How do spiders get into bathtubs?

[Nick]

I'm a bit of an arachnophobe and found a whopper in the bath at 5am. Not the best start to the day, and I know it's that time of year. This was fully 5" across in normal 'relaxed/crouching' mode. Fairly beefy as well, not a spindly type. Perhaps 7-8" if flattened, I am not exagerrating. I won't kill them so chased it round the bath with a glass vase & bit of paper before successfully evicting it. A pint glass normally suffices. Not the first time of course but this is one of the largest I've seen. Got to wondering how it came to be there. Bathroom is fairly well sealed. Floor/walls/ceiling. No recessed downlighters. Light fittings are surface mounted with no gaps. Extractor fan has a close fitting iris-type closure. There is a vent that is open to outside and this has a 1mm mesh within it, checked and is in good order. They obviously don't come up through the plug hole unless equipped with scuba gear. My S-I-L firmly believes this to be the case and always ensures that the plug is rammed fully home. She lives in Oz and suffers visits from some of the more dangerous varieties. There are no webs and a thorough cleaning reveals no nests.

A daft question perhaps but I'm a daft old sod anywaysup.

Any thoughts or anecdotes appreciated. I think angle grinders do not apply in this case but ..........

Thanks, Nick.

[Andrew Gabriel]

They roam around, more frequently at night, and often following roughly the same route around the house. It probably slipped into the bath whilst hunting.

I used to work at home at night a lot (I was part of a mostly US- based team), and would often notice the same giant spider doing its rounds on subsequent nights. Never actually found where it slept during the day.

[Nightjar]

It was probably in the bathtub because it fell in and couldn't get out again. It might have been living in the house for some time, or it might have been a casual invader i.e. walked in when a door or window was open. Estimates vary from around 500,000 to 1,000,000 spiders per acre in a grassy field, so a few are quite likely to find their way into any house.

Colin Bignell

[John Williamson]

As others have said, they seem to fall in while hunting at night. I used to regularly get this problem when I got home after being away on tour.

If I'm away from home for a while, I leave a strip of toilet paper hanging from the rim of the tub to the bottom, and when I do this, I've never yet found a spider in the tub when I get home. The paper strip acts like a ladder for them. If you're at home all the time, then maybe leaving a wide washable ribbon in a similar position would help.

Can you get spider sized angle grinders? Look for spider sized holes in the drainpipes... ;-)

[Mr Pounder]

Man's oldest nightmare. I hate them. Just kill it. Was it really 5" across?

[newshound]

They can get through small gaps, under the door, where pipes come up through floorboards behind sink, etc.

They fall in when wandering around at night. You can get "spider ladders", like miniature rope ladders made out of string, which you hang from a tap, but I imagine that any suitable fabric, strip of towel, etc would be all that they need to get out. These are hunting spiders, shy and nocturnal which is why you only see them when they get caught.

[Mr Pounder]

What do they hunt?

[Andy Dingley]

Nick.

[newshound]

Almost any smaller creepy-crawly.

[Andy Champ]

What you don't do is wash it down the plug. It'll frantically hang on to the grid until the water stops, then climb up the overflow and stare at you. When you've gone it'll climb out and...

... fall back into the bath.

Andy

[Tim Streater]

Don't do that.

[alan]

On 06/09/2012 20:32, Nightjar wrote: Estimates vary from around 500,000 to 1,000,000 spiders per acre

At this time of year most people eat one spider a night - it having fallen into your mouth whilst asleep.

[Tim Streater]

Which is why you don't kill them.

[Mr Pounder]

Thanks for that. I won't sleep tonight.

[Mr Pounder]

Oh, that's okay then.

[Nightjar]

Our largest domestic spider hunts sticklebacks, among other things. The ones you normally find in the house are keeping it clear of insects.

Colin Bignell

[Andrew Gabriel]

"I've no fear of Wasps or Bees, Mosquitoes only tease, I rather like a Cricket on the hearth, But my blood runs cold to meet In pyjamas and bare feet, With a great big hairy spider in the bath."

- Flanders & Swann

[Nightjar]

I wouldn't expect them to be moving around whilst asleep. Do spiders sleep walk?

Colin Bignell

[Owain]

Maybe it forgets it's on the ceiling, falls asleep, and falls off the ceiling?

Or would the van der Waals force be sufficient to keep it attached even if it forgets to keep its little foot-hairs curled?

Owain

[jgh]

I chase 'em with the vacuum cleaner ;)

JGH