there is a big spider living in my studio

[realtrance]

Here's a real solution to the ant problem -- works with Hell's Angels bikers, too, it's really a universal solution: Get a bottle of good rum. Console yourself with the fact that the majority of this rum will be for your consumption. Find an out-of-the-way spot, _near_ the ants, and pour a small but reasonably-sized drop of rum on that spot. The ants will make a bee-line (sorry to mix bug metaphors) for the rum. Pretty soon you will see a good bunch of them gathered all around the edges of the drop, drinking to their hearts' content. The others will be marching steadily (towards, unsteadily away from) that drop in a single line, where you can keep an eye on 'em. Be sure to replenish the drop when it seems to be diminishing in size. It may drown a few of the ants when you replenish, but know they will die happy. I'm serious; this works. Now, _MOTHS_ on the other hand.... I had one about the size of one of the 747s that flew into the WTC dashing itself around the light in my studio the other night ("crash! you mofo!! crash!!"), went out to get a hedgehammer to beat it to death with, came back.... and it was gone. I now fear it's lurking inside one of my warm mechanical contraptions, busily having babies. rt

[FoxTick]

Boris update - Boris still hasn't made himself visible during my time in the studio. but i know he's still in there. i woke up this morning, walked into the studio to a web going from the rack to the keyboard...not to mention the new cobwebs in the corner of the room....which contains one carcass of what appears to be a mosquito...cant really tell. OK Boris can stay....meaning if i see him again, i won't try to terminate him...for he has captured and killed (and eaten) a mosquito....i hate mosquitos. GO BORIS!

[Mats Olsson.]

I told you so! When you no longer have an insect problem, Boris will move on. Spiders are our best friends. Without bothering us much, if at all, they do a darn fine job, and how do we thank them? pesticides? /Mats

[John Brown]

"I'm not too fond of spiders, but I sure wouldn't like to live on a planet without them - or insects would be much more of a problem. Contrary what hollywood has made us believe: With the exception of some humans, no animals or insects are evil. All species serve a purpose for the ecological balance." Not to be a party-pooper, but what you just said is wrong. Many people that have worked with chimpanzees have noted that they can be extremely malicious, and I would imagine that there are plenty more. We are animals too, anything that we are/do, usually animals are/ do it also. Case in point is the fact that for every animal alive in it's present "ecological niche" there were probably a few others that were squeezed out, and that isn't very nice. And crocodiles ARE evil, just look at them. John Brown

[realtrance]

Ah, but that's the difference: a croc's _intentions_ are not evil, he's just doing what he feels like. He doesn't _mean_ to be doing harm, causing pain. A cat, on the other hand -- if you've ever seen a cat play with its prey, well... it's almost human in its ferocity and joy in inflicting pain on something smaller and more helpless than itself. rt

[Bunny Knutson]

This thread reminds me of the Bowie "Glass Spider" Tour. Rather than a spider in his studio, he had a sound stage in his spider.

[Tom Capasso]

I'm cool with most spiders. The big ones (we've had a few) freak my family out. Then Dad gets the call. For spiders, I use a bathroom cup and bit of cardboard - out to the yard they go. We all hate to see them killed (earwigs are another story - I stomp those suckers flat). We had a praying mantis hanging around the house for a few years (the kids were young and named it "Manny"). Way cool - love those things !! Brian T - let's remember that when that mantis "mates, and then they eat", that it's the male that is dinner. Fortunately, I've never dated any women [i]that[/i] ruthless... Dak - sorry to hear about the ants. Since you feel it helps, I'll provide the alternate refrain... They're coming to take me away ha ha. They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha ha. To the happy home With trees and flowers and chipring birds And basket weavers who sit and smile And twiddle their thumbs And toes they're coming to take me awaaaaaayyyyyyy. (try "Split Level Head" - it's even better) Tom

[Dak Lander]

