I am both fascinated by and scared of spiders (their erratic movements freak me out when I am trying to trap and evict them) - but they are awesome critters

From time to time we see one in the house or in the shower stall and we and them have a live and let live unspoken agreement. Thank You.

Gives me the willies

Threat or self-defense. Take yer pick.

Or maybe both!

I have been away from DU for awhile, nonetheless, it is good to hear from you again. Thanks!

I occasionally get a black widow spider in my house (I'm in Santa Fe, NM) and when that happens I squash them. When I first lived here, a snake came inside. Snakes I sort of know, and as a child in upstate NY (a bit north of Utica) we had garter snakes every spring, so I'm good at handling snakes. The one that came inside was an Arizona bull snake. And neither of my cats, who were also in that room with me, appeared to even notice that it was inside.

If you ever get to visit, there is currently a Bug Museum here: https://www.bugandreptile.org/ When my son was here we went there, and it was my favorite of all the things we did together. Lots of bugs, reptiles, and snakes, and the man who runs it can let you hold some of the critters. How cool is that?

My son's favorite was the National Museum of Nuclear Science: https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/

And I'm delighted you're back!

Nice picture. Should I ask my spider expert friend about it? If so, where is this?

Perhaps it is or is related to Evarcha hoyi, which may mean something to you? I am interested in spiders, but I don’t know much at all. “Hoy’s knobbed jumping spider” would be the common name.

Dear George,

That's a really nice close up. I have a rule in my home. "There's a whole world out there for you to explore, don't come into my home!" I spray my door entries, garage entrty and window ledges with vinegar on a regular basis and it seems to work or maybe I'm just lucky!

we'll take it outside before the cats can catch sight of it. We've always considered Grandmother Spider to be the harbinger of good luck and good news.

When we find a spider in the house we always let it be. I feel no right to deprive it of life. As far as we know our cat has never tried to eat one. Thanks!

That’s a pretty flashy looking one - I’d leave him alone though!

I did not bother him. Thanks!

That looks like a jumping spider. Harmless. They hunt insects.

If she's still there could you give her a qutip dipped in water?

We live in OK and while everyone else complains they have fiddle back and widows - we have none. Our jumpers eat them.
Spiders dehydrate easily, some may look dead for days or assume the "death curl". They get dehydrated and then can't hunt. Offering a qtip dipped in water can save them. We had this incident this week in our home. Husband found one on the laundry basket, who was too weak to run away. We put her in the kitchen window, gave her a wet qtip, sprinkled a little sugar around it to draw flies. She latched right on to that q tip. An hour later she was moving. 4 hours later she was gone but there was a dead fly on the qtip. I think I got my first spiddy tip LOL

In the battle against insidious bugs! Let them be! You only need fear black widows and brown recluse.

… but I mainly see black widows and orb weavers (outside) and wolf spiders (inside).

My favourite encounter was when my daughter came screaming out of her (very messy) bedroom because she had moved a box and a wolf spider jumped about 6’ high and screamed (the spider, not her!) I admit a 6” leg span made him quite intimidating but I think the poor thing was more traumatized than she was.

That would have me screaming...

Yup. He was a big boy, but our bedrooms shared sliding doors to the lanai at the time and we got spiders and wee lizards coming in a lot. Could have been worse, considering we’re in Florida.

Seen a few interesting specimens down that way. Would love to get over my general fear of creepy crawlies, but I think it's some kind of atavistic, limbic brain thing.

I had to cover up the picture while scrolling down to read your reply, lol.

A 6” leg span WOULD have made him quite intimidating! Thanks!

For one thing actual size was hard to determine and the colors were nice.
Glad to be seeing your shots again.

Yeah yorkster, I thought about taking a normal size picture, but the dang thing was so tiny, y'know. It was colorful.

I have been away from DU for awhile. Feels good posting again.

Daddy long legs.

make a great pin. Silver, of course, topaz or smoky quartz for the body, maybe moonstone for the leg segments. I have 5 spider pins, and one of your spider would be a great addition.