Factors determining a spider's politeness

January 7, 2023 2:33 AM

These are the (mostly harmless) Spiders in Your House. Travis McEnery has posted three videos so far, about the most common spider species found in some American homes: cellar spiders, common house spiders, and yellow sac spiders. He also talks about how each rates in three "politeness" areas: webs, movement, and biteyness (spoiler: none are that dangerous).

He also does a deep dive into what's known about yellow sac spiders, which were found in large numbers in some models of cars a few years ago. He concludes that their reputation for bad bites is largely unsubstantiated.

(That doesn't mean we should hug or pet spiders, though, no matter how much we may want to hug or pet them.)

posted by amtho (36 comments total)

yeah, no thanks. I've gotten enough advice from guys named Travis, and I high five my spiders for eating the carpet beetles.
posted by lkc at 5:10 AM on January 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm cool with spiders so long as they don't do that spidery thing and drop down from the ceiling in front of me. If I catch one doing that, it's instant expulsion to the basement or a potted plant outdoors. Otherwise, I won't bother them.

That is my covenant with the spiders.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:25 AM on January 7, 2023 [13 favorites]

We love our spiders. Particularly, they eat the fruit flies that inevitably circle the cat food station. A little web under the cabinet catches 'em all. We sometimes accidentally wreck it while cleaning and apologies are profuse.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:25 AM on January 7, 2023 [17 favorites]

He mentions that one of these species of spider can actually help you determine where other insects are entering your house, which means they're helping two ways!

Sadly or happily, lkc, no advice is offered, but this Travis is clearly an arachnophile.
posted by amtho at 5:51 AM on January 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

I used to have a fair number of spiders in my apartment. I warned them I was bring a kitten home, but they didn’t listen. The kitten got much larger, but I’m pretty sure that was normal growing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:16 AM on January 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

We generally leave spiders in our house alone, although in the warmer months I tend to turf them out into the garden where they'll have a better shot at catching some food (and a much lower chance of getting stalked and eaten by one of our cats).
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 6:23 AM on January 7, 2023

as an Australian, I have significantly different concerns about spiders
posted by Merus at 6:27 AM on January 7, 2023 [42 favorites]

We have a number of tarantulas and other spiders--as pets, not just wandering the house!--but one of our favorite spiders isn't a pet at all, he's this little brown guy who lives in the kitchen window. We assume he must live off whatever comes in through the teensy gaps in the window, but he's got this great shelf of web to hide in, and so every few days, we feed him some flightless fruit flies (which we keep around to feed our smaller pet spiders). He's so much fun to watch, scooting out over his web, grabbing a fly, then scurrying back into almost-hiding.

I am less fond of our spitting spiders, who lurk by the back door--there's something about their spindly legs that sets off some kind of primal discomfort--but I'm trying to get over that. They wouldn't be there if there wasn't a job to do!

Now to watch these videos!
posted by mittens at 6:32 AM on January 7, 2023 [9 favorites]

I really love his voice!
posted by OrangeDisk at 6:59 AM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

My re-rescued cat (fostered in 2009, fostering again, tragedy in the middle) who may or may not have cancer *just ate a spider this morning*. He seemed to be having a really good morning, and clearly enjoyed himself. Sorry, spider, but overall this was an encouraging incident.

Yes, I Googled to make sure this wouldn't make the cat sick.
posted by amtho at 6:59 AM on January 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

I love his voice too! He made me want to make a list of media that I'd enjoy as soothing yet informative companionship while doing physical tasks around the house.
posted by amtho at 7:12 AM on January 7, 2023

If you’re concerned about a couple of cobweb spiders in your house, don’t go outside at night with a headlamp. All those little sparkles in the grass are the reflective eyes of thousands of spiders, dozens of different species, watching.
posted by sudogeek at 7:51 AM on January 7, 2023 [14 favorites]

I made the mistake of teaching my children to care for all life, including insects, so now I'm the one in charge of safely transporting spiders out of the house. Nice work dad.
posted by johnxlibris at 7:58 AM on January 7, 2023 [11 favorites]

I wouldn't put cellar spiders out of the house, they are very susceptible to cold temperatures. And as the video says, they stay mostly in place. My house is full of them and never had a problem. They even catch house spiders, which do wander around.
posted by Pendragon at 8:09 AM on January 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Nice work dad!
posted by amtho at 8:10 AM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

→ I really love his voice!

He is Canadian, after all.
posted by scruss at 9:05 AM on January 7, 2023

I've always viewed spiders as uneasy allies against more annoying bugs.

I lived in a small house in Las Vegas on ground six feet above a manicured greenbelt out back. Black widows are ubiquitous in Las Vegas and every one I would find in the tiny back yard* I would scoop up and drop over the wall down into the greenbelt.

I mentioned this once to someone on the internet and she replied "...the writhing mass of black widow spiders living behind his house" which I found both appalling and hilarious.

