Yuppers...I had someone come out yesterday to spray inside and outside of the house. P.S. Thanks for the picture....I am not so sure if I can sleep good after seeing that awful thing. Yuck. Ro
We close off the areas of the house where we keep the lizard and snakes, shut off the hvac and all fans, make sure all the cats are outdoors or atleast shut out on the screened porch. We've never had a problem with any of the household pets being adversely affected.
This is the one DH was mentioning that we leave to herself.... she's a pretty spider if you ask me. Just as soon as the first real cold night hits, or a frost, she'll be gone. They don't even live a year in our climate, and real cold weather does them in.
I like them, too. Your picture didn't show up but I think we are talking about the same type of spider. They are orb weaving spiders but I think I was misinformed. I was reading about Golden Orb spiders and they seem to be more exotic.
Oh my Gosh, I have those big beautiful spiders in my yard every year.,, I called them the zig-zag spider,,,,, because of the zig-zag in the web,,,, but I would not want to get bit by one, so I kill them right away, they must leave eggs for next years spider,,,,they are so blended in with the garden that you don't see them until you are on them and then you get scared sh#tless, and I run for the spray.....
Ohhhhhh....you mean a writing spider:lol: At least that's what my Grandma called them. I was born and raised in South GA so I've seen plenty of those. I will only let a spider live if it's in my garden. Here's a little blurb I posted in the garden thread a while back. Thought you might like this: As you know, I have a fall garden in and about 10 days ago, I was out watering and picking by the tomato plants when I was startled by a huge spider.:shock: Yes, I am the original Miss Muffit. I hate spiders, always have. They just creep me out. The only ones I can stand are the fuzzy little jumpers because I just admire their spunk. I spent a couple of minutes one day watching one watching me with his front legs up anticipating my every move and moving with me back and forth as if he was gonna "get" me or something. It made me laugh:lol: Anyway, THIS spider was not little and NOT furry. It was one of those "writing spiders" as my Grandma called them. Huge black and yellow striped body, very long legs and the white "writing" zig-zag in the middle of it's web. I kill almost all spiders in my house (except the jumpers - OH! okay, my young son kills them, I admit it - he is my "Spider Slayer" & I love him for it!:mrgreen: ). But I decided to leave this one since I know he will help keep the bugs off my tomatoes and that makes me happy. But the thing I like about this guy most is his determination. You see, this fellow only has 6 legs. I guess he had a bad run with a bird or a cat or something and lived to tell the story. I wondered if he would live. But yesterday, I went out there and he had a huge worm all wrapped up for dinner.:mrgreen: I just think that's pretty neat. I'm growing almost fond of the critter (as long as it's a foot or two away from me:? ). Maybe I should name him. ........this was a few weeks back and after the day we got the high winds and rain, I didn't see him any more.:-(
Thanks Mommy. I was reading that those zigzags are in part to warn birds of the presence of their webs b/c they are hard to see; I thought that was cool. My cousin lives in Auburn. We haven't seen much of Georgia but my daughters and I love to visit. My oldest says she wants to go live there.
Pickle, I've always wondered what purpose the zigzag in the middle served. That's interesting. Wouldn't that also signal the birds thatlunch is ready too though? Maybe birds don't eat them for some reason?? I grew up in Albany GA. It's down in the SW corner close to the Florida line. There are nice things about GA but I'd NEVER move back to that area again. Two words: HOT - HUMID! Spring is HOT, SUMMER is miserable and Fall is miserable. Winter is almost non existant. And with the heat and humidity comes the nats. Not like they are here. When they say check your potato salad to be sure the pepper is not nats at a GA picnic, they are NOT kidding. People think southern folks are so friendly because they drive by and the southerners are always on their porch waving at 'em. But they're really just fanning the nats away & trying to keep from having a heat stroke.:lol: North GA is not bad though. If I ever did move back to GA, that's where I'd go. DH and I got married in Albany 19 years ago and we got away as fast as we could:-D I LOVE NC!! This is HOME now!!
Hon, Orb spiders won't hurt you. They have a very teeny mouth and you wouldn't even feel the bite. I shudder at all spiders, but let these live (outside). I'll even leave on the porch light to help them out a little. Frogger
Well that's good to know. They still creep me out. I let 'em live (outside). I'd be to afraid to get close enough to kill it anyway.:? I'm with robbie, the blend in so well that you get right up on them before you see them and they scare you to death.:shock:
Yeah! I don't kill those either. We actually used to play with them as kids. I can't believe I let them crawl all up my arms and stuff back them:shock: :shock:
Don't kill spiders if they are outside and don't even if they come inside....but my cats on the other hand LOVE to "play" with them ....It keeps them entertained :lol:
Their webs are so sturdy and large that they can actually trap small birds. Of course, they don't eat them but the thrashing around destroys the web and probably gets the birds sticky or injured or something-that is probably why birds leave them alone. It is funny, I couldn't wait to get out of NC when I was a teenager but now I don't ever want to leave it long term.
See, my philosophy is, what critters don't get killed will come back to haunt you and multiplying and then aggravate you..... so ZAP......
Soon after my son was born my BIL sprayed around the outside of our house for spiders. Along the brick work on the ground, I counted seventeen dead black widows. And those were just the ones I could SEE! :shock:
Oh girl, i know you take care of your babies - it is just that with birds they are so sensitive to everything including candles, incense, even teflon pans:-D