ssidbroadcast, let me make you feel a bit better.
As someone already pointed out, the first spider is a giant house spider.
Coincidentally just the day before I saw my first house spider I had googled about poisonous insects in WA and I learned about the hobo spider (giant house spider is commonly misidentified as such). So when I first turned on the light and saw the largest sucker I've ever seen not behind glass, my heart nearly stopped. Then I started cursing my luck as to why I would be faced with mortal jeopardy just after moving and at 2 am of all times. I was also cursing the fact that I slept on the floor, not having bought a bed (I got one after a month, couple weeks back).
Anyhow, I potted it and transferred it into a glass (these guys have very poor traction so they can't get out). Then I slept on the floor.
Next day I identified it wasn't a hobo spider, most of them aren't!
To identify:
- Those chevrons are too distinct. Hobo spider chevrons are fuzzy.
- Once in the glass, look at it from the bottom. If you see little black dots on it's legs close to the body, it's not a hobo.
(I used this to identify
http://pep.wsu.edu/pdf/PLS116_1.pdf)
So I released it outside my home. Giant house spiders eat hobos and compete against them, so the more you have the better off you are.
I have seen these guys in my house a couple more times and I've grown used to them. Once you look at it, it just sits there, letting you pot it.
In summary
- They are not that fast
- They just sit there
- They can't crawl up smooth surfaces (my bed frame is varnished wood, and I make sure my linens don't touch the floor, so I sleep easy now)
- They keep away hobos
- The more other types near you, the less hobos, the less you freak out
So do not kill them or lay sticky traps, just evict them.
Also, apart from hobos and brown recluse you don't have anything else to worry about in Seattle. And the hobo is losing to the giant house spider so the chance of seeing a hobo is not that high. That second spider (don't know what it is) is not worth your time, just throw it out.
I think spiders coming up the drain is mostly a myth, they have poor traction, once they fall in they can't get out (first one I caught was sitting there sucking on a leg, it liked the moisture I guess).