Look what I found in the bathroom last night!

[scubadubaqueen]

Fortunately before the cat did!

Believe this is a Cyprus Tarantula (Chaetopelma karlamani). Now roaming an Olive Grove in Ozankoy!

[ozonkoyboy]

Know how you feel, we had one just like it, my wife said to me "the rung just moved"
and there he was,

[Marions]

So do tell just what damage they can do to a cat/dog/me? Trouble is I am coward and cannot catch them, only spray and kill them- and it takes a whole can of the stuff. I don't like being cruel, but what else does one do, especially with pets around.

[BLUE BUTTERFLY]

If I was you I would have a good search for it's mate, apparently they always come in twos.

Marions, hello. I read somewhere that their bite is not normally lethal unless the person is extremely sensitive.

The dance the tarantela, I think that is how it is spelt, is named after the tarantula as the moves in the dance are similar to the spasms some people might experience if bitten by the spider.

[sophie]

The vet tried to asure me that "they are not real tarantulas" but if they look like a tarantula, and walk like a tarantula then its a tarantula as far as I'm concerned.

[scubadubaqueen]

So do tell just what damage they can do to a cat/dog/me? Trouble is I am coward and cannot catch them, only spray and kill them- and it takes a whole can of the stuff. I don't like being cruel, but what else does one do, especially with pets around.

Well with 3 of us we got a glass that we put on top of it, and then slid paper card under that to create a lid that I held firmly over the top of the glass once I had turned it the right way and the spider fell to the bottom, and then I went to the end of the garden and hurled it as far away as possible! From what I have read, this is not a deadly spider, but its bite is worse than a bee sting. If you see the picture of it under the glass, you will see some venom I think (white liquid)... I don't think it was too happy! Just glad my Persian cat who has her litter tray in there, did not find the spider first, as she would have just wanted to play with it!

[Marions]

They might not be real tarantulas but they are certainly real blooming big spiders, which I would rather stayed in their own domain and not mine.
However, to be serious, I am afraid that there are not three of us to tackle anysuch thing. Smaller spider sin the past have received the treatment tha tyou said, but last time I tried with a large one, the glass was not big enough! And as him 'downstairs' is more fragile than agile, I cannot rely on his speedy help, and the dog and cats are not much help on the domestic front. So that leaves me! So, although I agree what was done was the bes t ting, I am afraid I still have to chase around the house with sprayuntil it moves no more. I feel like a very guilty murderer. Have done this twice as I could not get near it to catch it anyway. I expect it was more scared of me than I of it, but................

They should stay out and then they would not get hurt, and nor would we.

I would not like to risk a bite though (it of me, I mean). I was once bitten by a tiny scorpion when picking olives (in a Greek island) and that wa snot nice, so I prefer tokeep my distance from these guys.

So apart form the under glass, throw away into garden technique - anyone got any other solutions.

[owl]

Shriek from the wife upstairs just now!
Went up with broom to find a centipede/millipede? Was as long as the broom was wide, a good 12", fat and hairy. At first she thought it was a snake.
I know some of these can have very irritant hairs, so it was sweep it out onto balcony and kill it. Dont like doing that, but dont want it back!
Biggest we've had, usually they're only 3-4" long.

Anyone else get these big ones?

[sophie]

For some reason or another (and I have no idea why) everything seems to be bigger this year (no rude jokes please) be it spiders, millipedes, caterpillars, snakes and even a couple of days ago a Gekko. Flippin enormous it was.

[ailletoo]

Beats me why any intelligent person would want to cause a tiny creature such an excruciatingly painful death as spraying it with a full can of bug spray would give it.

I think that it is us that have encroached on their territory and not the opposite. If one cannot live peacefully with the Flora and Fauna of a place then why choose to live in that place?

Just saying......

[carolhm]

Beats me why any intelligent person would want to cause a tiny creature such an excruciatingly painful death as spraying it with a full can of bug spray would give it.

I think that it is us that have encroached on their territory and not the opposite. If one cannot live peacefully with the Flora and Fauna of a place then why choose to live in that place?

Just saying......

They don't sound that tiny to me and its the fear of not knowing where there go that make people react the way they do . As for encroaching on their territory they are all over the world except maybe places covered in ice and that a bit ott to expect them all to go there

Just saying...................................

[frontalman]

I would love to find one of these in my house. I have no fear whatsoever of something so small (comparatively) and would post photos of it crawling up my arm and over my face for you all to see, you woosses!

[Groucho]

" Look what I found in the bathroom last night!"

Well - I thought t she was going to say.... the soap!

[surfmeetseast]

It's very cruel to spray them, and yes they come in pairs generally. Buy a plug in deterrent or bring conkers from the horse chestnut if you go to the UK, get a fishing net to catch and dispose of humanely

[Art]

I would have passed out!