Monday, June 29, 2009

Why, oh why, do spiders like bath tubs!?

As far back as I can remember, seeing a spider in a bath tub has given me the creeps. I remember spending summers in northern Wisconsin as a little girl, there was always more than one spider in my grandparent's bath tub. I must have been a pretty stinky kid, because I didn't want to get in the tub.

The other day I found the pictured spider in my bath tub. I asked him to leave, he couldn't. He was having a hard time navigating the steep sides of my wonderfully, deep whirlpool tub. I decided killing the spider was out of the question. Surely, anything as big as he was could fight back! So, I took a cup and a piece of paper, caught him and then released him outside. As he crawled away, he seemed very happy to be free. I think I even detected a skip in his eight legged step.

I researched online about why spiders like bath tubs. I didn't find the answer. Some sites said they come down from the ceiling, into the tub, attracted by the light color. If that's the case, then I'm glad they don't like dark colored bedding. Other sites say spiders come up through the drain. I don't know about that, I'm not so sure they can swim through the water in the bend of the pipe. Needless to say, I still don't know why spiders like bath tubs. I do know I want them to stop liking mine.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have puzzled over this also...my conclusion is that spiders are not attracted to bathtubs per se, but rather that in their travels (random distribution) they find their way in, and then cannot get back out again. Think of bathtubs like ancient pits full of bones, from creatures that unwittingly fell in over hundreds or thousands of years...

Anonymous said...

I believe that spiders dont like the brights lights of indoor lighting. sometime when I put on my light at nite I can see spider run across the floor into a dark corner.A plug hole in a bath is nice and dark,but the Consequences are not good(drowned).

Anonymous said...

All I know is every time I go to use the shower my spidery scenes gos off even before I see the spider. How ironic is that LOL, a big guy afraid of spiders claiming to have spidery scene say wwhhaat.

Unknown said...

personally, i think spiders don't come up the drain per say, but down the air vent from the drain.
that's right, every household drain is connected to a vent that lets the air out and the water flowing smoothly. otherwise the water would not drain as fast and would produce bubbles like when you empty a bottle.
the spiders just climb down those drains and end up in the bath from which they can't escape ;)