Spiders are here!
 

Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

Spiders are here!
 

In article . com,
Captain B wrote:
Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

Gross. I've heard that Dr. Bronners soap works.

I'm sure there must be other organic compounds that would help...




--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

Spiders are here!
 

"Captain B" wrote in message
ups.com...
Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com


Bring your boat to Marinette Wisconsin, and I'll let my spiders duke it out
with yours. ;-)

Spiders are here!
 

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:08:17 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

Bring your boat to Marinette Wisconsin, and I'll let my spiders duke it out
with yours. ;-)

Or bring it to Florida and let them duke it out with my geckos.

Spiders are here!
 

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Or bring it to Florida and let them duke it out with my geckos.


I gotta ask....Do your geckos sell boat insurance?....(c;



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

"Captain B" wrote in
ups.com:

Our docks are just loaded with spiders,

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ent...ruct/ef631.htm
Here in SC, the Brown Recluse, noted to be the most poisonous spider on
the planet, has failed to read the Entomologist's map confining them to
southern midwest states and there are millions of them, everywhere.
They're probably worse in the map's colored in part, but the map is DEAD
WRONG.

The poison eats flesh and CONTINUES. A friend of mine had to have his
HAND CUT OFF to stop it. Everyone in the South or coming to the South
needs to recognize this little brown, unobtrusive little beast. They are
not aggressive until you put your hand under something they've chosen for
home or press them up against something, like rolling over on one in
bed....

They are MUCH harder to spot than our other nemesis the Black
Widow.....which my churches are just FULL OF! I got bit when a Black
Widow took a dim view of my pulling the pedal clavier out from under a
Hammond organ to repair it. There were THREE Black Widows sharing the
pedal habitat, right under the organist's feet. OUCH!

This entomologist's site mentions glue boards as a way to trap them.
(See the pictures). Might be a good idea in the nooks and crannies
spiders love on your boats. My pest control man says spiders are the
hardest thing to kill with pesticides. You just about have to drown them
in it.

Just one of the next generations of dominant species to take over when
the current humans have blown themselves to hell with their
weaponry......after the nuclear winter.

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:46:16 -0400, Larry wrote:

I gotta ask....Do your geckos sell boat insurance?....(c;

The ones that talk will try to sell you anything.

Spiders are here!
 

In article . com,
"Captain B" wrote:

Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

If you find another solution other than killing all you find, please
tell us as my lady is using up her karmic balance on the ones she finds
on our baby each time we go out.

At first, she simply showed them where "out of the boat" was, but she's
become quite predatory of late, to her dismay. If she sees one, it soon
becomes so much mush.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Spiders are here!
 

"Captain B" wrote in message
ups.com...
Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

Keep a (large) tarantula om board, and don't feed it!

Bugs and Geckos
 

Hi, Wayne, and group,

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:08:17 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

Bring your boat to Marinette Wisconsin, and I'll let my spiders duke it out
with yours. ;-)

Or bring it to Florida and let them duke it out with my geckos.

While we don't seem to have an infestation, we've noted the occasional
state bird aboard (most likely blown in, as one of them was struggling,
inverted, on the saloon sole before I did a Schwarzenegger on him),
and, lately, more occasional tiny cousins (way less than 1/4", but very
cockroach-y looking in shape) most likely brought aboard in beer case
bottoms my misguided contractor's wife uses to "clean up" (she cleans
off the surfaces I've been using to stage stuff by piling it into said
box bottoms, making it impossible to find anything when I return) in
the times when I was gone, before Lydia moved aboard.

I'm not the least bit squeamish, but I'd rather be bug free, just as
I'd rather have a dry bilge.

So, to the question: Do your geckos keep the boat bug-free? I've often
thought, once we splash and actually depart, that it would be a good
thing to have a couple of geckos aboard. Much less intrusive than
iguanas, and don't get so big as to be troublesome later. Once they
run out of bugs to eat, I expect they'd look peckish and we could put
out food and water for them.

In our boatyard, there are legions of small lizards from 2" to perhaps
6" head to tail, and Lydia observed one of the larger (none aboard,
sadly) stalk, catch, and eat a palmetto bug (cockroach from hell to
transplanted northeasterners, state bird to Floridians), so the concept
is sound.

I'm just wondering if any of you have successfully utilized geckos in
an environmentally friendly insect control program?

L8R

Skip and Lydia, sweltering without even Ernesto to cool us down in the
St. Pete Hete

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at and


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Spiders are here!
 

