Spiders (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: hardwood floor, rental, house)

[j_rode]

I'm just wondering what kind of spiders are common in the home in Texas.

Mainly the Houston, San Antonio and Dallas areas.

Here in Wisconsin, we only get real small house spiders, but even those are enough to creep me out. I'd hate to have anything bigger in the house.

[Synopsis]

We have Texas Chair Spiders (offical term bognotus spideros), which aren't really the size of a chair; generally they are only 8-12 inches across, but that's just the main body. The legs stretch out up to 3 or 4 feet. Their harmless though unless they crawl on your face while you sleep and suffocate you. It has happened, but only two or three times in the last 6 months in my area.

Just watch your pet doors because that's how they get in, through the pet doors. They're usually too big for the littlest pet doors but will squeeze through the ones for larger dogs.. Below is a picture of one that was lounging around in my back yard earlier this year. I had to use the zoom on my camera because I didn't want to get close. They can't hurt you with their bit but they creep me out, and there's that whole sleeping thing.


Just joking! We have all manner of spiders down here; black widows, fiddlebacks, tarantulas, brown wolf spiders, and more but I rarely see any in the house. Never see any of the big ones around here in the DFW area. The big ones do creep me out as well..
Cheers.

[AustinTraveler]

Thanks for making me smile Synopsis.

[Trainwreck20]

I won't show that picture to my wife....even a metal art spider would freak her out!

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by AustinTraveler

Thanks for making me smile Synopsis.

Welcome! Sometimes I get in these "moods." And trainwreck, I know what you mean. My wife would LOSE IT!

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I always heard when I lived there that Brown Recluses were not unusual in the home.

I remember when we first moved back to Texas from Boston, we were driving into Fort Worth, it was VERY hot outside...in the road in front of me where these VERY large black spots walking across the road...I HAD to ask what they were...they were tarantulas...BIG ENOUGH TO AIM A CAR AT AND HIT...my DAD said the best way to kill them was to slam on the brakes right when your tire was over one, he said that just to freak me out...the real truth of that statement is that is what you do to kill a snake crossing the road...lol.

Then of course he told me they like to walk around on the ceiling of old and abandoned buildings and have the capability of letting go and falling from the ceiling, he said he had one land on his shoulder...I needed medication and therapy after that one...I NEVER went in places where these things could be found because NO JOKE, if one of them ended up on my shoulder, I would have decompensated and still be sitting on the floor rocking back and forth...

I used to have a couple cats that I called my Spider Hunters...somehow they knew they were around and they would try to catch them and at least notify me something was there..so I was not surprised.

OH BY THE WAY...that picture freaked me out...I had a hard time looking at it long enough to see its not real...

[Synopsis]

That's funny Lisa!

Believe me, although I posted that pic, I have a definite fear of the big spiders. It's funny, but when I lived in West Fort Worth years ago I saw "Wolf" spiders all of the time (didn't like it one bit). I live in the mid-cities area of DFW now and have never seen a spider bigger than a dime. I can't stand the wolf spiders, I hear they are also called "jumping spiders" but never want to find out how far they can jump (shiver).. These things can get about the size of a man's hand, legs and all, and look very menacing although I hear their bite is no more poisonous than a bee sting.

I remember one summer morning when I was moving into a rental home about 15 years ago in West FW, I looked out in the back yard and I saw this bird - a sparrow or something- attempting to get at something on the ground. He was flying above this thing and trying to get at it to eat it I guess. Upon closer examination it turned out to be a large wolf spider that reared up on its hind legs and the bird finally gave up (probably from fear) and flew away.

Another time I was putting the finishing touches on the hardwood floor in this rental home (down on my hands and knees) and when I reached back to dip my brush into the bucket there was this very large wolf spider just sitting there eying me over, not 8 inches from my hand. The darn things aren't afraid of anything! I freaked out but kept my composure long enough to open the door and use a broom to shoosh him out the door. I DEFINITELY didn't want to kill the nasty thing on my new hardwood floor. From then on I sprayed pest control religiously and never saw another one in the house.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

I live in the mid-cities area of DFW now and have never seen a spider bigger than a dime.

You have now (if you dare )

These were taken in Arlington - it's a garden spider, big and scary looking, but harmless (unless you're a bug). Total legspan is probably about the size of an average hand.

WARNING: If you are arachnophobic - you don't want to see these

[Synopsis]

As much as I hate seeing those things, I had to look. That is just creepy. I've seen a few of those in this area, just not nearly as big. Every once in awhile I'll also walk through a web and I do "the dance" just to make sure there's nothing camping out on the backside or in the hair. I must look pretty comical to anyone that happens to see me.

[WISTOMOVE]

That was just enough to make me not want to move there. I hate spiders. My -20 winters kill those kind of citters.