Friday, September 18, 2026

Spider Relocation System

 In my household, DH is the squeamish one.  Mice?  My job.  Wounds?  I'm the doctor.  Anything involving bodily fluids (or needles)?  Do not even say a word about it in front of him, especially a descriptive word.  Snakes?  Yeah, that's a big no from DH.

Spiders?  Oh heck no!  You want to see a big guy move fast, tell DH there's a spider within a couple of feet of him.  I once got steamrollered on our bed because I pointed out a spider on the ceiling above him.

I shouldn't joke about it, but it's so hard not to.  It's well known among our family that I 'save' DH from spiders.

Now, I believe strongly (maybe because venomous spiders aren't vey common in Michigan) in not smashing spiders that are found in my house.  Instead, I gently relocate them.  Just because they aren't venomous, and I want to keep them alive because they do a bug-control service I appreciate, doesn't meant I pick them up in my bare hands.  Or even gloved hands.  

Nope, I have developed my nearly harmless (I say nearly because once in a while one accidentally gets injured) spider relocation system.  It involves two things which I keep handy: a small see-through container, and a piece of paperboard sturdy enough to not bend easily when held that is at least a few inches larger than the opening in the see-through container.

When I (or more often, DH) spot a spider in our home, I grab my two parts and gently place the small container over the spider.  This works whether the spider is on the wall, the ceiling, the floor, or a window screen.  Because the container is see-through, I can center it over the spider (usually) without squishing its body or trapping any of its legs under the rim of the container.  Then I carefully slide the piece of paperboard between the rim of the container and whatever the spider was on originally: wall, ceiling, etc.

Once the paperboard covers the opening of the container, with the spider captured inside, I can carry the container outside without fear of the spider jumping out.  I might not be afraid of them, but I don't particularly care for them to jump at me.  I also don't want it to escape in the house, as that would require finding and recapturing it.


Out of doors, I set the container, still covered with the paperboard, on any surface with the paperboard side down.  Then I lift off the container.  Typically the spider runs away immediately, and, if not, I gently tilt the paperboard and shake the spider off.  

Bye, spider, good luck!

Then I wish it well, and go put my spider relocation system components back in their easy to reach assigned spot.

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