[quote]Originally posted by realtrance: [b]Here's a real solution to the ant problem -- works with Hell's Angels bikers, too, it's really a universal solution: Get a bottle of good rum. Console yourself with the fact that the majority of this rum will be for your consumption. Find an out-of-the-way spot, _near_ the ants, and pour a small but reasonably-sized drop of rum on that spot. The ants will make a bee-line (sorry to mix bug metaphors) for the rum. Pretty soon you will see a good bunch of them gathered all around the edges of the drop, drinking to their hearts' content. The others will be marching steadily (towards, unsteadily away from) that drop in a single line, where you can keep an eye on 'em. Be sure to replenish the drop when it seems to be diminishing in size. It may drown a few of the ants when you replenish, but know they will die happy. I'm serious; this works. rt[/b][/quote]No it don't. I happen to drink rum. I've tried to share. The little bastards won't go near it. Now throw a damned beer out there & they'll come crawling like it's a freaking picnic.

[teh dri]

what, an american not killing/bombing/destroying something it doesnt understand (or fears)? thats very unusual (ok ok politics and spiders dont go hand in hand but im still pissed off at USA for all this war bullshit... just saw Nelson Mandella voice my concerns... thank god SOMEONE is against this crap) as for Boris... is he a metaphor for the treatment of RUSSIA! ah-haaaaaaaa! now he's no threat to you you will leave his pitiful self there as a trophy to yourself! ummmm no. anyway, i reckon up the air con and flush him out. im all for being nice to animals but my studio is my all purpose relexation zone... arachnids and in fact any life form that cant operate a console can stay out (yes that includes ants, moths, drummers and other stupid creatures)

[realtrance]

Ok, adding to checklist: if I ever move to LoCal (I like that, BTW! ) will bring beer, not rum. Obviously ants in different parts of the country have different tastes. Of course! I just hope they're not too particular about the type of beer. I don't have the time to waste on figuring out the local ant population's favorite drink, that's for sure. rt

[GypsyTiger]

We have LOTS of spiders here in our house and in our studio too, and some of them are freakin HUGE. Many wolf spiders, and they are fast, big, and look mean. Generally speaking, I dig spiders. In fact they're among my favourite critters. But I have to say there are several species that are agressive. Yours doesn't seem to be, since he has yet to bite. But it's a good idea to check it out, try to identify it. Check the internet-there are several identification sites. My kids have gotten quite a few spider bites, (mostly in the night, completely unaware until they woke up next morning.) and they can be nasty-often much worse than insect bites. (Most of our biters are Hobo Spiders.) Good luck. Hopefully you'll check it out and find it is one of the hundreds of harmless species, so you can just enjoy having company to hang out with in the studio!

[Steve Smith]

[quote]Originally posted by Tedster: [b][/qb][/quote]What was that movie a few years back about some guy named Joe who's an INCREDIBLE slob...and they're going to kick him out of his apartment, and all of the cockroaches come to his rescue? It was pretty funny...[/b][/QUOTE] The movie was called " Joe's Apartment" never did see it.. was it funny?

[FoxTick]

i've identified Boris' species....Rabid Wolf Spider. [img]http://www.esb.utexas.edu/philjs/stengl/images/Rabida.jpg[/img] that spider in that photo looks exactly like Boris. Boris was chilling on the wall the other day while i worked in the studio. then he crawled across the top of the window.....then he started crawling on the ceiling. he started crawling towards my position. at that point, i started to get worried because now he was above my head, hanging (swinging) by a little thread. then he climbed back up, then crawled more towards the other side of the room and swung down again. he repeated this action about a couple more times when he finally did what i feared he was going to do...he fell. he landed on the carpet and scrambeld towards the nearest cover...under the futon. i haven't seen him since. i'd figured he would finish his web from one end of the room to the other. but i think he might've got discouraged.

[GypsyTiger]

We have wolf spiders-rabid and otherwise-and as has been mentioned they DO bite. "Usually" only when provoked. Of course, accidentally stepping/sitting/putting your hand too close to him will be considered provocation. They generally burrow, and live on or under the ground. So be mindful when picking up anything that he might be chilling under. Whoever suggested the long arm feather duster...great idea! I really like wolf spiders. We've found a few extra large ones (like, way WAY bigger than the rest we see) and kept them as temporary pets...the kids think they're kewl too, and like finding it "food" around the house. And we dig watching them eat! Good luck with Boris. By the way, if you see "him" dragging what looks like a fuzzy marble attached to HER ass, I'd suggest serving an eviction notice. It's an egg sack and will carry dozens of Boris Jr.s who will hatch, ride on Mommy's back for a while, then spread out all over they're newly claimed :p studio space.