Larry wrote:
"Captain B" wrote in
ups.com:


Our docks are just loaded with spiders,


http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ent...ruct/ef631.htm
Here in SC, the Brown Recluse, noted to be the most poisonous spider on
the planet, has failed to read the Entomologist's map confining them to
southern midwest states and there are millions of them, everywhere.
They're probably worse in the map's colored in part, but the map is DEAD
WRONG.

The poison eats flesh and CONTINUES. A friend of mine had to have his
HAND CUT OFF to stop it. Everyone in the South or coming to the South
needs to recognize this little brown, unobtrusive little beast. They are
not aggressive until you put your hand under something they've chosen for
home or press them up against something, like rolling over on one in
bed....

They are MUCH harder to spot than our other nemesis the Black
Widow.....which my churches are just FULL OF! I got bit when a Black
Widow took a dim view of my pulling the pedal clavier out from under a
Hammond organ to repair it. There were THREE Black Widows sharing the
pedal habitat, right under the organist's feet. OUCH!

This entomologist's site mentions glue boards as a way to trap them.
(See the pictures). Might be a good idea in the nooks and crannies
spiders love on your boats. My pest control man says spiders are the
hardest thing to kill with pesticides. You just about have to drown them
in it.

Just one of the next generations of dominant species to take over when
the current humans have blown themselves to hell with their
weaponry......after the nuclear winter.


And I thought we had it bad with little red ants that burn like hell
when they bite!

Bugs and Geckos
 

On 30 Aug 2006 04:58:17 -0700, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

I'm just wondering if any of you have successfully utilized geckos in
an environmentally friendly insect control program?

We have a few that have made their home inside our pool cage. They
are relentless bug hunters and interesting to watch. I haven't seen
any on the boat but who knows.

Bugs and Geckos
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On 30 Aug 2006 04:58:17 -0700, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

I'm just wondering if any of you have successfully utilized geckos in
an environmentally friendly insect control program?

We have a few that have made their home inside our pool cage. They
are relentless bug hunters and interesting to watch. I haven't seen
any on the boat but who knows.


Our cats love to chase and eat spiders, but most of the spiders are up in
the rigging or in places where the cats would likely fall overboard, were we
to take them sailing. They would also make short work of a little green
insurance salesman.

Bugs and Geckos
 

KLC Lewis wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On 30 Aug 2006 04:58:17 -0700, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:

I'm just wondering if any of you have successfully utilized geckos in
an environmentally friendly insect control program?

We have a few that have made their home inside our pool cage. They
are relentless bug hunters and interesting to watch. I haven't seen
any on the boat but who knows.


Our cats love to chase and eat spiders, but most of the spiders are up in
the rigging or in places where the cats would likely fall overboard, were we
to take them sailing. They would also make short work of a little green
insurance salesman.

Most spidies are harmless, leave em alone. Use a whisk broom on em if
they are in your cockpit.
Now, for something really interesting for arachnophobes. At night, put
a flashlight atop your head so that it shines where your eyes look.
Look down into the grass about 6' away. All over the place you will
see tiny reflecting eyes. Go check em out and you will find spiders.
It is amazing the density of spiders. Around here in N. FL. there is
at least a spider every 4 square feet.

Spiders are here!
 

Captain B wrote:
Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

I have a hard time figuring out where to reply in general to these
things. Anyway, I appreciate all of the thoughts, if anything I got a
good laugh out of them. I especially like the idea of going over to
wisconsin and letting them duke it out, maybe we could get a
pay-per-view deal.

To update though, I came across some reading that offered an
interesting solution: dryer sheets. They say to lay those out
throughout your cockpit and down below if necessary and it should keep
them away? So not only will my boat smell downy fresh but be free of
spiders at the same time? I have to see this for myself!

Spiders are here!
 

Larry wrote in news:Xns982FAAC1A390noonehomecom@
208.49.80.253:

This entomologist's site mentions glue boards as a way to trap them.
(See the pictures). Might be a good idea in the nooks and crannies
spiders love on your boats. My pest control man says spiders are the
hardest thing to kill with pesticides. You just about have to drown them
in it.

According to a doctor whom I know, one of the major problems with spider
bites is chemical poisoning as the bite typically contains a large amount of
pesticide. Spiders are constantly eating other critters that have consumed
pesticides and have a ton of it in their system as well as being immune to
it. He said that most doctors only treat the bite with anti-venom serums
whereas they should also be treating it as a poison/toxic puncture wound.

