This redditor's PC was overrun with '50 to 100' baby spiders and now my day is ruined
"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
I'll let you into a little secret, internet: I am not a fan of spiders. I wouldn't say I'm a full-on arachnophobe, but as long as the little (or not so little) blighters remain outside, that's all good with me. Y'know, where spiders are supposed to live, not inside the house.
Where they absolutely, certainly, most definitely don't belong, however, is anywhere near my precious PC. Which is why I reacted in abject horror to the photos posted by Reddit user Duck_Shover, showing the aftermath of what looks like a baby spider infestation in their PC case—complete with the title: "It appears there was a spider egg in my computer, any advice?"
Yes, Duck_Shover, I do have some advice: take it outside, set fire to it, and then move house immediately. Still, we reached out to said Duck_Shover for comment, and they had this to say:
"When I posted that I assumed there would be loads more inside, I always assumed that spider eggs were always full of hundreds or even thousands of baby spiders.
"However, it seems that the egg was on the outside and the spiders in the pictures were most of them (around 50 - 100 in total). When disassembling the PC I only ended up finding 2 more."
It appears there was a spider egg in my computer, any advice? from r/mildlyinfuriating
Oh, that's alright then. This isn't a case of a PC internally infested with baby spiders, merely one covered in up to 100 of them crawling around the outside. A casual annoyance, that one, I'm sure. Still, it sounds like Duck_Shover is the practical type, as their removal methods seem much more calm and collected than my suggestion above:
"Because they were mostly on the outside, I was easily able to remove the panels and just vacuum them off, then give everything a good wipe down.
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"Of course, I also had to vacuum everything in my room around the computer as well as washing all my bedding and some just cleaned clothes I'd left on my bed that morning to put away when I got home."
Very considered, that. One can assume that our brave Duck_Shover has had no such spider-related incidents since—although if I were them I would now be disassembling my house piece by piece to find the mother spider, who I imagine in my head to be the size of a dinner plate (click if you dare) and likely infesting the house with further eggs.
I know, I have a problem. Anyway, a tale of triumph over adversity this one, and we can assume that the PC in question is now humming merrily away, spider-free. If you need me, I'll be muttering to myself and rocking back and forth in the bath now, thanks very much. Remember to check your rigs, folks. Who knows what beasties may be lurking nearby...
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Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't. After spending over 15 years in the production industry overseeing a variety of live and recorded projects, he started writing his own PC hardware blog in the hope that people might send him things. And they did! Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy's been jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.