What To Do When You Find A Massive Potentially Deadly Spider In Your Car?

A few months back I found what I believed to be the deadly brown recluse spider, living in my car.

I swerved off the road and leapt from the vehicle. Unfortunately, the creature disappeared behind the gas pedal. Fortunately I didn’t wreck my car.

Spiders In Cars In Australia

In Australia, the massive huntsman spider, which can be nearly the size of a beer coaster, frequently takes up residence in cars, often hiding behind sun visors or dashboards, then popping out unexpectedly. Apparently, the spider has been responsible for numerous accidents.

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Aussie bug man Ruud Kleinpaste even devoted a segment of his Animal Planet show to the issue.

A Huntsman In Your Home

A few nights ago my girlfriend Karen and I actually noticed a huntsman in our apartment, squatting along the crevice where the wall met the ceiling. It was the size of a rat and I let out a horrible whimper. We hid in our bed and stared at the gigantic black lump, trying to figure out what to do.

One of our cats, Sally, has a particular fondness for playing with bugs, and my first thought was to stand on a stool and hold Sally up to the creature so she could paw at it. Let nature take care of nature, I figured.

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There is actually a hilarious YouTube video called Giant Kitchen Spider, in which a man named Zach tries a similar tactic with his cat Egon, to utter failure.

Another idea was to stand on the stool and with one hand hold a large crock pot beneath the spider, and with the other flick it in with a spatula.

In the end, Karen stood on the stool and did something unexpected that worked wonderfully, she blew on the spider.

With lightning speed it scurried across the wall to a tiny crack in the ceiling, then flattened itself like a pancake and pulled itself into the hole, which I suppose is its lair.

Spiders In American Cars

As frightening as knowing there’s a rat-sized spider living above our bed is, there is something far worse about the prospect of one in your car. I feel for you Aussies.

But searching around on car forums revealed that finding arachnids in vehicles is actually a fairly common phenomenon here in the United States, too. Despite it being common, people’s general reaction still tends to be one of absolute freak-out.

“Every few months I find a spider in my car,” wrote one user on Yahoo! Answers. “In the last two weeks, I have found 4 large spiders, including a black widow…I either spray or squish them, but they really freak me out and lately I am afraid to even drive my car at night. Does anyone have any solutions to this bizarre issue?”

One responder suggested the person get an insect fogger. Another suggested putting peppermint oil around the seals of the doors, windows and vents.

“I don’t know if this will help your situation,” wrote a third responder, “but when spiders invaded my aunt’s garden she captured a few, blended them with water in a blender and sprayed it around her garden. The spiders never came back but she had to use a special blender. I don’t know how you’d do that with your car but it’s just a thought.”

I found this to be an interesting solution. The problem for our huntsman is it might be too big for a blender.