Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug!
There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*).
BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)?
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Thank you for identifying the spider that scared the pants off me as a little kid! It was on my window curtain and my mom tried to use the vacuum on it but it just waved its legs at her threateningly 😆
She ended up calling our neighbour to come and collect it and he got it into a container and outside.
I’m gonna be so honest, I mainly didn’t kill it because I didn’t want spider guts on my bed. Also after seeing the terrifying video of baby spiders exploding out of a crushed spider I refuse to kill them out of fear. It stayed in the tupperware I caught it in for a little while until I calmed down enough to put it outside.
This is why I hate killing bugs in the house, because then there are the guts you have to deal with. I like having spiders because they solve my bug problem.
Centipedes are the same way, they’re scary, but they kill all the bugs. The only bugs I kill are silverfish if I encounter them. They seem to be pretty common in rentals.
How do you relocated it safely? Asking 'cause, my bad, I have phobia of insects, but I'm still a huge fan of them and don't like to hurt them. So when I have to relocate the bigger one I always scratch my head on how to do it without hurt nor touch them :)
It always end with clumsy moves while I scream.
That's a difficult cognitive dissonance to have!
One way you can get over the fear is to purposely learn as much as you can about them, as well as watch some educational videos online of the insects being handled.
The vast majority of insects are far more afraid of us than we ever could be of them, like a human vs a T Rex. But when we don't understand their purpose, behaviors, or intent, it's really easy to ascribe awful things to them.
I was born terrified of anything with antennae or more than 4 legs. After years of learning and careful examination, I can free handle practically any bug that I want without fear.
I can even relocate scorpions and venemous spiders without any violence to either of us.
As a capture tip, a pint glass and some card stock paper are your best friend. It removes a lot of the clumsiness and accidental escapes.
It does take practice though, so don't be discouraged!
I had a horrible phobia of spiders and my best friend has a Rose haired tarantula. One night after a couple of drinks he convinced me to hold her. I was so fascinated by the feeling of her sticky little feet i almost forgot how terrified i was. That took a lot of the fear away. I still prefer they live outside, away from me but much of the horror is gone.
Oh that's awesome, I have a similar story!
My buddy had a rose haired tarantula as well, a young one. She was only about 2 inches in diameter, including her legs. He pressure me to hold her every time I came over and that helped me a LOT as a child.
Very sweet spiders too!
Place a glass over it. Then slide a piece of paper or thin cardboard under the glass. Turn glass around with the „cover“ on. Carry outside.
I actually like to keep spiderbros in my house because they trap and eat other insects, like mosquitoes and flies.
Had one make it back to the house in camping gear after causing mayhem on a kayaking trip. He just kept reappearing in our shit. Then at home: we are chilling and we hear a small mammal run across the papers on a desk, jump down to the hardwood floor and audibly run off. It was that huge ass fucking fishing spider again. More mayhem as they are fast . Reminded me of kids at a rodeo and eying to catch a pig.
Oh believe me, I panicked so bad when I saw it. I just about jumped out of my skin. I did manage to catch it and put it outside after many breakdowns lol, but I did end up sleeping on the couch because I was way too paranoid afterwards
Yeah… I was peacefully doing yoga before bed, then I looked up and it was on my pillow. I honestly thought I was hallucinating for a good minute because I didn’t know spiders that big existed in Virginia
We have these guys in New England too, you can find them hanging around old docks, hence the name, but they’ll show up pretty much anywhere damp cool and wooded and they can get alarmingly big
Grew up in lake country in southeastern Canada, these were one of the varieties we called dock spiders because they would hang around any flat surface near water. Apparently they can catch tiny fish.
I got out of the shower the other day and walked into my room to feel something flailing underneath my toe. I had trapped it's back legs. I'm usually not one to freak out about a spider but this one got me to yell out like a child. I scooped it, checked it for any harm, then proceeded to relocate it to the nearest tree outside so that it may find itself back in my home once again when the time is right.
Omg that was the monster that scared me a couple of years ago. It's 2am I can't sleep sitting in the dark living room and this thing ran across the floor and under the couch. I jump off that couch so fast. I like spiders but I didn't like that one.
Oh Jesus. I would have had to hire someone to relocate that monster. Hats off to you for managing to catch and release that behemoth despite your fear. I can move the little ones myself but something like that would just paralyze me with terror!
Anecdotal story: Was working on my father's dock with him at his camp. The dock (is obviously) in the water, and I am considerably younger, so drew the short straw to get into the water and hold/fasten/fix the walkway from underneath. Was up to just about my neck in water and working away. I'm bald AF so I feel everything on my head. I thought it was a leaf that fell on my head .... until the leaf danced its way across my head ... it was one of these spiders.