[flyscots]

And you want me to visit your place GypsyTiger!?!?! :eek: Just kidding, they wouldnt bother be too much. Spiders and other bugs are just so much bigger here than in Scotland - climate reasons - I've long given up trying to figure out what half these scary looking creatures are! John Scotsman

[F7sound -]

Poisonous snakes, scorpions, lizards, millipedes, , clients, cats.... I can deal with them. Spiders on the other hand are a whole other issue. Many years ago, I was bit on the left hand by a spider. My hand swelled up like a club, and my left arm was numb for weeks. I couldn't move my thumb and 2 of my fingers for days. So I kinda don't care for spiders.... If a "wolf", "widow", "recluse" or any of his cousins hit my room, he'd quickly get the boot!!!! Literally! Michael Oster [url=http://www.F7sound.com]F7 Sound and Vision[/url]

[vico]

so, what happened to boris?

[FoxTick]

[quote]Originally posted by vico: [b]so, what happened to boris?[/b][/quote]I regret to say that Boris parished in an unfortunate encounter with a hoover vacuum cleaner.

[Mark LaCoste]

Thanks for not killing that spider, sacdog. I think they're Okay, though I haven't associated, Lee-like, with them. I do remove black widows from the pumphouse and barn most of the time. There is one living in the barn now, but it's the wrong season for eggs to hatch, so I'm not worried. Black widows here are definitely larger than a pea... we're talkin' garbanzo bean.

[Barandine Vondenger]

I try NOT to kill anything If I can help it except for fleases, ticks and (ugh!)lice. Ants I can't get rid of unless I kill them. Most bugs and winged insects don't realise they are doing wrong by being in your home. they only bite and sting cause they are afraid to die. you're huge to them. they think you'll eat them. I have a bowl with a big lid i capture flying/crawling things in to toss outside. spiders get the brooming Brush-off treatment into the bowl or sucked into the vaccy(sorry) if option one is'nt working out. I keep the corners and ceiling cleaned of webbing very well now. I've been bitten twice. around my eyes as i slept. closed my goode eye for a day. veddy skeddy for me. i like to see. I have found way too many in bed with me untill I saw the patterns and took measures. moving my bed helped. they like the corners of the room and where the hot water heater is on the other side of the wall. the warmth.. [b]HI YO Silver away![/b] I moved into an abode that had those PALAMINO BUGS. You know! Those horse sized cockroachs/waterbugs that can run two hundred miles per hour? Boric acid, unfed cats and a sawed off shot gun cured my house of 'em after a while. When ever i see one now I let loose a barrage of boric acid at all doorways and sweep it along in corners and under appliances and between the slats and all along the screened in porch. I see one quite seldom now. I TERRORIZE the ants with terro ant killer. I feel bad about entire colonies dieing at my whim. Same with the big cockroachs. I saw two cavorting one day while peeking at them from above. they were playing and dancing around like two frisky dogs. It was incredible. I was amazed thinking about the way they were frolicking around as i vacumed them up and felt very bad as their bodies pulped to liquid goo against the steel blades of the suction fan, that I had inturupted a million year old DANCE and killed two living creatures who had no idea i did'nt want them there. They were'nt really doing ANYTHANG WRONG! If I knew a way to just make them go away I would. sorry dudes. so I try to kill as few as possible. I found a possum in my trashcan i let him go. I did'nt eat him. he was a goode fat little young possum too. what we here in norf cak-a-lakky call a "fryin'" possum. I only kill animals if i need to eat. i don't hunt "for sport". I shoot "tahgets" for fun. ahahaha! Skeet, and paper targets. (earplugs? check! safty off? check!) squeeze don't pullKA-BOOM! yeehaww! I try to conserve WILDLIFE and habitat as much as humanly possible as a rule. I can live somewhat with eye-bitin' spiders and mouse sized cockroachs But i draw the line at fleas and ticks and mosquitos and ugh,lice. ahahaha! they got to go! [b]The girl with the scratchy patch"[/b] there was a girl from caroline who wished me to make her mine but she stood there just a'scratchin' and i knew that eggs was just a'hatchin and not the double yolk kind so I said my dear minnie please stay there and catch this penny and walk to the corner and look for the sign so she asked me what sign and I told her so kind I said the sign that tells of selling doctors stuffe and quick buy you a bottle a pint jar,a dab or a dottle of lice killing shampoo for your fluffe wash it once to be mean then again to be nice if you don't get them all the FIRST TIME you'll have to wash it twice. ahahaha!