-- Geoff

Spiders are here!
 

Larry wrote:
"Captain B" wrote in
ups.com:

Our docks are just loaded with spiders,

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ent...ruct/ef631.htm
Here in SC, the Brown Recluse, noted to be the most poisonous spider on
the planet, has failed to read the Entomologist's map confining them to
southern midwest states and there are millions of them, everywhere.
They're probably worse in the map's colored in part, but the map is DEAD
WRONG.

The poison eats flesh and CONTINUES. A friend of mine had to have his
HAND CUT OFF to stop it. Everyone in the South or coming to the South
needs to recognize this little brown, unobtrusive little beast. They are
not aggressive until you put your hand under something they've chosen for
home or press them up against something, like rolling over on one in
bed....

Oh, cut it OUT. This is a myth. Here is the real story on brown recluse
bites taken from the SAME SITE as you note:

The initial bite is usually painless. Oftentimes the victim is unaware
until 3 to 8 hours later when the bite site may become red, swollen, and
tender. The majority of brown recluse spider bites remain localized,
healing within 3 weeks without serious complication or medical
intervention. In other cases, the victim may develop a necrotic lesion,
appearing as a dry, sinking bluish patch with irregular edges, a pale
center and peripheral redness. Often there is a central blister. As the
venom continues to destroy tissue, the wound may expand up to several
inches over a period of days or weeks. The necrotic ulcer can persist
for several months, leaving a deep scar. Infrequently, bites in the
early stages produce systemic reactions accompanied by fever, chills,
dizziness, rash or vomiting. Severe reactions to the venom are more
common in children, the elderly, and patients in poor health. Persons
bitten by a brown recluse spider should apply ice, elevate the affected
area, and seek medical attention immediately.

Spiders are here!
 

Wayne.B wrote in
:

The ones that talk will try to sell you anything.



My two parrots are the same way....always asking for Monkey Biscuits if I
venture near the kitchen sink.

Roger-Roger - Blue and Gold Macaw
Zeke - Yellow Naped Amazon

Parrots are lots better than the fish I used to have. The fish always died
when I took them out of the tank to teach them how to talk!

Problem with parrots is getting them to SHUT UP!

Spiders are here!
 

Paul Cassel wrote in
:

Oh, cut it OUT. This is a myth. Here is the real story on brown recluse
bites taken from the SAME SITE as you note:



The pictures are entitled BROWN RECLUSE and are posted now on
alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean newsgroup because I can't post 'em here.

Go have a look. It's no joke when you hand looks like THIS.....

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

Larry wrote:
Paul Cassel wrote in
:


Oh, cut it OUT. This is a myth. Here is the real story on brown recluse
bites taken from the SAME SITE as you note:




The pictures are entitled BROWN RECLUSE and are posted now on
alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean newsgroup because I can't post 'em here.

Go have a look. It's no joke when you hand looks like THIS.....


Absolutely gross! Not for the squeamish... or girlie men like Bert &
Frizzle.

Spiders are here!
 

Don White wrote in news:ChqJg.6393$9u.76004@ursa-
nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca:

Absolutely gross! Not for the squeamish... or girlie men like Bert &
Frizzle.



I'm told amputation is the only way to stop it.....

A 20-something girl at our local Hess gas station, one of the attendants,
had her hand all wrapped up and I asked her what happened....brown recluse
had bit her in her garage while she was searching for something. The
bandage was because the doctor had cut out a fairly good size portion of
her thumb in an attempt to save her hand. She didn't know if it were going
to work as it was still eating away at it.

This is not a joke. This innocent-looking little spider, from a little
smaller than to a little bigger than a Canadian twoney can cause this slow
eating away of your flesh. They're not agressive, like Black Widows
protecting the nest. But, if you've pinched them, not watching where you
put your hand in their dark resting places they use in the daytime, you can
end up in serious trouble. They just are there, not chasing your hand or
anything. Very hard to ID without a close look. We have lots of little
brown spiders in SC.

We also have this HUGE garden spider that makes a massive web from several
points. One made a nest across the sidewalk at a friend's house in
historic downtown Charleston. The spider was, legtip to legtip in the
middle of her webtrap, 8" across! Her main body segment, whatever the back
part is called, was nearly as big as a "C" cell battery and beautifully
colored in yellow. They always weave this very intricate criss-cross
design of thousands of strands from the middle to the lower edge of the
web, very hard not to notice. Then, when you look close, there's another
TINY little spider also sharing this web. That's her MATE! As soon as he
mates with her, she eats him, wrapping him up with the rest of the prey,
his function now complete. I don't remember ever seeing one of them with
any kind of eggsac. I think that must be planted somewhere safe. We
watched her for about 2 weeks, came out one day and the whole web was just
gone, something I'd seen them do before. Not a remnant strand was left.

