Creepy Crawlies

Hello all. It’s winter in upstate New York, which means I’m spending my days daydreaming about being a live aboard where the air outside doesn’t hurt my face. One nice thing about living in the frozen north is that there aren’t really any bugs. No mosquitoes, flies, noseeums, and thank god, no spiders.

I’m not okay with spiders. I can kinda deal with smaller ones, say less than the size of a quarter, but those big hairy ones are the stuff of nightmares for me. I turn into a white girl and ‘can’t even.’

For those of you cruising in warmer climes, like Florida, the gulf coast, and the Caribbean, how often do you encounter these many-legged spawns of Satan in the winter months? Do you ever get any big bastards on your boat?

Wayfarer said:

Hello all. It’s winter in upstate New York, which means I’m spending my days daydreaming about being a live aboard where the air outside doesn’t hurt my face. One nice thing about living in the frozen north is that there aren’t really any bugs. No mosquitoes, flies, noseeums, and thank god, no spiders.

I’m not okay with spiders. I can kinda deal with smaller ones, say less than the size of a quarter, but those big hairy ones are the stuff of nightmares for me. I turn into a white girl and ‘can’t even.’

For those of you cruising in warmer climes, like Florida, the gulf coast, and the Caribbean, how often do you encounter these many-legged spawns of Satan in the winter months? Do you ever get any big bastards on your boat?

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Frozen North.. I hear you, oh yes I hear you!
During winter we do not have spiders obviously but in summer we have mosquitoes, flies, spiders and all sort of nice little bugs. But I am glad we have siders onboard, and if I could I would grow them as every evening they take out all these damned mosquitoes that found a way in!

L

Yes, spiders and boats go together for some reason.....

This year, traveling in warm weather instead of plain old fashion cold weather winter like we used to, ant have invaded a couple times.

Spiders appear like magic...not sure hiw the ants get aboard, docklines or boxes.....

I haven't tried it yet but I've heard that the kind of dryer sheets that are fabric softeners work to keep spiders away.


I use Ortho Home Defense a couple of times a summer, spraying the docks, lines, dockside fenders, shore power lines, etc. That has worked well for me.

I thought my boat was spider haven. You mean I'm not alone with them?

I like spiders. They suck the juices out of even worse bugs.

The good news about spiders is they eat bugs.
The bad news is they digest those bugs into India Ink which they cr@p out onto your boat.
They like to make small webs under overhangs or handrails, spray them after dark when the spiders are out on the web.
SUSPEND Insecticide works well on spiders, and other insects,

On my Great Loop trip this summer, I negotiated an "Agreement of Understanding " with the resident spiders on my boat. We established safe web zones and the line of demarcation (master stateroom door threshold). They were allowed to web ouside and in certain areas inside. There was no tolerance for crossing the line of demarcation and the galley was also off limits. They were made aware of the size limit (about a nickel ) pertaining to the "live and let live" clause.

Overall the agreement was successful with a number of the resident aliens figuring it out, getting Ted's Green card, and flourishing . There were some rebels that had to be repatriated or executed for capital crimes. Generally, you can't fix stupid. Given a choice between flying aliens and spiders, I'll take the spiders.

Ted

Ortho Home Defense is a superior product on spiders. Use it all the time on my boar, the dock the assistance towboat and anyone on the dock that wants a couple weeks without spiders.

After a couple weeks, they always come back.

So far in my life...the only successful use of dryer sheets has been in dryers. For every person that swears they cure anything, I know or have heard 10 that say BS.

The typical boat spider, in my experience, is the brownish/grayish speckled ones, no bigger than a quarter. The ships I work on will be covered with the damned things in the summer time. All of the smaller boats I've grown up with or owned have had them. I've spent so much time with them, that they really don't bother me at all any more.

I've adopted the same policy as Ted. They can hang out wherever they want, as long as it's not my room. I'll walk by 10 spiders on deck, but anyone I see within 15 feet of my bed, isn't going to make it. Likewise if they try to get too friendly and walk on me, or drop in from above and surprise me. Splattsville, population you.

I guess I'm more concerned with anything... bigger than that. The ones the size of a mouse that laugh when you step on them.

I can remember the day I became terrified of big hairy devil spiders. I was a little kid, maybe five years old. We were living in Florida at the time. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I reached up, flicked on the light, and there it was, about 4 inches from the switch. A creature straight from the depths of hell. It was black, furry, bigger than my hand, and i'm pretty sure it's eyes were glowing red. Then I realized that there were about three more in the room with me. One had a knife. I screamed bloody murder.

