Spider Phobia

You will be unlucky to find them in the day, they are nocturnal and so you won't see them mainly, no matter where they are. It depends where you are living as to if you will see many of them. I used to keep finding them in my bin bags of carbon, I think they like the camouflage and find it good hunting ground for geckos. Just check stuff, don't put your hand in bags you know have been empty for while. Shake your jacket and pants before putting them on. The spiders don't bother me, the sting is no more than a bee sting and swelling for a day or two at worst. The bloody giant centipedes Giant centipede eating mouse. - YouTube freak me out, nasty things and have found them in my shower curtain a couple of times. To answer your question though, I doubt they are interested in your legs and will avoid you if possible and so don't worry about it.

I too don't like anything that crawls around.

I have been here since December. I have seen one tarantula. We live in a heavily treed/grassy area. If you are on the second floor of a condo, I think it is extremely unlikely you would find one. They are very shy and are probably more scared of you than you of it. The one we did see, the dogs chased off!

My husband has killed those centipede things...they are nasty and will bite too. He killed them with a machete.

My biggest pet peeve with crawly things is ants...I hate freakin ants and have an on-going battle with them both inside my villa and outside.

This is a tropical country...you are gonna see crawly things...you will get used to them more and more after awhile. I used to scream when I saw a coackroach...now I am proud to say I can kill them...with Mr. Silver Fox's shoe...:squareeye

Every home needs a cat, get one, they are worth their weight in cans of roach and insect spray!

The cat will cure you of all insectos..... definitely

I'm no expert since I've only been in the country slightly less than one year, but I've only been confronted by two spiders in that time. One was a tarrantula (at night) outside on the ground and the friend I was walking with promptly stepped on it. I have to admit it was big and scary and if I'd seen it alone, I would have screamed in panic. The tarrantulas are slow so you have time to move away from it. The second one was last week in my apartment and it was small and quick. It ran into my closet in the bedroom and I tried to find and kill it but eventually gave up. I had a hard time sleeping that night, but the next day it came into the open and got squished. However, the most important advice I have to give is to use the powerful insecticide Sevin. It kills everything except mosquitoes and termites. It's banned for inside use in the U.S. but as long as you're careful, it is safe. Just spray it when there's time for it to dry and spray it monthly...under stuff, on window ledges, outside the front/back door, near drains, etc. I've used it for a year and I have a dog. I haven't used it lately because I'm moving and took the sprayer to the new condo. By the way, my current apartment has no walls...just open to the outside with rebar. No screens except in the bedroom so if I can stay bug free for a year, so can you! Don't let those spiders keep you out of paradise!

There is a large thread on this somewhere in the past..... all the Dominican ways to control ants, bugs, spiders.

get a good exterminator to spray on a regular basis and you will be fine.

I've lived here over 2 years and yet to see a live tarantula. I only ever see them squished on the road. I live in a 3rd floor condo so I think the odds of one showing up in my place are pretty slim. Every so often I have a medium size brown spider (cane spider?) in my place. They freak me out a bit but they are harmless and are very timid. If I can't somehow coax it out the window I end up killing it. Especially if it's in my bedroom. Can't stand the thought of sleeping with one of those in my room.

I really think spiders are the least of your worries here in the DR.

Spider Friend

InsanelyOne said:

I really think spiders are the least of your worries here in the DR.

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Correct.

Please do not kill them, they are most useful.

This is our friend "Chi Chi":



donP

You are most likely to see them inside after heavy rains, especially(but not always) on the ground floor.

The critter you'll see the most of, running around, are lizards. They look like the lizards in the Geico ccommercials......

FritoBandito said:

The critter you'll see the most of, running around, are lizards. They look like the lizards in the Geico ccommercials......

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Salamanders!!!
Actually the Republic can claim fame to being home to the smallest lizard species ever found, Sphaerodactylus parthenopion, quite something if you consider there are some 23,000 species of lizard known. Salamaders are everywhere in the capital, strange as I don't see as many (if any) in the hills, but apparently we are living in a disaster zone as far as the future of certain species goes (the Caribbean being responsible for the most rapid rate in extinct species anywhere in the world, I just read that recently in Nat Geo), things live in pockets. So what we have in one area might not live 5km down the road. So no wonder some of us see spiders and snakes all the time (personally never see snakes) and others have been here a while and still yet to see anything.

I have never seen a tarantula and I have been living here full time since 2003 and visited for a couple of years before that.
There are other spiders, but as others have said they are they least of your worries. Be careful of the sharks that live on the land.

Tarantulas for most Americans inspire fear and panic but not to worry you have less to fear of them than Black Widows, which are common the US. In fact I used to be plenty scared and even killed them but now just gently wisk them along to outside the gate. I fact I did that last night and I'm even at the point that I could pick them up with gloves. Given all the spider movies I saw in the 60's and 70's as a kid I think I've come a long way.

windeguy said:

I have never seen a tarantula and I have been living here full time since 2003 and visited for a couple of years before that.

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What area of the land are you in? I found the East to be amazing for all sorts of crazy spider frogs and toads the size of footballs. The place I have seen most Tarantulas is about 1/2-1km down the coast from Cabarete in the direction of Sosua, just by the treeline onto the beach, if you walk along there you will see loads of the things. I don't know the significance of why they find that specific area attractive, but surely something significant.

Candy Burnette Reaid said:

Now, when I say "phobia", I don't mean uh,oh, there's a spider, I mean instant panic and passout phobia! ....... I promise I will go over the side without so much as a second thought. At that point there would be no thought. ........... Can anyone here give me a truthful and accurate answer, please?

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Candy if you have anxiety to this level then do not come to this country as is. The good news is you can correct your irrational behaviour with help, probably best done before you depart. If you arrive like this you will lose your husband and **** off your friends and lose the respect of some very nice tarantulas.

Where I live we see tarantulas on the second floor and I have not looked for them any higher. They come in through a window and I do find them inside during the day behind doors and toilets and such places.

We have one of the most beautiful 2 meter snakes that lives in my tree nearby and I have a hard time stopping locals from wanting to kill him. He is conveniently living between my house and the neighbourhood garbage bin.

I would not appreciate you around here screaming every time you saw one of my nice creatures or jumping off balconies over top of me. Very messy as there is a stone floor here under the drop

Anastacio said:

What area of the land are you in? I found the East to be amazing for all sorts of crazy spider frogs and toads the size of footballs. The place I have seen most Tarantulas is about 1/2-1km down the coast from Cabarete in the direction of Sosua, just by the treeline onto the beach, if you walk along there you will see loads of the things. I don't know the significance of why they find that specific area attractive, but surely something significant.

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I live in Cabarete.

I think you have no worries on floor two and they like to live in their bush not cubords so I think you will be good