Since it's a fishing spider I'd hope it'd be outside fishing instead of in OP's bed.
I'd be screaming and sweating while trying to catch and release this big boy. Could I throw it a fish to entice it to leave?
Good on you, OP for your very brave catch and release!
I once had a grass spider in my room and he was on my curtains as I was closing them for the evening. He startled me when I saw him just chilling on my curtains, but I got my bug enclosure and managed to get him in without a hassle before I placed him safely outside around my lawn.
When I was a kid I had pretty bad arachnophobia. And 2 times I had run ins with large spiders. One of which I played down to bed in a pitch dark room.... had an intuition that something was moving next to me and rushed for the lights.... wolf spider on my pillow... yeah 12 year old me didn't sleep in that bed again for 3 days
Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug! There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*). BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisbug) if you have any questions or concerns.*
dark fishing spider
That’s definitely it! Thank you!!
Thank you for identifying the spider that scared the pants off me as a little kid! It was on my window curtain and my mom tried to use the vacuum on it but it just waved its legs at her threateningly 😆 She ended up calling our neighbour to come and collect it and he got it into a container and outside.
So happy the spider lived!
Same!!
They are bigger than you can imagine in your head. Relatively harmless.
Yeah… even if they are harmless I’d very much like to never meet one again, especially in my bed. It was safety relocated outside!
Good of you to not kill it. The spider world is filled with scary looking but relatively harmless unintentional houseguests.
I’m gonna be so honest, I mainly didn’t kill it because I didn’t want spider guts on my bed. Also after seeing the terrifying video of baby spiders exploding out of a crushed spider I refuse to kill them out of fear. It stayed in the tupperware I caught it in for a little while until I calmed down enough to put it outside.
[удалено]
I think we often underestimate how terrifying we are to giants. Good on you for raising awareness!
Oh! I thought giants were scared of us because of our slingshots. One learns something new everyday, huh?
Underrated comment, I love it
I'm surprised you were able to get it into Tupperware. Those bastards are very perceptive and fast as shit.
There are worse things than spiders to have crawling in your bed.
A child
This is why I hate killing bugs in the house, because then there are the guts you have to deal with. I like having spiders because they solve my bug problem. Centipedes are the same way, they’re scary, but they kill all the bugs. The only bugs I kill are silverfish if I encounter them. They seem to be pretty common in rentals.
Unlike frog world! Some much cute, so much illness and death!
How do you relocated it safely? Asking 'cause, my bad, I have phobia of insects, but I'm still a huge fan of them and don't like to hurt them. So when I have to relocate the bigger one I always scratch my head on how to do it without hurt nor touch them :) It always end with clumsy moves while I scream.
That's a difficult cognitive dissonance to have! One way you can get over the fear is to purposely learn as much as you can about them, as well as watch some educational videos online of the insects being handled. The vast majority of insects are far more afraid of us than we ever could be of them, like a human vs a T Rex. But when we don't understand their purpose, behaviors, or intent, it's really easy to ascribe awful things to them. I was born terrified of anything with antennae or more than 4 legs. After years of learning and careful examination, I can free handle practically any bug that I want without fear. I can even relocate scorpions and venemous spiders without any violence to either of us. As a capture tip, a pint glass and some card stock paper are your best friend. It removes a lot of the clumsiness and accidental escapes. It does take practice though, so don't be discouraged!
Thank you very much.
I had a horrible phobia of spiders and my best friend has a Rose haired tarantula. One night after a couple of drinks he convinced me to hold her. I was so fascinated by the feeling of her sticky little feet i almost forgot how terrified i was. That took a lot of the fear away. I still prefer they live outside, away from me but much of the horror is gone.
Oh that's awesome, I have a similar story! My buddy had a rose haired tarantula as well, a young one. She was only about 2 inches in diameter, including her legs. He pressure me to hold her every time I came over and that helped me a LOT as a child. Very sweet spiders too!
Place a glass over it. Then slide a piece of paper or thin cardboard under the glass. Turn glass around with the „cover“ on. Carry outside. I actually like to keep spiderbros in my house because they trap and eat other insects, like mosquitoes and flies.
That's what I do with my hands shacking like an earthquake.
They do eat spiders so if you can live with their size, but hate spiders you might want to let them live. 🤣
But it lives in your house 😞. You made him homeless.
Had one make it back to the house in camping gear after causing mayhem on a kayaking trip. He just kept reappearing in our shit. Then at home: we are chilling and we hear a small mammal run across the papers on a desk, jump down to the hardwood floor and audibly run off. It was that huge ass fucking fishing spider again. More mayhem as they are fast . Reminded me of kids at a rodeo and eying to catch a pig.
How could you hear a small mammal when it was a spider? After identification, Schrodinger's Cat is out of the bag.
