Rain Spider Nest

Apr 07

Vincent Maher's monster worm post from yesterday inspired me to post this picture of a rain spider nest in my garden that I took in February:

The nest is about the size of a large grapefruit. The spiders that make these nests sometimes come into the house - particularly before a rainstorm. You can see other nests here, and here (with the spiders on them), as well as a close up of a rain spider here.

I am not scared of death by drowning, Joburg taxi drivers or circus clowns but these spiders really freak me out. People have told me that they are harmless but I am not convinced. I found this article at Museums Online South Africa:

These spiders were previously listed as potentially dangerous. After tests where they were induced into biting guinea-pigs it was established that although the guinea-pigs had died within 3 minutes, it had been from shock and not the effects of any venom.

Family Sparassidae - Museums Online

Anything that can scare a guinea pig to death like that deserves some respect and a very wide berth.

posted April 26, 2007 11:41 AM

Comments

26 Apr 07, 03:19

Vincent Maher

GROSS
28 Sep 07, 10:10

Anne Andrews

Just got bitten by one this morning (28/09/2007), was extremely FREAKED out & fully understand why those poor guinea pigs died of fright.

Was rather painful & my finger swelled up like a pork sausage , not very pleasant!!
02 Oct 07, 11:17

Jaxon

Anne - what the hell were you doing with your hand near one of those? Or did you (shudder) place your hand directly on it by mistake?

If that happened to me I would probably die. Not from the bite, but at the shame from my friends' laughter at my girlie girlie screams.
20 Oct 07, 11:44

Anna

EWE THEY ARE SOOOOO SCARY MY DAD HAS ONE IN HIS ROOM AND IT IS HIS PET AND WEVE GOT A NEST
17 Nov 07, 04:27

Alvin

Found three of these in my garden. They never fail to totally freak me out.
10 Dec 07, 10:22

JACKIE

i love spiders and i think they wount harm you if you dont harm them
23 Dec 07, 02:58

Harry

We see them often in Pretoria, and we a;ways take them out of the house with the aid of a feather duster. Just hold it over the spider it climbs into it and then we sake it out in the garden.
01 Apr 08, 05:54

andrea

These spiders always freak my daughter and me out. We break out in a sweat, hyper ventilate and call the fire brigade to remove it. How can u be guaranteed it wont jump out the feather duster?
02 Apr 08, 03:17

fearne

I came across a rain spider this morning-dont think ive ever screamed so loud. they might be harmless, but wow they are big and scarry!! fearne 18
03 Apr 08, 11:42

johan

just found a rain spider and would like to know more about them
03 Apr 08, 01:32

lindie

Right!! At least I'm not alone. We recently moved to Malmesbury, Western Cape from Namibia and NOBODY warned me about these spiders. About a month after we moved in, I encountered one of these rain spidere in my bedroom (note: our 7 month old baby shares a room with us) and nearly touched it - I hyperventilated, scared myself into another bloodgroup - you name it and eventually killed it by spraying a whole can of doom on it. My friend came past, picked it up and threw it out on the street (she's preggies!) and even stepped on it, on my demand, to kill it even more - she's hasn't been scared one bit. Eversince we found 9 more (all died a terrible death). Im usually not scared of spiders, but after everyone told me that they're found common here, I'm freaked - especially 'cause I've got 3 small kids. I got rid of all the plants, etc where they could be hiding and even had pest-control spray my house to keep them out...
17 Apr 08, 10:05

Laura

I've got one living in my spare bedroom (in Muizenberg in the Cape) - but he/she moves from room to room during the day - luckily when I'm at work! Got home early one day and found her in the loungs. I've tried to catch her, but she either runs away or curls up into a tight ball. I've got quite fond of her but hope she doesn't lay eggs in my house - can't find any signs of a nest in the garden. Opened the cupboard last week and she was just sitting there - luckily I'm not a guinea pig or I would definitely have died of shock!
01 Jun 08, 11:06

Telkom ADSL

Rain spiders - as scary as they are - are not venomous. They bite like a bastard but the pain from the bite is all you will experience.. they cannot kill or incapacitate a human. That said, I still cr*p myself when I come across one, there are so many here that if they were worth money I could be rich already!
11 Jul 08, 06:30

Lydia-Mae

Can there nests be anywhere in your house, or are they just outside, becasue i seem too be getting a lot of spiders in my room, and i was wondering if maybe there could be a nest in my house, like say in an attic or something ?
11 Jul 08, 06:30

Lydia-Mae

Can there nests be anywhere in your house, or are they just outside, becasue i seem too be getting a lot of spiders in my room, and i was wondering if maybe there could be a nest in my house, like say in an attic or something ?
12 Jul 08, 06:16

Uzzie Potgieter

I'm freaking out. Have one on my very high ceiling in the living room. Read that they "hunt" at night and so I'm leaving the lights on. S/he hasn't moved in a week and that makes me very very happy although I don't know how to get her down (preferably out). I'm actually terrified - does that make me a guinea pig? Hey, I don't like the teeny weeny spiders they call money spiders - THIS one is freaking me out. When I first saw him/her I thought it was a tarantula!!!!!! Wish someone would get it out of my house.
13 Jul 08, 08:28

Uzzie Potgieter

The spider was caught by my very brave step daughter in a jug (which I washed about 3 times- yes, ridiculous, I know!!) and taken outside FAR away from the house. Still check that corner out. I've got the heebie jeebies. Never want to go through a week like I just did - spider watching.... This is the first (and hopefully last) one I've had in my house (well, that I saw). My sister in law has a ton of those nests in her garden. I can't sit anywhere near them......
16 Jul 08, 04:09

Lindie

Right - after my last post, I've encountered many more of these horrible creatures - luckily most outside. Haven't found any nests and hope it stays like that.

Best advice I've gotten so far is to keep your windows and doors shut - especially at night when they're active. During daytime they're dorcile - BUT I've noticed that they go for a walk-about if it's to rain, so I check out the weather forecast and if rain's coming - I close EVERYTHING.

Encountered one yesterday - and nearly touched it when I wanted to lock the burglar gate (didn't see it when I went outside!!) and totally freaked out. Since I was home-alone I had to dispose of it - can of Baygon did the trick (I'm so not catching and releasing them in the garden - they'll just come back again...) As for the crickets they feast on - I kill them too, so then there's no food for them in my garden and they've gotta go the the neighbours!!

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