Lost a friend this week

[queenbee]

Early in the spring, about March I picked up a plantpot in my greenhouse to discover the biggest spider I have ever seen. There was another smaller pot inside and he or she was living in the bottom. I just left the spider and every few weeks I checked and it was still there along with lots of dead flies etc. This week I found his shrunken dead body and I felt really sad.
I still have a spider who has made his home in my car mirror. I occasionally see him peeping out from his hiding place and of course he has made a web around the mirror. He has travelled up to the lake district with us and recently down to Norfolk, It is rich pickings as when we go on a journey there are lots of flies caught in his web. I love spiders. When I clean out my greenhouse in the winter I try to preserve the cotton wool nests and when the spiderlings hatch in late spring they are a great help in controlling the greenfly. Is there anyone out there who feels the same about spiders? 

[queenbee]

[pumkinlover]

Queenbee it is so good to read your post- except for the loss of your friend :(

I have had a huge spider in my comfrey/nettle barrel for many years now I called her Shelob ;), but when I added the a lot of horse poo the other day the spider must have climbed onto the top. I put the lid back on :( :( :(
Now she is no more -sort of squidged. :(

I also have spiders in my home and save any nests- I love it when the little babies hatch and scurry about :D

I suppose now we have "come out" as spider lovers we may be subject to mockery but stay strong!!

[non-stick]

My fondness for spiders suffered a knock a few weeks back when a wasp spider nipped my toe - didn't half hurt

[1066]

I'm obvioulsy in good company.
I grew up in a house where my mum, by and large, left the spiders where they were! And yes, I'm following in her footsteps.
I adore watching the teeny ones, and the chain they form - fascinating
And of course Autumn is the best time in our garden for watching them

Right, major confession - we had a great spider who lived on our bedroom ceiling for a few weeks. when we came back from our hols, he's moved on......

Housework isn't one of my priorities  :D  :o  ::)

[Borlotti]

My dad had a pet spider, it used to walk across the living room every evening. I was told to let it be as it wasn't doing any harm, so have always liked spiders and try not to hurt them. Haven't got any indoors now as the cats eat them. I try not to disturb the webs on the washing line but sometimes walk into them by mistake and get them in my hair.  Spiders are great.

[antipodes]

I cleared out the shed last week and there were a couple of whoppers in there! I never kill them. I know that they are very useful creatures. In fact I never kill anything and was rather upset when my neighbour said that he had killed a vole in a trap (they were eating his carrots and beets). I hope it's not the one that "lives" in my compost heap! They are so cute, I couldn't kill them even though they are destructive sometimes. I know they are just surviving.

I must say that as an Aussie, the european idea of a Big Spider is not mine! Nothing here comes close to the huge tree spiders we have which are as wide as your hand! but completely harmless.
I have never had the privilege of seeing the baby spiders!
@queenbee
I don't know if spiders live that long, I guess that your friend probably just came to the end of his life span. I am sure he had a very happy time in your pot feeding on all those yummy insects!

[OllieC]

We have a couple of pet ones on the bathroom. Our favourite one doesn't do webs - we call him Mr Wolf. He's quite small & looks like he's built for pouncing on his prey. He dies sometimes but is soon replaced by an identical but smaller one, who keeps the name.

We also have enormous ones (a few inches across, including the legs) that actually make a noise as they run over the laminate floor. As long as they stay downstairs we all get along perfectly well. I suspect they eat the odd locust escapee from the Gecko tank.

[Chrispy]

Last year I had one build a huge web across the entrance to my greenhouse.
Three days I spent crawling under the web everytime I went in or out before I had the heart to destroy it.
The next day, there was a brand new web, so after sweeping that one away, I re-homed the spider to somewhere more suitable.

I quite enjoy fetching and re-homing ones out of a neighbours shed as they are terrified of them.

[Unwashed]

Spiders shed their skin entire as they grow so what look slike a dead spider very often isn't, it's just the previous skin.  And no, we don't hurt spiders, though I am a little afraid of them.  And yes, we had one that lived in the wing mirror for years.

[queenbee]

Unwashed, it might have been his shed skin, but I used the pot as it was quite a big one. Oh dear!!!

[pumkinlover]

Spiders shed their skin entire as they grow so what look slike a dead spider very often isn't, it's just the previous skin.

so there's hope for my Shelob then?- mind you not seen her around :-\