Advice on Spiders Please : Do Not read if they bother you

[Ben551]

*** IF YOU ARE SCARED OF SPIDERS I ADVISE AGAINST READING THIS THREAD***

Dear all,

I have a bit of an issue that I would like some advice on please.

My wife and I are still new at this and, although we seem to be handling all manner of problems as they come up, there is one that has us a bit stumped.  Our place is set against the New Zealand bush and contains all manner of insects, including spiders.  Unlike our Australian cousins across the ocean, we are lucky in NZ and don't have very many poisonous spiders (the few that are poisonous are very rare and hardly seen). We also don't have snakes in NZ, or any major preditors, so hey... it could be worse right?

The problem is, when we do get spiders they are... a little bit bigger than people are used to. 

After getting some horrified reactions, we added a warning to our listing in the best way we could think of, added it to our guest book, and started telling people at check-in of the dangers of leaving the windows open.  But honestly, people are STILL surprised when they find a spider and seem to approach it with genuine terror!  Each time this happens, we feel a bit guilty.  I don't want guests to feel horrified, but... I can't change it.  It's hot here right now and people want to leave windows open.  When they do that, spiders come in... simple as that. 

I know we're not responsible for the insects of New Zealand... and there is no point laying awake a night worring if guests are going to find any... but I just wonder if we should be doing something else?

Here is the warning we have on our listing, which we also include in our guest book:

◉ Trees, bees, birds and more! ◉
Please note that the cottage is located in the forest and is surrounded by trees, nature and natural wildlife. There are flowers, birds, bees and insects in the forest. This can mean a small amount of pollen or insects may enter the cottage during your stay. This is very rare, however it can happen if windows are left open for long periods. If finding a spider would bother you, or if you are severly allergic to pollen or bees, we recommend you reconsider your stay with us. Although we are meticulous and thorough, we cannot promise the space will be entirely free of these things. Living in New Zealand is both wild and beautiful so we accept these small things as part of the wonderful life we have.

How does that sound?  I thought it sounded ok.  The problem is that I don't know if this is a warning is suitably proportionate to the "size" of the spiders I'm talking about here.  I also don't think there is any way to illustrate this without sharing a picture.... I hate to do it, but I'm going to post a link to one that our guests caught and photographed... we caught another this morning about 2/3 the size of this one, but still very large.  I dunno, they just seem to get fat and healthy in our bush... Bundle the cat likes to eat them (weirdo). These certainly aren't the biggest NZ has either, they can be dinner plate or toilet seat sized up in Auckland, so frankly I'd take Wellington spiders any day...

Link to picture of our average spider invader:

https://spiderid.com/picture/52075/

Feel free to not follow the above link and just give me general advice based on whatever size of insect you imagine would bother you.  Bear in mind, most of our guests are not New Zealanders, they are British, European, American, Chinese.... etc.  Actually, I've lost track of the countries...

~ Ben

[Ange2]

@Ben551    Have you read Charlotte's web by E.B.White.  Great children's story about a smart, compassionate, talented, barn spider!   Gives one a whole new perspective on spiders:)

[Ben551]

Oh cool @Ange2 I had heard of it but never knew what it was about. Nice 🙂

[Mary1135]

Holy crap!  WHy did I click that link?  

You are very very brave humans there in NZ!

[Ben551]

Lol @Mary1135 - sorry if it creeped you out. But since you’ve looked, and felt that way about it, tell me... what would you do if you found one of those while you were staying in an Airbnb? (other than scream, ask me to come down and remove it, and book the next flight out).

Would you leave a bad review if I had left a message in my listing like the above? (Second one has the size reference).

[Mary1135]

Hey Ben,

I don't see a flamethrower option.

Just kidding -- honestly, no way would I leave you a bad review for that or any other local critter (unless it's Orcs.  Nobody wants Orcs hangin' about.  You do have those in NZ, right?).  Even if you have to call emergency to jump-start my heart, I as a reasonable human would not blame YOU for local flora/fauna such as spiders.  Good grief.

See the thread I just posted.  Honestly, I am feeling done with airbnb people.  

[Ben551]

Oh thanks @Mary1135  I appreciate the reassurance, that’s really helpful. I’m also sorry to hear you’re done with Airbnb folks 😞 hey, maybe a trip to NZ will cheer you up? 😄

PS: sadly we do have a few Orcs. Although they are restricted to parliament, they do cause a bit of trouble now and then 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Ben551  I can totally relate. Insects abound here- spiders and scorpions, ants, bees, wasps, and hundreds if not thousands of others. There are snakes as well. And the scariest one- called in English a whiptail or false scorpion. Not a scorpion at all, they are an evolutionary mutation of a spider- 6 legs, with 2 very long antennae, a squarish body and pincers like a crab. Now even though it's probably the scariest looking bug most people have ever seen, it's totally harmless- has no toxin, and is quite shy. And they are good guys- they eat other bugs, including scorpions.these things can get to the size of a dessert plate.

