs on me either -- and tossed the spider to the floor a little too hard.
There was a splat sound, the legs curled up, and the spider moved no more
=(

>>(In this case, all spiders are welcome in my house
>
>Here, too. Especially those nifty little jumping spiders, the zebra
>(Salticus scenicus) and the larger one that's really beautiful: midnight
>black except for a brilliant scarlet back--the colors remind me of a Roman
>Catholic cardinal--called, I think, Phidippus something.

Jumpers were the first group given free run in our home. There used to be
one that made regular "rounds" every evening; since I thought it was
"Phidippus something," it was dubbed "Phid." I frequently indulged in
scientific and esthetic amazement by testing the limits of his vision,
waving my hand at increasing distances until he stopped turning to look at
it.

>And they always hog the remote channel-changer.

So THAT'S where it's gotten to!

>Yes, House Spider, Tegenaria domestica.

Thanks!

I second the description of wolf spiders; also, I don't think I've ever
seen one inside a building. But even though this is true

>>I heard that to catch their prey they run them down instead of building webs.
>
>Real wolf spiders do; the house spider builds ramshackle webs behind stuff.

for many species the webs serve only as refuges -- the spiders still go
walkabout in search of dinner. One quadraplex we lived in harbored an
annoying population of silverfish. Emboldened by my success with jumping
spiders, I suggested to my spouse that perhaps some of the other hunting
species should be allowed to remain indoors as well, because they just
might catch some silverfish. Sure enough, the policy seemed to work, and
the silverfish population decreased (at least in *our* apartment).

>Partly such fear *may*, as some
>scientists think, be an instinctive survival aid, but nobody's born
>terrified of spiders. Most of it's taught. Someone taught you and I to be
>terrified of spiders: we didn't start off that way.

Years ago I taught classes at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry in
Portland. Since children seem particularly intrigued by "icky" creatures,
or large ones (dinosaur classes always filled to capacity), I developed a
class called "Friendly Spiders." It was a lot of fun, and the kids seemed
to like it, too. At the end of the week one mother came up to me with a wry
smile and said, "I guess I have *you* to thank for all the jars of spiders
my son has lined up at home! This was the best class he's ever taken here."
I will take that compliment to my grave as one of the best I've ever
received.

Thanks, also, for the suggestion of Crompton's book as background reading.
It's been a long time since I looked at it, and even though it's dated
still serves as a good introduction. And thanks, James West, for your
species identification and reading suggestions. I have a couple of those
volumes in my personal library, and they are fine as well.

Cheers!

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
(a spidery West Coast seaport)
wings at olympus.net