I've even asked my mother recently If I'd dreamed that, or if my memory had exaggerated it over time. She said no. I'm not sure if I find that reassuring or not.

This should cheer you up.

Yes Andy, that should be comforting.
We have Huntsman spiders in Australia, not dinner plate size but quite big, black, and hairy. Any found inside I wrap in a towel,(nervously) shaking it off the towel outside. As the vid suggests they are not(really) poisonous. Not like the funnel web, which are common and aggressive,and whose bite will likely kill you unless antivenene is administered. Our brave landscaper collected a number of them while working, taking them to a lab which "milks them to make antivenene.

MurrayM said:

I like spiders. They suck the juices out of even worse bugs.

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Thought that was my Barrister

KILL IT! KILLITWITH FIRE!!

Lol, I figured it was only a matter of time before the Aussie crew made me regret posting this... You folks sure know your way around a spider! Christ, look at that thing! At what point do they just become king crab?? And to think, I used to want to visit Australia.

Wayfarer said:

KILL IT! KILLITWITH FIRE!!

Lol, I figured it was only a matter of time before the Aussie crew made me regret posting this... You folks sure know your way around a spider! Christ, look at that thing! At what point do they just become king crab?? And to think, I used to want to visit Australia.

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And that's just the beginning. As well as world's most venomous spider, (Bruce's funnel web), we also have the world's most venomous snakes, the worlds most venomous octopus, (a pretty wee blue-ringed fellow), we also have one of the worlds most venomous fish, a wee ugly thing one can easily tread on called the stonefish, and the world's most venomous jellyfish. As a then visiting Kiwi, it did wonders for my enjoyment of snorkelling to see a sign on the beach at Magnetic Island, saying...
'Box jellyfish are found in these waters from about October/November through to March/April. (That was early October). If stung by a box jellyfish, CPR should be commenced immediately while someone else calls the emergency number for anti-venom to be delivered." Or words to that effect.
I've probably left some out.

Oh yes, PS. One small good thing to attribute to the Asian Gecko invasion, that came in in timber imports from Vietnam, is they appear to have eaten all the red backs around the house. (Black Widows to USians)

Hmm, maybe I’m the exception but I have never seen a spider aboard!

I have unwritten agreement with spiders - If I do not see it I do not kill it. In warmer climate they are everywhere.

Those bug zappers that look like tennis rackets are the best for all kinds of bugs.
The first summer we cruised in Canada we had zero spiders to start but after about 2 weeks they were all over the boat. We noticed they get active at dusk so I went around the boat armed with a zapper.
58 confirmed dead spiders later it was too dark.
The next night I got 34.
After that they were in control. 1 or 2 minutes walking around the boat every evening at dusk.

I operate an all transient municipal marina on Long Island Sound. We have a lot of "travelers" passing thru. Some headed north, some headed south. It's funny the O.P. is from upper NY state because the only person ever to mention spiders to me did so when discussing his travels on the Erie Canal. Later that season I made the mistake of mentioning spiders to a couple who were headed to the canal. They did not like spiders and were not aware you could wake up each morning to a small invasion of them. At least that was how it was explained to me. After seeing their reaction to this news I wish I never brought it up. Hope they survived.

The darned things give me the heebee-jeebees, but I’ll tollerate some outside the cabin. If they dare come inside, I torture it and hang it in plain sight for others to see what happens when they transgress. When living in the Dominican Republic, I had to deal with tarantula breading season and angry cacatas. Somehow here on this over-groomed Gulf Coast, FL island, they throw enough insecticide around to control everything but noseeums. We’ll all probably die of deet over-doses, but I’m thankful.

First off, there are over 3,000 species of spiders in North America, and exactly two of them can be a danger to humans: Black Widows and Brown Recluses. Of course, I realize that a fear of spiders has nothing at all to do with any rational consideration about the risk of harm from them.

The second thing is, the primary diet of spiders is other sorts of insects. Which means that the only reason they are there is because you have other insects for them to eat. If you want to get rid of the spiders, the first thing you need to do is get rid of all the other insects. Focusing first on the spiders is a waste of time. As long as the other insects are there, the spiders will keep coming back. But if you get rid of the other insects, the spiders will leave on their own, in search of happier hunting grounds.

So, bottom line is, a spider now and then is a good thing, they will control the other insects on the boat. Lots of spiders is a bad thing, because it means you have a major infestation of other insects.

Good luck.

Wayfarer said:

A creature straight from the depths of hell. It was black, furry, bigger than my hand, and i'm pretty sure it's eyes were glowing red. Then I realized that there were about three more in the room with me. One had a knife. I screamed bloody murder.

