Large Spiders in the Philippines
Written on May 26, 2026
There are some huge spiders in the Philippines, and I can't describe them adequately. Most of them confine themselves to the jungle, but occasionally, they'll infiltrate homes like mine. That's exactly what happened in 2009.
Before I went to sleep one night, I spotted this huge spider scurrying across one of the walls in my master bedroom and headed for the bathroom. This creature was bigger than my right hand, at least six inches across.
I'm not afraid of spiders, and I've seen many spiders in the Philippines, of all sizes and colors. I just don't like having large spiders sharing my bedroom with me.
Large and Extremely Fast
Did I say "spotted it"? I couldn't help but notice it. Did I say "scurrying"? Racing would be a better description. It took the spider less than two seconds to go from the wall on the other side of the room to the bathroom.
I went into the bathroom, made sure the bathroom window was open, and attempted to chase it out to the great outdoors. The spider was having none of that. Since all of my attempts at scaring it away were fruitless, I did the next best thing. I killed it, but not intentionally.
I had a big roll of duct tape sitting on the bathroom vanity, and I hurled it at the spider, not really thinking that I would hit it. Unfortunately, I hit it on the first try. It was now a smashed, dead spider.
Too Many Horror Movies
During my short ordeal, I only thought about one thing. I didn't want that spider crawling on me while I was sleeping. You probably think I could just close the bathroom door and trap it inside. Nope. My bathroom door had a slatted window at the bottom for ventilation.
Of course, my younger son made fun of me after he heard the ruckus. He asked me if I was afraid the "alien" would squat on my face and shoot an egg down my throat or something. If looks could kill...
I can deal with almost anything coming into my house and making itself at home. Geckos don't bother me at all. I hate cockroaches immensely, and any that manage to enter must be eliminated. The small spiders don't bother me. It's the large ones I want to escort out of the house.
The Spider Funeral
When you kill a bug (whether it's an insect or a spider), ten or more of his friends show up for the funeral. When I woke up the next morning and attempted to remove the spider carcass, a million tiny ants were swarming all over its body, and not much remained.
I felt bad about killing the spider, but I reacted without thinking. The momentary vision of a spider crawling on my face while I was sleeping was sufficient to set me off. It's too bad. That spider was big enough to take out the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen.
Since then, I've been careful to take my time escorting large spiders out of my bedroom. I don't care if they're anywhere else in my house as long as it isn't where I sleep.