S###a-trap
Now I know that looks just plain STOOPID, but because we promise to NOT show the "S" word, it's right there in the name of this product and website (albeit spelt with a "-da" ending not "-der") so I'm going to hash out the body of the word for the more sensitive among us. Full name whited-out between the asterisks below:
* Spida-Trap, from www.spidatrap.com *
One thing you need to know about their website is, there are no big pictures of arachnos greeting you when you click to enter, and it's considerately graded so you know what you'll find before you click on any page (and you can buy the traps without having to see ANY pictures of arachnos) - in fact, the whole thing's been designed with arachnophobics in mind, because the guy who invented these traps is an arachnophobe himself!
It does feature the "S" word prominently and repeatedly however, and I'll put contact info to the site under this review, so you can order without having to see that if it really makes your flesh creep.
But I genuinely can't see how they could have a website and not mention it, no bugger could find it without that search term!!
Concept: glue traps, come in packs of two and 45cm/trap so each pack covers 90cm, designed to trap arachnos and deny them access past a certain point to create a barrier, or you can place them to randomly trap any night-time strollers. One pack of 2 will cover the width of a doorway, so you can protect your bedroom or wherever.
Effectiveness: excellent, I bought four, one of them had caught 3 arachnos of varying sizes within just 48 hours! The record is a 6½ inch Australian Huntsman according to the site, and I can well believe that, they are VERY sticky and the sloping sides give no purchase for the arachno to pull free.
Unlike craneflies, arachnos can't shed legs, so they stay put - also, due to the {ick} speed they travel at, they've usually committed more than one leg before they realise they're stuck.
Price: free post & packing, 2 traps for £4.99, 4 for £7.99, 10 for £16.99, 20 for £26.99 at date of this post.
Pros: great price for such peace of mind, very effective indeed and basically the closest to a "arachno force-field" you're going to get. The arachnos don't seem able to spot and avoid the traps either, I placed one randomly with clear ground on all sides and it still caught a couple of the little sods.
Great customer service as the inventor is a fellow arachnophobe, and so completely "gets it" - I had a question that he answered comprehensively the very next day by e-mail. Really fast delivery as well - they're a UK-based company so mine arrived next day, and they ship worldwide.
Cons: only a few but I'll detail them - first off, you have to deal with the trapped arachno (but, you'd probably have had to deal with it anyway, and with it free to run as it chose), only work on level floors (but you can be inventive, surely?) and not on walls etc (but again, maybe deploy a bit of creativity!), but then again most arachnos do travel along the floor, it's easier for them.
The traps can't be just left open permanently as the glue eventually dries out, you have to re-cover the strip during the daytime to keep it tacky.
(I also kept forgetting where they were at first, and trod on mine a couple of times, but then I am a moron...)
NB: All those are IMO minor drawbacks and completely unavoidable: I'm just mentioning them out of fairness, and so you'll know what you're getting. These are an excellent product and I highly recommend them.
Once they're trapped and you need to kill them, the site recommends covering them with the cover-paper (which is like that waxy stuff you get to back stickers and stamps) and then whacking them with a long stick or something, but I used a torn-up cornflake packet (and a handy hammer) because I couldn't have touched the coverstrip if it had ... erm, JUICES {ick!} on it.
Don't use the Bayer spray I posted about previously for the kill - it has fats in, and the grease will mess up the rest of the glue in the trap, and might even free the one you've caught.
I'm now going to give you the contact details - because they contain the "S" word, I'll give you the phone number first, so if you're really sensitive you can order without seeing any "S" words: 01560 482588
And here's the whited-out web link, postal address and e-mail:
Website:www.spidatrap.com
By Post:
Spidatrap.com Ltd
21 Rigg Street
Stewarton
East Ayrshire
Scotland
KA3 5AG
If you're ordering these spider traps, make cheques out to SpidaTrap.com ltd.
Email: info@spidatrap.com
==
PS: 6th October '09
Robin who invented these traps got in touch to say the traps only dry out after exposure to direct sunlight, and sure enough I just poked a finger onto a !CLEAN! bit of a trap, and yeah, still plenty sticky. He's also left a comment on this post with some backstory, which is really neat!
2 comments:
Hi Everybody,
My name is Robin Watson and I invented the arachnid trap mentioned by ArachnoPhobic. I just wanted to say that the main reason for the invention was to stop our little friends instantly and with zero participation (especially if they were running towards us).
There are of course drawbacks like seeing the caught menace but as I say to all would be customers, ’its better to see them caught than running free.’
My Journey.
My invention has taken the best part of 8 years to materialise from epiphany to physical form, basically because nobody takes arachnophobia seriously so I was always moved to the back of any queue.
And there were no sticky substances out there that caught you know what (The sneaky buggers secrete an oil from their feet and skate over anything glue like).
I went from chemical company to chemical company and used various universities around the world before eventually finding the right mixture that was both non toxic and organic.
Other devices
I must address the other products out there and their worth. Although it would seem that I could have and would have an ulterior motive for bad mouthing other products that claim to be designed for our phobia I will say that I write this as an arachnophobe and not a businessman.
My invention was always only ever going to be for my own use and never intended as a commercial venture. It only became commercial when people heard about it from friends and wanted some. That and the huge spiralling costs of the patent.
During my inventions R&D years I was forced to hire many different professionals including chemists, engineers, psychologists and believe it or not several arachnologists (from Cambridge no less).
Yes, these people spend their whole life studying our tormentors. Anyhoo, they carried out loads of tests for me on every so called anti (’you know what’) product out there because at this stage I was still trying to find a product that would conclusively work 100% and then I could stop spending anymore money on an invention that could possibly bankrupt me. I was willing, no pleading with them to find one. Here were their conclusions. None of them work!
They tested 4 different types of plug in electronic gizmos and over a period of days the test subjects showed no distress signs at all and in 2 cases they were actually used to build webs off.???!!! Then they tested the various sprays and only concluded that the ’you know what’s’ would avoid any wet surface other than water which they seek out to drink.
So for the sprays to be totally effective you would need several gallons poured over your home and you would need to keep applying it so that no surface was left dry. Not only is this expensive and impractical but any liquid that was not drinkable would do.
Obviously the various stupid grabbing gizmos out there were never designed by and arachnophobe as no phobia sufferer would ever want to chase down any ’you know what’.
As for conkers, well my arachnologists buddies basically stated that they would be completely surprised if they had any effect as not every spices of ’you know what’s’ are sensitive to the same odours plus some spices actually live in Chesnutt trees.
My Conclusion
If you want to rid your home of all ’you know what’s’ and catch all new comers then my invention will do that without fail. I have now sold over 20,000 traps worldwide and have never had any customer report any failures. As an arachnophobe I can tell you with hand on heart that this works.
It isn’t pretty and it’s a bastard if you accidentally step on it but it if you want to stop them moving freely throughout your home, whilst stopping their speed and unpredictability and protect yourself while you sleep there is nothing better.
Cheers, Robin.
They have greasy oily FEET?!
The same feet, I'm informed (possibly incorrectly) that they TASTE WITH?!
Boy, this just gets better every day - where the hell's Ellen Ripley and her flamethrower when we need her!
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