Well, as you lay there in your bunks tonight....don't worry....(c;

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

Hi, Larry,

Not seeing a picture, but...

Larry wrote:


We also have this HUGE garden spider that makes a massive web from several
points. One made a nest across the sidewalk at a friend's house in
historic downtown Charleston. The spider was, legtip to legtip in the
middle of her webtrap, 8" across! Her main body segment, whatever the back
part is called, was nearly as big as a "C" cell battery and beautifully
colored in yellow.

Sounds like a banana spider...

AKA Golden Silk Spider...

http://www.shadygrovetrainingcenter....gallery.htm%00

Well, as you lay there in your bunks tonight....don't worry....(c;

Not I :{))

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at and



"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Spiders are here!
 

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in
ups.com:

http://www.shadygrovetrainingcenter....spider_photo_g
allery.htm%00


That's them! I couldn't think of the name....amazing animals, but I don't
want one as a pet....

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

Winter is the solution to dock spiders !!!!
As autumn is quickly approaching the northern hemisphere .... just wait
until the atmospheric conditions are right and watch for the arrival of
the 'parachute spiders' who essentially travel around the world on
their silk parachutes. On the Chesapeake Bay when the atmospherics
are 'just right' (September & October) the GOSSAMER that collects in
the rigging from these parachute spiders is sometimes 'spectacular'.
info: http://homepage2.nifty.com/singingsa..._gossamer.html


In article . com,
Captain B wrote:

Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

Spiders are here!
 

Rich Hampel wrote in news:110920061132356331%RhmpL33
@nospam.net:

Winter is the solution to dock spiders !!!!


In Charleston, we overwhelm them with gnats on the docks. The spiders
become so fat and overfed they die as the gnats stuff them with sacrificial
gnats, then the other gnats, the ones eating the boaters, eat the spiders.

It's a tradeoff. I had a problem with mosquitoes, until I put up 6 bat
houses. I don't know how the upper bats breathe or stand it inside those
black boxes. It's gotta be 150F in there, even in the shade. So many bats
stuff themselves in there there's no room for the spiders and bats hang out
the bottom, upside down, asleep all day. At dusk, bats come pouring out
across the yard eating any insect that dares move, sonars scanning in full
hunt mode 3B.....

Now, if I could just entice the bats into eating Palmetto bugs, the huge
roaches that carried off my neighbor's goat, we'd have pest control pretty
much under control! Unlike mosquitoes and gnats, however ugly they may
look, Palmetto bugs don't eat people, so are much less of a threat. They
pop when you step on them...(c;



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Spiders are here!
 

Somebody suggested some gekos.

how about some hop toads???


Jonathan Ganz wrote:
In article . com,
Captain B wrote:
Our docks are just loaded with spiders, so of course the come and take
over our boat each weekend, does anyone have some clues as to what
might keep this from happening? Maybe a way to keep them out of our
cockpit at least?

Thanks
-BB
www.boatersbasement.com

Gross. I've heard that Dr. Bronners soap works.

I'm sure there must be other organic compounds that would help...




--
Capt. JG @@
www.sailnow.com

Spiders are here!
 

Rich Hampel wrote:
Winter is the solution to dock spiders !!!!
As autumn is quickly approaching the northern hemisphere .... just wait
until the atmospheric conditions are right and watch for the arrival of
the 'parachute spiders' who essentially travel around the world on
their silk parachutes. On the Chesapeake Bay when the atmospherics
are 'just right' (September & October) the GOSSAMER that collects in
the rigging from these parachute spiders is sometimes 'spectacular'.
info: http://homepage2.nifty.com/singingsa..._gossamer.html

This is common, though not all the way from Japan. In Chicago,
skyscraper window cleaners and exterior maintenance folks routinely are
bitten by spiders flying from Michigan, over the lake, at least 30
miles...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at and


"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a
clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you
are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as
self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought,
and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be
greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

Spiders are here!
 

Wayne.B wrote:

The ones that talk will try to sell you anything.

But you can trust them!

Just ask the one on TV! ?: