Darla's Discoveries (How to Live Trap a Spider, a Little Biology Lesson, and My Latest Misadventure)

Warning: Don't like creepy crawling things? Then please give this a skip (includes a photo).

I don’t know what it is about our house with all the centipedes and whatnot, though we can probably blame the wooded fields out back. Or maybe it’s me, the one forever coming across big bugs, usually when naked and legally blind sans eyeglasses entering the shower stall.

A few summers ago I discovered a very large spider in the floor drain between my washer and dryer where it resided for several weeks before moving on. You see, we try our best to release native species back into the wild rather than destroy them and I couldn’t figure out how to do so in that particular case.

(Trust me when I tell you one or both of us would have been injured had that spider ran at me.)

Here's the live trap trick I discovered. The best case scenario is when your insect or whatever resides on a flat, open surface. From there you need some large glass or plastic cup, thin stiff paper (like an envelope), and a little fortitude. Fortunately, today I spied the similar beast pictured below before it settled into the drain. And it’s a good thing I wasn’t home alone, because this harmless arachnid drained all my fortitude.

These so-called fishing spiders have the ability to hunt underwater, trapping air in a surrounding bubble like a self made diving suit. I figured that explained the drain lair, though they’re just as successful on the ground (years ago I spotted one on our driveway). At least these home invaders found me on dry land, as well.

My first Southwest Ohio encounter was in a canoe, when collision with an overhanging tree branch dislodged a huge spider and knocked it into our boat. By some miracle, my hysterics did not capsize us before my then-fiancé flipped our uninvited guest into the water where it stood atop unfazed like some creepy, eight-legged messiah.

Today I actually shook in my sandals until DH answered my frantic phone call and came downstairs to help wrangle the creature. I fetched a big plastic cup and piece of stiff paper from our new mattress cover packaging (why I went downstairs in the first place, to launder the cover). This photo is taken on the other side of the laundry room wall, near the stairs.

Why You Shaking, Lady?

Sorry it’s grainy. I was also too nervous to think of using a flash, though maybe that’s just as well as it might have spooked the poor thing. As it was, this peaceful hunter stood still for the procedure, and SO got a good chuckle when I reacted to the tease, “It’s all yours now.” I got called “cute” several times while overseeing disposal down the hill and swear the thing sailed like a flying squirrel on the way.

My Foot for Comparison in the Calm Aftermath

On that note, I should be glad we haven’t been invaded by destructive rodents. However cute, they can also carry disease.

Are you having a mildly exciting day like mine?

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