Insect and Spider Identification: Giant House Spider? Victoria BC Canada, 0 by gooiecheese

gooiecheese wrote:
Hi new user here. Stumbled across this board looking for information on spiders.

I live in basement suite which I keep very clean. The house itself is in very good condition. All carpeted, no damage, bright coloured, etc. For the past month or two, I have been noticing a certain kind of spider enter my house. The problem is, I don't know where it comes from and I don't know what kind it is. Everyday for the past 2 months, I see at least ONE a night. I only see them come out at night. I go to bed between 10PM and 3AM. I will always find one.

I either see them...

- In the small hallway which connects my bedroom to the bathroom, to the main rooms.
- In the computer room which is the first room coming out from that small hallway. They usually head towards the living room.
- Sometimes they just stay in the corners of that small hallway.
- Found one on the corner of my bed last night, second one I have seen in my room.

My only guess is that they are coming from the closest in the small hallway. The closest is under the staircase, so I am not sure if there are holes in there and they get into the house somehow.

I was told they are called the Giant House Spider. Others have told me that they could also be the "deadly" hobo spider or the west coast version of the recluse. I have no problems with spiders outside or larger spiders like tarantula pets. I however, do not like these at all. They don't look very nice and I don't like them near my bed or anything. They are all about the same size and move very fast. I usually wait till they stop in a corner and swat them with a magazine.

I did not take this picture myself, it's from google. It however, is the closest thing I could find to what mine is. I googled "hobo spider or giant house spider."

Is there an effective way to get rid of these pests?