Spiders do fine outside--where do you think they lived before people came along and built houses?

We have lots of interesting spiders here, but most of them are outside. I did capture a tarantula on the wall a couple of weeks ago, but that was my fault. I left the inner door open and the screen door doesn't quite reach the door jamb. Poor guy came in and managed to survive a day in a house with two cats. I captured him and released him in the side garden. We saw him again on the step this week.

There are several much larger tarantulas (body length over 3") around the property, a couple who live right next to the house. I've been told that if you want to repel spiders, use mint oil around the base of the house (or perhaps plant mint). And strong smelling cedar chips also are good. We have all of these various spider types, including one that builds an elaborate web from the porch to the garage every night and takes it down again before morning. With all of these, plus lizards, house geckos (I think the tarantulas eat some of those), toads, and snakes, we don't have many bugs (crickets, roaches) make it past that gauntlet to get into the house.

SRS