[Tedster]

I hate spiders. Especially the brown recluse variety.

[FoxTick]

[quote]Originally posted by arellspencer: [b]I try NOT to kill anything If I can help it except for fleases, ticks and (ugh!)lice. Ants I can't get rid of unless I kill them. Most bugs and winged insects don't realise they are doing wrong by being in your home. they only bite and sting cause they are afraid to die. you're huge to them. they think you'll eat them. [/b][/quote]What about wasps? I hate those things. I kill those things every chance I get. When I was living in San Diego, I got one inside the cab of my truck. So, there I was doing about 70 on I805, when I noticed this yellow thing flying around inside my truck. I paniced and pulled over accross four lanes of traffic got off on the La Jolla exit...got out and opened up the doors and let the thing fly out... Now, you'd think that it would just simply fly away right? noo...it had to torment me by buzzing around my head...I'm bobbing and weaving as if I was in a boxing match. So, I grabbed a can of 'belt dressing' and sprayed the focker, it fell to the ground and that's where flattened it with my shoe...dead.

[vico]

[quote]Originally posted by sacdog: [b] [quote]Originally posted by arellspencer: [b]I try NOT to kill anything If I can help it except for fleases, ticks and (ugh!)lice. Ants I can't get rid of unless I kill them. Most bugs and winged insects don't realise they are doing wrong by being in your home. they only bite and sting cause they are afraid to die. you're huge to them. they think you'll eat them. [/b][/quote]What about wasps? I hate those things. I kill those things every chance I get. When I was living in San Diego, I got one inside the cab of my truck. So, there I was doing about 70 on I805, when I noticed this yellow thing flying around inside my truck. I paniced and pulled over accross four lanes of traffic got off on the La Jolla exit...got out and opened up the doors and let the thing fly out... Now, you'd think that it would just simply fly away right? noo...it had to torment me by buzzing around my head...I'm bobbing and weaving as if I was in a boxing match. So, I grabbed a can of 'belt dressing' and sprayed the focker, it fell to the ground and that's where flattened it with my shoe...dead.[/b][/quote]Wasps are evil. The "afriad to die , self defense" theory applies to almost all winged insects... but not this one; Hell they cant even be considered insects,they are more like a physical manifestation of a once tortured and vengeful soul. I witnessed this in my last hiking trip: i hurt my knee while climbing down, and when i finally made it to the river, i screamed "damn!, my right knee!" .. a few seconds after that, a wasp appeared out of nowhere and stung me in my right knee. Conclusion: 1.- Wasps speak spanish fluently 2.- Wasps know some basic anatomy 3.- Wasps are a physical manifestation of a once tortured and vengeful soul.

[Barandine Vondenger]

WASP? no es bueno! ahahaha! I was told to stand still and the wasp will not sting! So I stood still and got stung! OWWW! I had a nest in my stove fan and they somehow found their way into my home. I kept seeing them on the ceiling flying around. One here and one there one every couple of days. I have a can with a lid I pop them in the can and out the door it went!. I realised they were in my stove fan so I got the bright idea to turn it on and spray the fan with wasp killer killing all wasps and solving my wasp problem. I sprayed and Every wasp that was in there flew INTO MY HOME, not outside and did not kill ANY! just made them stronger somehow. had NO choice but to do the vacume boogie. took ten minutes and i stopped counting at twenty something but I got them all. sorry waspdudes. thanks for lettin' me share! P.s before I got my kirby vacume, wasps and giant horse sized cockroachs would climb back out of the hose from the inside hours after being sucked up. No more THANKS KIRBY :thu: