Spiders in Alaska?

[Normaangie1]

Can people use this for witchcraft

[GnomadAK]

this one was sitting on the front door frame

[RockNRollRocks]

what type of spider is it? are there any snakes up in alaska?

[GnomadAK]

I believe that spider is of the "orb weaver" variety, fascinating and repellent at the same time.

[rhiannon67]

I was just about to pose the same question as the OP, only for the complete opposite reason....as I have severe arachnophobia.

We're moving to Anchorage this year....it will still be spider season when we get there. How long does spider season last in Anchorage? What do people do up there to spider-proof their homes that doesn't involve bug spray use indoors? Are the spiders very big or scary looking?

I grew up hating spiders because they were all over our home in southern california...plus we used to get black widows quite frequently. The fear and hatred of these 8 legged creatures has never gone away...and probably gotten worse. One of my hopes is that there will be far fewer of them for far less part of the year once we're living in Anchorage.

More input would be appreciated by those living in AK right now. Thanks!

[cjs123]

Originally Posted by gobrien

I think it's time for my amusing tarantula story......I grew up in the interior of Alaska so my only knowledge of tarantulas was from those old nature films shown in school and on tv. I followed my parents to Arkansas where they retired back in the late 80's and was constantly horrified by the bugs. One day I was carrying a laundry basket into the house, from the laundry room that was just inside the entrance. All of a sudden, a tarantula jumped out and scuttled across the room and hid in the corner. It was my first time to see one, so I didn't know what to do. The films showed these aggressive tarantulas that would jump on a person to attack, so I steered clear of it and grabbed my phone. I called everyone.....animal control, the campus police, my parents, and a friend. What an idiot! My friend came over and squished it with a mop. Live and learn, there were many adventures to be had by an Alaskan girl transplanted to the south. To this day I can imagine the laughs that those animal control and campus police had at my expense!

Gobrien, that is a riot.

Still--how were you supposed to know? Years ago here in Arizona I found a wolf spider in my apartment (to me it seemed big enough to have an apartment of its own), and though I did womp on it till it was deceased, I would much rather have called the Marines.

[Music_Man]

We do have wolf spiders and brown recluse. If you don't like spiders maybe you should move to Antarctica. We have mosquitoes and bed bugs too. Everything you can think of except snakes.

[Dakster]

And the most aggressive, biting, huge, flies I have ever seen... Anything that takes a chunk of your flesh with it when it bites you... You only thought the mosquitos were bad.

I have seen frogs and spiders up here too. The brown recluse is here - but haven't seen one here yet... I don't see a lot of large spiders though. I bet large body spiders just can't adapt to the cold? Saw lots of large body (tarantula) spiders in Florida, I don't exactly go looking to get near one, but they don't scare me either. THey actually eat mosquitos by the pound.

No snakes, but people have them as pets here. No lizards or alligators/crocodiles either - UNLESS they are pets. This summer I saw a crocodile for sale in Wasilla.... Ummm... Yeah...

One thing I also have not seen a lot of is ants. (I know I just jinxed myself now)

I noticed that in FLorida was is small and you can't see will hurt you. Up here, it is primarily what is large will hurt/kill you.