I think your warning is fine. Personally, I don't pre-warn guests about any of this- I clean the guest quarters thoroughly, vacuuming every square centimeter of every nook and cranny, even flipping the bed frame on its side to vacuum underneath (mattress is foam, so light to move). Then, when the guests check in, I just casually mention that, being the tropics, there are plenty of insects, suggest that they shake out clothes and shoes before putting on, and not to have any food in their room that could attract critters.

When I say I mention it casually, I just slide it in with the other verbal info about where the light and fan switches are, how the door lock and window latches work, etc. In other words, I make it sound totally normal, immediately moving on to the next instruction.

I find that none of my guests has seemed freaked out with the info. One gal did come to me at a point in her stay to say that there was a spider on the ceiling over her bed, that she has a spider phobia, and was afraid it would fall on her. I just went up and vacuumed it up and she was happy.

I do have a mosquito net for the bed- perhaps you could have one as well- that way, guests who are a little freaked out about insects can feel relaxed in bed at night.

Also- maybe you can find some double-sided sticky tape (plant nurseries often sell this) to put around the door and windows on the outside of the building so nothing could crawl in the windows. 

Ben, there was a post here about a year back from a host whose guest freaked out, called her about bugs in the cottage, she came over to have him point out 2 ladybugs on the windowsill. He cancelled, left, wrote a review saying the place was "full of bugs" and was refunded in full by Airbnb. Some people should never leave home.

[Ben551]

@Sarah977 Wow, awesome Sarah that makes me feel a little better, knowing we aren’t the only ones dealing with this... and that others have bigger problems!

I think we we go through a similar process, checking every nook for possible bugs and knowing it’s absolutely bug free before guests arrive. But... no matter what we do, every second set of guests finds a large spider. One guest found 5, but they had left windows open a lot. The last guests found a huge one, even though they had followed our suggestion to leave windows closed! So I can only reason that they are coming in around the gaps and vents, which I intend to try to block up with breathable foam today... otherwise, I’m stumped and don’t know how they are getting in.

I really like your suggestion about double sided tape! That’s something we haven’t tried. I could take a look at what we can buy here (hope it’s not something else NZ doesn’t have).

Hahahaha... yep. Some people shouldn’t leave home 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Ben551 A Canadian friend of mine who's come to visit me here in Mexico a couple times was telling a mutual aquaintance back in Canada about all the bizarre insects she saw down here. This other person said "How can Sarah live there with scorpions and all those other insects?" My friend replied, "Yeah, and we have bears and cougars. How can you live here?"

[Ben551]

@Sarah977   hahahahaha! Touché!

[Betty124]

HA!

LADYBUGS!

[Paul154]

@Ben551 

In our Seattle Fall, we can often wake to a web from the ceiling to the kitchen table. Our spiders too are big and fortunately non-poisonous.

I don't warn guests - I allow common sense to prevail. People who hate and are scared of spiders will be scared of spiders irregarless of any warning received. People who associate spiders with dirt or poor maintanence will equate spiders with dirt or poor mainanence. Unfortunately, some Airbnb CS representatives share this same belief. I cringe when Airbnb's computer parses guest reviews and equates spiders to "bugs" suggesting an Armaggedeon of bitings flys and mosquites devouring our poor defenseless guests. Sigh.

Your blurb is good, but too long. Emphasize your wonderful natural setting, emphasize that your large spiders are not poisonous. I do like your reconsider booking suggestion.

"We New Zealanders are proud of our wonderous natural enviroment. If large non-poisonous spiders bother you, please reconsider booking here. Thank you"

[Paul154]

I think large spiders are so cool.

@Ben551 your plight reminded me of a great Airbnb experience I  had with my Aussie guest.

On many nights, a pesky family of raccoons come to my back porch and make a mess 😞

You just would not believe my Aussie guest. Not only did he video these annoying creatures, he immediately called his family! He thought they were so exotic! 

Market your spiders as exotic. A true NZ experience:)

[Ben551]

@Paul154  LOL I love it Paul! "Come and be amazed by the wonders of the Forest, including bees, birds, flowers and large non-poisonous exotic spiders!" hahahaha

[Sarah977]

Tailless whip scorpion