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You're pretty funny. This made me laugh, especially because I feel the same way about spiders!

denverd0n said:

If you want to get rid of the spiders, the first thing you need to do is get rid of all the other insects. Focusing first on the spiders is a waste of time. As long as the other insects are there, the spiders will keep coming back. But if you get rid of the other insects, the spiders will leave on their own, in search of happier hunting grounds.

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DenveredOn, Your right about the relationship between spiders and bugs but clearly you have never boated on the great lakes, particularly Lake Erie or Georgian bay. The insects here outnumber the grains of sand on the beach, you would have as much luck eradicating them as counting those grains of sand. Lake Erie on parts of the Canadian side is a spider hell of every imaginable type, probablly due to the bugs. They are virtually everywhere inside or outside, boats, cottages, cars, hanging from trees. They especially love boats!

Now fish/may flys, thats a whole thread by itself, Erie gets billions of them to the point you can not walk on your boat or anywhere without crunching dozens at a time and the roads become slick with them. They are so thick the swarms can be tracked on weather & ship radar. Welcome to Canada eh?

Greetings,
Mr. hh. Re: post #20... "I had to deal with tarantula breading season..." Interesting. How are they actually cooked after breading assuming they ARE cooked? Deep fried? Sauteed? Roasted? I missed the chance at trying deep fried scorpions on one of our China trips. I'm assuming deep fried as I did see oil filled woks. We didn't have a translator with us at the time and I was unsure of the eating protocol. Eat the stinger or leave it? Aw snap! NEXT time for sure!

Capt Kangeroo said:

DenveredOn, Your right about the relationship between spiders and bugs but clearly you have never boated on the great lakes, particularly Lake Erie or Georgian bay.

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True. I never have.

Capt Kangeroo said:

The insects here outnumber the grains of sand on the beach, you would have as much luck eradicating them as counting those grains of sand.

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And you have clearly never visited Florida, if you think that we don't have PRECISELY the same situation when it comes to bugs!

healhustler said:

... When living in the Dominican Republic, I had to deal with tarantula breading season and angry cacatas. Somehow here on this over-groomed Gulf Coast, FL island, they throw enough insecticide around to control everything but noseeums. We’ll all probably die of deet over-doses, but I’m thankful.

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Yeah, no. Tarantulas are just out of the question. Breaded or no, I would literally rather drink a gallon of hot deet than find one of those things.

denverd0n said:

First off, there are over 3,000 species of spiders in North America, and exactly two of them can be a danger to humans: Black Widows and Brown Recluses. Of course, I realize that a fear of spiders has nothing at all to do with any rational consideration about the risk of harm from them.

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Logical Dave knows that it's a pretty irrational fear. I'm not necessarily worried about venom, or even being bitten. I just see them and go straight into fight or flight mode. It's some instinctive leftover monkey sh!t. Maybe in my last life I was a mosquito and was murdered by a spider.

[.QUOTE=MichaelB1969;630274]You're pretty funny. This made me laugh, especially because I feel the same way about spiders![/QUOTE]

That's quite high praise in my book. Thank you!

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. hh. Re: post #20... "I had to deal with tarantula breading season..." Interesting. How are they actually cooked after breading assuming they ARE cooked? Deep fried? Sauteed? Roasted?

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Perhaps a spider picatta, with a lovely light white wine, butter, and lemon sauce, with some capers. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Wayfarer said:

Perhaps a spider picatta, with a lovely light white wine, butter, and lemon sauce, with some capers.

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Or maybe "with some liver and a bottle of nice Cianti?"

To unashamedly steal from a certain iconic movie line...

Actually, some South American tribes do eat large tarantulas. They crisp them on a fire, and eat them a bit like one might attack a crab, I think. Sort of variation on the old Crocodile Dundee's "throwing a shrimp on the barbie" theme...

Hate spiders with their poop and webs. It took them several years before taking residence. They are worse than birds pooping on the boat

Greetings,
On a slightly different note, I've found the best spider poop remover to be Scrubbing Bubbles, the bathroom cleaner. Seems to be the best "solvent" for the job...

Insects are an excellent, as yet generally untapped, source of protein. Ugh you say? Well, the average person already eats 1 to 2 pounds of insects per year. So hold that thought about the spider picatta.

Just think about it as the perfect revenge...."Poop on MY boat will ya'? HAH! into the soup you go..."

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/grubs-as-grub/

In the Chesapeake, we were infested. Florida hardly any.
Our best offensive weapon is the vacuum. When they come out at twilight, suck them up with the vac. A cordless Dustbuster worked good enough. 10 minutes work for 2 or 3 nights and they are all gone without chemicals!