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

[Ben551]

That sounds adorable to me @Cathie19 - but then I really love nature 🙂

[Claire475]

@Ben551 what an enjoyable thread. 

A suggestion, why don’t you make a listing of all the creatures/ birds,  with their photo and a little description of their habits poisonous or not etc with a tick box next to it. When guests arrive give them a printed sheet and ask them to tick how many they see on their visit. You could also include some binoculars for bird watching. 

I am sure you could have quite a decent list

@Sarah977 I also think Sarah has a great idea of keeping some medication handy in case. 

Here in Luxembourg we get no creatures really worth mentioning, if I could find a little spider I would take a photo and send you, that would be a giggle, roughly the size of a small finger nail at best. 

[Ben551]

@Claire475 What a great idea! We have a huge number of birds to spot, but if I mixed in some lizards, spiders and things... that could be a fun activity !

[Sarah977]

@Claire475  I think that's a brilliant idea to make up a sheet with photos and info on the various critters, I'll have to work on that in the off-season when I'm not so busy.  Sort of like a treasure hunt for guests. 

[Claire475]

There are certain natural oils they hate, including citrus, lavender, peppermint, citronella, cinnamon, tea tree and cloves. ... Add up to 5 drops of essential oil (lemon is my favorite and spiders detest it) and up to 5 drops of dish washing liquid to 1 qt. of water. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and shake well.

I just copy copy pasted this but I have heard before that there are natural oils that repel insects. Added bonus lovely smell throughout the home and no spiders. 

And then you may get guests saying I was really hoping to spot one.

[Ben551]

@Claire475 Interesting! Thanks for that, we have some of those things because my wife makes our own toilet spray liquid, to use in a hand pump mister, instead of the disposable compressed gas cans (which can’t be recycled in my city). I wonder if we just fill a mister with the anti-spider recipe and spray it about...

[Claire475]

@Ben551 @Sarah977 A little more info on natural remedies. 

• Spray the mixture on cobwebs, around doors and windows, around the lawn and garden and on any surfaces where spiders lurk.In addition to having deterring spiders, this mixture has a pleasant aroma.
• Oils may stain or cause spots, so be sure to test the mixture on a small section of carpet or upholstery before spraying an entire surface.
• Reapply the spray once a week during peak "spider seasons."

[Sarah977]

@Claire475  Actually I don''t want to keep the spiders away- I only have one type of house spider, they aren't large or hairy or otherwise horrifying to anyone who doesn't have a spider phobia, and they keep the other insect population at bay. Because I generally let nature do its thing (I do draw the line at scorpions and cockroaches in the house, they get instantly squashed) I find I have much less insect problems than those I know around here who fumigate on a regular basis or just kill everything. Balance of nature and all that.

[Nina204]

@Ben551   I hear spiders hate peppermint.  Get some peppermint oil and spray around where they tend to come in.  See if that works?  

[Ben551]

Hey thanks @Nina204  yeah, that's just what we're going to do.  We can buy pepermint oil spray at Mitre 10 (general store) as a general pet repellant, because it's one that cats don't like too.  Will see if that helps!

[Betty124]

Thank you!

I am making a list before my next guests arrive!

I just read about some of the chemical treatments available at the hardware stores.

They sound scary!   The instructions say,

"Do not use around a DRAIN.  Avoid use where the chemical  can enter 

run-off water."

SO,  never mind.

But I suppose I could fill  a mist container with peppermint oil, or lemon oil.

Then spray around the door to the crawl space,  the shower,  the bathroom sink,  the basement windows, etc.

[Stephanie]

Ouch, it sounds like the after effects of those chemicals would defeat the purpose in the long run. Natural remedies are good for your home and the planet overall @Betty124 !

[Huma0]

@Ben551 

It’s funny how  people have different perceptions of/phobias about these things. Obviously it has a lot to do with personal experience.

Even though I grew up in the UK, I travelled a lot in ‘exotic’ locations when I was young so developed a tolerance to many things. In South Africa, I encountered a monkey spider, i think it was called, which was fat and yellow and as big as your hand and had a scorpion climb up my leg. I bush camped in Namibia and Botswana and heard a lion roaring seemingly quite near my tent and woke up with a caterpillar in each ear. Then there were the snakes...

In Mexico and Guatemala, I found a scorpion inside my mosquito net and a tarantula inside my hammock and basically tarantulas everywhere. I had a monkey fall on my head in a forest in Brazil (both of us freaked out for a moment). I’ve been eaten alive countless times by the biggest mozzies you can imagine. I was once attacked by magpies in Pakistan (they were after my earrings). It was like a Hitchcock film!

All of this, I took in my stride, but then I got an infected spider bite (still have the scar) from a spider in the UK in NOVEMBER and have since become wary, but not scared, of them. I was never bothered by wasps and bees, not even when I moved into my first home and found an active wasps nest up the chimney, until one got stuck in my hair for what seemed like an eternity and stung me in the head several times. The same thing happened a week later (note to self, do not use hair conditioner with real rose oil in it).

it only takes one bad experience to cultivate a phobia. I don’t know what to advise other than more cats! I have three kitties and they seem to keep the spiders more or less at bay. I was initially disturbed that they ate them, but it doesn’t seem to harm the cats, at least if you don’t have poisonous spiders in your neck of the woods.

Also, I had a very spider phobic housemate who put a conker in each corner of the room (sorry if someone already mentioned that). I think it’s an old wives tale, but she swore it kept them away!

[Ben551]

@Huma0  thanks for posting and...wow... I can see why you would be wary.  Technically all spiders can bite and, even if they don't have venom, the trouble is they always have grubby fangs because of what they eat.  That's generally where the infection comes into play, which is why NZ doctors will say the first thing to do is disinfect the bite before scratching or rubbing it.  Easier said than done!  I wondered even before you mentioned about the rose oil if it was a shampoo related thing... makes sense, but ouch.

Cats.  Cats are the answer to everything.  Everyone needs a Bundle.  He eats all the bad things.

[Huma0]

@Ben551yes cats are indeed the answer to (almost) everything, even though this morning I had three purry, furry faces in mine an hour before I intended to get up.

@Sarah977the spiders and other creepy crawlies don't seem to harm the cats, but I am worried about wasps and bees because I  have heard they are allergic to them and swallowing one could kill them. I try to believe that they wouldn't be stupid enough to do that, but you never know. One of my cats decided to chase a very large bee around the room once and got it stuck in her paw. She freaked out and was literally bouncing off the walls. Luckily it did't sting her.