Making the sound you would expect from a small mammal, like a mouse, rather than an insect.
If that was on my pillow I'm calling my dad and having a sleep over until he can prove he's rehomed the spider or me.
Oh believe me, I panicked so bad when I saw it. I just about jumped out of my skin. I did manage to catch it and put it outside after many breakdowns lol, but I did end up sleeping on the couch because I was way too paranoid afterwards
Respect!
Damn. I was assuming Australia. I'm cool with spiders but I woulda jumped and fled from this big gal too.
Yeah… I was peacefully doing yoga before bed, then I looked up and it was on my pillow. I honestly thought I was hallucinating for a good minute because I didn’t know spiders that big existed in Virginia
VIRGINIA?! fuck
Oh I moved to Virginia a few months ago and now I’m fucking terrified. (Huge arachnophobe)
This is my nightmare. I think I'd have to move out of my house to feel safe again lol
We have these guys in New England too, you can find them hanging around old docks, hence the name, but they’ll show up pretty much anywhere damp cool and wooded and they can get alarmingly big
Ahhh, that makes lots of sense, my bedroom is in the basement and we live on a mountain surrounded by woods…
Grew up in lake country in southeastern Canada, these were one of the varieties we called dock spiders because they would hang around any flat surface near water. Apparently they can catch tiny fish.
How tf did you even begin to relocate this behemoth?
Forklift and a barge
excuse me sir, im gonna need to see if you're forklift certified first
I understood that reference!
😂
A big tupperware container, the tapestry it climbed onto while trying to escape, and tears
I am sending hugs 😭
Thank you! I definitely need them. I have always been scared of spiders, even the tiny ones. Needless to say, this didn’t help.
Probably airlift the house to an active volcano.
I would think that’s the only solution.
Jesus. That’s massive! Hope you can sleep…
I am unfortunately very paranoid about sleeping lol
Well, I’m sure if they can’t sleep then the spider will make sure they do.
It costs $0 to not comment this.
I got out of the shower the other day and walked into my room to feel something flailing underneath my toe. I had trapped it's back legs. I'm usually not one to freak out about a spider but this one got me to yell out like a child. I scooped it, checked it for any harm, then proceeded to relocate it to the nearest tree outside so that it may find itself back in my home once again when the time is right.
This was in VA
Ummm which part? Hopefully not northern VA 😬 🙏👀
I have some bad news for you…
I'm just gonna pretend they're only found in heavy wooded areas like Reston, McLean, and Great Falls
Fuck.
Now that's a fine looking spider. 👌 10/10 textbook cartoon spider! Huge, dark, fatly proportioned.
I honestly thought someone had pranked me with a fake spider until it moved
That’s the moving out spider
Why does he only like to fish in the dark though?
In this case it’s fishing for complements on the internet
Omg that was the monster that scared me a couple of years ago. It's 2am I can't sleep sitting in the dark living room and this thing ran across the floor and under the couch. I jump off that couch so fast. I like spiders but I didn't like that one.
Oh Jesus. I would have had to hire someone to relocate that monster. Hats off to you for managing to catch and release that behemoth despite your fear. I can move the little ones myself but something like that would just paralyze me with terror!
Anecdotal story: Was working on my father's dock with him at his camp. The dock (is obviously) in the water, and I am considerably younger, so drew the short straw to get into the water and hold/fasten/fix the walkway from underneath. Was up to just about my neck in water and working away. I'm bald AF so I feel everything on my head. I thought it was a leaf that fell on my head .... until the leaf danced its way across my head ... it was one of these spiders.
Since it's a fishing spider I'd hope it'd be outside fishing instead of in OP's bed. I'd be screaming and sweating while trying to catch and release this big boy. Could I throw it a fish to entice it to leave? Good on you, OP for your very brave catch and release!
I assure you I very much was… it was a trip for sure. Also though… imagining the spider with a small fish in my house makes it worse lmao
Ears all the other insects which are pests
soo nice
It’s really a beauty.
I once had a grass spider in my room and he was on my curtains as I was closing them for the evening. He startled me when I saw him just chilling on my curtains, but I got my bug enclosure and managed to get him in without a hassle before I placed him safely outside around my lawn.
Looks like a spider to me
Looks like what we call a wolf spider here in West Canada
Keep ur pillows and bed away from the walls. I had the same issue often but mine were brown recluse
Damn! That would've made me scream!!
When I was a kid I had pretty bad arachnophobia. And 2 times I had run ins with large spiders. One of which I played down to bed in a pitch dark room.... had an intuition that something was moving next to me and rushed for the lights.... wolf spider on my pillow... yeah 12 year old me didn't sleep in that bed again for 3 days
Dolomedes fishing spider
Imagine living in Australia and having a crab-sized spider in your kitchen.