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

[Stephanie]

In fairness, I bought the lavender from Aldi for 2 quid and it lasted for 3 years which is pretty good runnings. Foxes tend to steer clear these days because of the hound dog! Even though he's 17, he still gives them a bit of a run around.

I planted catgrass before and the dogs ate it. Then again, they also ate the parsley and mint.

[Jo13]

@Huma0 

This is amazing. It's so cute!

[Robin4]

@Ben551  @Stephanie  @Susan653  @Huma0  @Jo13 

Now Ben, I didn't think you were a bunch of whimps over there! What you need to do is run this U Tube clip to your guests....it tells you exactly how we handle our spiders over the ditch!

I pick up Huntsman spiders like this one all the time, they are gentle and not in the slightest aggresive. I am sharing my mancave with probably around 150 'Daddy long legs' spiders as I write this....they don't bother me and I don't bother them! Every now and then they will trap a mosquito, and that does make me happy and realise that spiders are indeed one of Gods chosen creatures!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf86oE2KbpQ

Cheers......Rob

[Ben551]

@Robin4 whilst I bow to your superior collection of spider companions in your shed, I rather think you missed the point of this thread!

We don’t have a problem with locals wimping out over spiders. It’s the guests we are getting from around the world who seem to arrive very, very unprepared for the size of things they see here. My wife and I aren’t bothered by them, and our Bundle... well he thinks they are all a game. So we have no problem living amidst nature.

The really bizarre thing is that the guest we had who complained and shrieked the loudest was an Australian girl!  I was thoroughly confused by this and actually said to her “but don’t you get spiders where you live?” She replied “Yes, but I expect accomodation I pay for to be free of them!” She wasn’t happy at all. She actually seemed rather petrified, poor thing. I dealt with the spider then my wife went down with a hot chocolate and some fresh baked cookies to calm things down. So Rob, my friend, arachnophobia doesn’t seem to escape your countryman either.

If others are interested, I do have a slight update on the spider proofing remedies!

I managed to put stiff foam into the air vents around the top of the glass conservatory windows, plus I added a white thick plastic sticky tape all along the upper gap. I did it before our current guests arrived and (touch wood) they haven’t seen any spiders since!  We also did the peppermint steamer thing to the tiled floors (thank you to who posted that).

So all in all we may have slowed the influx of these.... unpaid little guests 🙂

[Robin4]

@Ben551 

Joke Joyce!!

I came across that video and just had to build a story around it.

Ben, I know you are a man amongst men, and mere thing like a spider would cause you about as much concern as odering a capuccino or a flat white!

I do share an empathy with you regarding that guest.....I think I had her through here! She chucked a tantrum because she found a sugar ant in the fruit bowl. I battered it, rolled it in icing sugar and mounted it on the library shelves so she could assure herself it could not possibly do her any harm!!!!!

Cheers......Rob

[Marg11]

Great clip Robin.

I do a "This is what you do with red back webs" and show nervous guests how to wind up the web on their chair on a stick and toss it in the garden.

They often reply, "Why don't you spray?"

My reply "They eat mosquitos that can give you nasty bites! Insecticides kill bees, ladybirds and many other useful insects." 

[Betty124]

I really like  the idea of the mosquito netting, especially if your windows don't  have screens on them.

https://www.mosquitonets.com/classic-mosquito-net-queen-king-cal-king/

This one looks like it would keep out bees and other buggy things too.