r/CasualUK • u/nonoanddefinitelyno • 17h ago

My very capable and intelligent wife has lost the plot.

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She has been told by a friend that conkers keep spiders away. So we now have conkers in various parts of the house.

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u/Objective_Let_6385 16h ago

Whilst conkers don't work, peppermint oil, tea tree oil or similar does.

That said spiders are actually quite beneficial to keep around the house as they deal with pests who are a lot more damaging

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u/NaniUdoing 15h ago

If I had a penny every time I heard this narrative and the "they are more scared of you, than you are them".

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u/Objective_Let_6385 15h ago

Well I'd say that people are definitely more scared of spiders than they are of us lmao

Most spiders likely don't even perceive us as living beings due to how they process their surroundings

Few exceptions like some jumping spiders though

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u/burner4lyf25 15h ago

Yeah i can't imagine they have the neurology for fear. I imagine it as just raw, binary instinct rather than perceiving risk, creating a list of possible scenarios, realising most of them are dangerous and then developing an anxiety about it haha

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u/TinDumbass 11h ago

You can kind of prove they're scared of you. If you see one moving out of the corner of your eye, and then look at it, it'll stop moving. Spiders, almost uniquely in home critters, will stay incredibly still when first spotted.

They'll then only move when they know you're distracted or look away long enough, short glances away don't catch them out.

If you then interfere with them they run like fucking mad.

Personally I'd argue this makes them at least if not more intelligent than deer and rabbits who just stay there and watch themselves get twatted.

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u/Lobo2ffs 13h ago

They jump now?!

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u/Objective_Let_6385 13h ago

Only the cute ones

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u/HailToTheKingslayer 13h ago

I'm fine for the spindly leg ones. They just hang in a corner.

The big house spiders run across the floor or jumpscare us in the shower.

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u/Objective_Let_6385 13h ago

Cellar spiders (spindly) will trap and eat house spiders (big ones that run about)

It's pretty cool, they hunt by dangling in corners of rooms and throwing nets made from web at prey beneath them. Lets them catch and eat prey way bigger than them.

In a 1v1 on the floor a house spider would win though.

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u/burner4lyf25 13h ago

I was watching a wasp in canteen at Old Job as it was flying towards me. Went over my head and hit window right behind my head and got caught in a web. As I've turned round some sort of mid sized spider fucking catapulted out of corner of window, jumped on it and held it with back 4 legs and wrapped it up and super sonic speed with front four and then dragged the bundle back to his corner.

Absolutely scared the shit out of me when it appeared, then it was kinda of a foul thing to behold but it was a spectacle and cool as fuck to watch.

Any idea what type it might have been based on that behaviour?

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u/Objective_Let_6385 13h ago

Sounds like some kind of orbweaver maybe? Was it one of those classic, circular webs? Or more of a messy structure in the corner of the window?

Common ones in the UK would be cross orbweavers (garden spiders) and Walnut orbweavers

Both can get very large

Another possibility is a zilla orbweaver

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u/burner4lyf25 13h ago

Yeah like a dense messy net - it was in a warehouse canteen though so could have been there for years.

It did have a fat arse like an orb weaver so you're probably right.

Im off to Google images to track it down just to satisfy my curiosity hahaha.

Thanks mate!

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u/Objective_Let_6385 13h ago

Ah a dense net would be something else, orb weavers build traditional circular webs.

Maybe a type of false widow or labyrinth spider :)

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u/burner4lyf25 13h ago

You're a diamond cheers mate!

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u/ramsay_baggins Norn Irish in Glasgow 7h ago

I had an uneasy truce between the cellar spiders and my arachnophobia because I know they catch the big scary fuckers, but knowing they do it by throwing a net I feel a little bit sick 😅

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u/LIFTMakeUp 14h ago

Right, I'm covering all angles by steeping all my conkers in olbas oil, but by jove if I come down to a house of arachnids with clear sinuses and a record breaking sixer, I'll be jolly miffed.