ON THE WILD SIDE Hairy housemate

LIVE anywhere near deer? The rut has begun. The males will be sporting their most impressive antlers to attract females, and you may hear their roars for miles around.

Giant house spiders certainly live up to their name. With a dark hairy body and legs that can be more than three inches long, it is no wonder that the sight of these creatures is known to strike fear into the hearts of even some of the most stalwart people.

But I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise to you to find that I am

rather fond of my eightlegged friends.

I will admit that even I jump when one suddenly runs across my keyboard as I’m typing, but the low-budget horror-movie-style jumpscares of their presence is part of their charm. Strangely enough they are the fastest true spider, and will run across your room at nearly 2mph. Quite a speed, but not fast enough to save them from the prowling cat or curious dog. Despite having eight eyes they can only see shades of dark and light, so won’t see pooch coming until it’s too late. This time of year you are most likely to see these normally incredibly shy creatures, as it is breeding season.

The males will be on the move from hiding places all over your home looking for attractive ladies to spend their time with.

Once they find that lady in a dusty crevice in your attic, they will mate, stay together for a couple of months, and then the male dies and provides her with a nice hearty meal to recover from the 60 or more eggs she will lay.

Very strangely for spiders, her hatchlings won’t all spread out straight away, but will instead live together for several months and only occasionally eat each other. The females are very much more long-lived than the males, usually living around three years but will routinely hit double that.

They build huge, flat and not sticky webs on floors and ceilings and very often near windows so they can catch prey flying in, so you can blame them for all the de-webbing you have to do. They do have a powerful bite, but their venom can’t do any real harm to humans or pets and they are very shy and timid, so they would much rather run away from you.

They only bite when they are cornered and have no choice, so tip out your wellies before you put them on.

They go months without any food or drink, just waiting for that nasty fly, clothes moth, wasp… the true unsung defenders of our homes.

Or horrible, monstrous freeloaders. You be the judge.

A BIG FRIGHT: Giant house spiders are extremely timid HALLOWEEN is just around the corner, as are the creepy crawlies. You’ll find them lurking at just about every corner of your house, waiting to leap out and scare you – or so some would believe. Let’s talk about the UK’s most common unwanted guest, the giant house spider.