*Not technically "house spiders" but too close for comfort.
posted by mmrtnt at 9:40 AM on January 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

When I was young and pious gefilte, I remember learning of an olde-timey Jewish tradition that if one kills a spider, one earns seven blessings and commits one sin. The blessings, because, supposedly, spiders danced on the ruins of the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem way back when. The sin because, well, you're killing an innocent creature. I've never been able to find a source for this weird tradition in years since, but searching for it led to me to this wacky page that talks about the Halakhic implications of using a salt gun to kill bugs.
posted by greatgefilte at 9:49 AM on January 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

He's missing a politeness measure: will they show up in your shower unannounced? I am, for the most part, fine with spiders, but I really don't want to encounter them in the shower when I'm nude and half awake.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:54 AM on January 7, 2023 [8 favorites]

I heard someone say this week that the Pacific Northwest is 65% spiders, which is true.
posted by neuron at 11:24 AM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh, who are the spiders in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood...
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:27 AM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Spitting spiders?? are those really a thing? ...because if so I need to hide in the fridge and never come out
posted by Pallas Athena at 11:31 AM on January 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

Found a spider in the shower last night. Usually when this happens I grab a business card and flick the spider into a far dark corner of the bathroom (there on ant patrol) but this one disappeared into the drain before I could. So no more wasting time, turned on the water and moved on to the next task.
posted by Rash at 11:34 AM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

That doesn't mean we should hug or pet spiders
amtho

Now you tell me.
posted by Splunge at 11:57 AM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Any and all jumping spiders for me. I give them free rein over the entire place. The others? Not so much...
posted by jim in austin at 12:27 PM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]

"Where is the necrosis?" (from the title of a study he talks about in the yellow sac spider video) would be a great T-shirt for those of us who are cool with our house spider friends.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:40 PM on January 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

In the winter I enjoy the company of yellow sac spiders as they wander the walls in my house. In the summer the little jumping fellas also join in, though they typically hang out around the windows.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 12:57 PM on January 7, 2023

My favorite spider has a concession on top of a stained glass window which leans into my big front window. It is adjacent to the front door which has no screen. Well flies are sociable, so when flies come in my front door, they see the flies this spider has trapped, they go straight there, and they are trapped and killed immediately. This spider is so fast. Last summer there were barely visible light webs on the upper windows. Apparently the aedes aegypti mosquitoes drift upward. There were scores of them, in the upper concession. I clean this all out, usually this time of year, but I feel like a traitor when I do.
posted by Oyéah at 2:25 PM on January 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

If you’re concerned about a couple of cobweb spiders in your house, don’t go outside at night with a headlamp. All those little sparkles in the grass are the reflective eyes of thousands of spiders, dozens of different species, watching.

Oh god, the first time I went on trail at night. As darkness set in, I paused at the glittering mass beside my shoe. What a pity! Someone's lost their sparkly hair pin. I shall pick it up, and see if there's a way to find its owner.

...Reader, I did not pick up the multi-spider mass that was huddled on the trail, subtly heaving. 🙃

On the bright side, I achieved an excellent running time as I fled. And every night thereafter, as I watched the foliage beside my legs transform from flora to fauna...from ferns and wildflowers, to knee-high bleachers stacked with arachnid spectators.
posted by desert outpost at 3:35 PM on January 7, 2023 [9 favorites]

We have sometimes have a harmless little yellow spider that hangs out in the shower. Careful dude, don't go down the drain.

For more intimidating, Shelob and her many spawn own the basement rafters in our in-law's cabin in the woods. That's at least an arm's length relationship.

so long as they don't do that spidery thing and drop down from the ceiling in front of me

I like spiders if they're not in my face.
posted by ovvl at 5:15 PM on January 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not a McElroy brother!
posted by atoxyl at 5:49 PM on January 7, 2023

There's nothing like being happily cuddled up in bed, and then looking down and seeing a giant house spider running up the duvet towards your face.

Then somehow, after carefully examining the duvet you have thrown across the room for the spider and not finding it, and getting cautiously back into bed, IT HAPPENS AGAIN.

The wobbly spiders with long legs and small bodies are welcome to stay. They are slow and polite. The giant house spiders have broken the covenant and are not welcome here.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:46 AM on January 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Spiders I can live with. Solpugids are another matter. They are SO FRIKKEN FAST you can't get more than a glimpse of too many hairy legs that suggest something the size of your hand then *flit* they are instantaneously somewhere else. But where?!?! Wait there it is on top of the *flit* nope, now it's there by the *flit* wait how many of them are there?

It's like something out of a horror movie. You never get a proper look at it.
posted by Zumbador at 2:31 AM on January 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

Dr Ann Jones has a delightful video from ABC/Australia on huntsman spiders. Bonus: big, burly dudes running away squealing and screaming when a spider lands on them.
posted by gimonca at 12:33 PM on January 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

> as an Australian, I have significantly different concerns about spiders

Imagine how terrified the spiders must be of you.

Based on the insane events of the last few years, there is a non-zero chance in 2023 that Australian humans and spiders will be forced to make peace and ally for The Great Emu War II.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 3:17 PM on January 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Travis McEnery, Dr. Ann Jones and Clint Laidlaw are wonderful ambassadors for the armchair arachnid viewer. Keep on enthusing about our eight-legged web building neighbors, dear scientists.
Mites, ticks and chiggers, not so much.

Bonus: peacock spiders on display.
posted by TrishaU at 2:09 PM on January 10, 2023