I Hate Spiders (A Moral Dilemma)

Squish!

I read somewhere that house spiders don't survive when brought outdoors by sympathetic, well-meaning people. So if you can't live with 'em--squish 'em! (My younger son brings them down to the dark, dank basement. Bet they have a whole city down there now.)

Ah, I have a couple of fairly aggressive jumping spiders that live by the hall light. The light attracts the flies. The spiders eat the flies. Now, if I could only convince the spiders to move to the kitchen where most of the flies are...

I'm pro-spider with the exception of the three brown recluses I found in my house. Those suckers died a swift death because I don't need my babies to be bitten by one of those.

I was bitten by a brown recluse when I was 8. It was really really really painful and drawn-out and disgusting as well. 18 years later I still have a very visible scar. For that reason, my philosophy is KILL THEM! Because if they had the chance, THEY WOULD KILL YOU!

Also, I have seen those spiders before like in your picture (in Hawaii, where they call them cane spiders and just chuckle at the sight of a hideous 3 inch arachnid beast on their living room wall) and they are really really oogy.

I shall thank god today I live in a place that's so cold for so much of the year we can't grow them big, poisonous spiders at all. I guess maybe that's why I neither hate nor fear spiders.

I remove them from my house, very carefully. I take a paper plate & cut it in half. I get a plastic cup.

Then I put the plastic cup on top of the spider & use the paper plate as a scoop & lid. I then take the whole thing outside and throw it away from me.

I disagree about the 'house spiders can't live outside' statement (sorry). I would think that as long as the house spider has cover (like under a deck) then it will be OK.

I don't kill spiders because they eat blood sucking b!!ches (aka mosquitoes) which I HATE.

Dude - spider with fur.

Kill it.

I can not kill spiders. I am not fond of them - and really do not like them in the house. Part of my sitting room has been named Spider Alley as the large house spiders seem to like scuttling up and down the area. I suppose I also bring them into the house when I bring in logs for the fire. But I can not kill them. I can get them in a similar way to threedogpeople and dispose of them in the garden where no doubt a bird will get them. I do like the ones that built webs near my tomato plants and did an excellent job catching nasty beasties.

I still shudder at the memory of the first time I read Lord of the Rings - a huge spider descended on its' web between me and the book. I screamed and my dad rushed in took in the situation and closed my book on the beastie! He got me a new copy the next day.

I am basically okay with web-building spiders, although they should understand that their webs are subject to brooming at any time. The ones that are Not Allowed in the house are the hunting variety. The ones that move in little short bursts or jump when you get close to them. Sorry, no, you guys must go OUT.

my cat eats them.

I'm terrified of spiders, but hate killing things. I especially loathe and despise those spiders that "play dead" - you know, the ones that curl up and hold still to make you think they're dead when they're really absolutely fine and scurry away as soon as you turn around to get a paper towel to pick them up... I have no idea of what they're called, but they're black and stocky. They make me feel especially terrible, because just as I'm mourning having to kill them (because they bite) they jump up and I've got to try to kill them all over again! Talk about compounding guilt...

bettielee said:

Dude - spider with fur.

Kill it.

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Agreed.

If spiders fear the cold, then I'm off to the North Pole.

Morgan A. said:

I'm terrified of spiders, but hate killing things. I especially loathe and despise those spiders that "play dead" - you know, the ones that curl up and hold still to make you think they're dead when they're really absolutely fine and scurry away as soon as you turn around to get a paper towel to pick them up... I have no idea of what they're called, but they're black and stocky. They make me feel especially terrible, because just as I'm mourning having to kill them (because they bite) they jump up and I've got to try to kill them all over again! Talk about compounding guilt...

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We have spiders in Jersey. Wolf spiders in the basement - they're goners the minute I spot them. Daddy Long Legs - can't kill them. I'll gladly help them outside.
Little black jumping spiders - don't like them. And spiders that bite. I got a spider bite a few years ago. It took ages to go away and itched like hell.

My dilemma is with bees. They've taken over a small corner where the porch meets the house and they've expanded into an underground city. I don't want to obliterate it because of the problems with the bees dying out, but on the other hand, want to protect my real estate. I've heard bees can do a lot of damage.

or you could get a basilisk... as long as you don't have any chickens...

brainstorm77 said:

my cat eats them.

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I'm so jealous.

My cat won't eat bugs; she just plays with them. And she often brings them to me - alive! So, if I see a bug, I kill it. Otherwise, my cat may bring it to bed.

Now I feel creepy-crawly.

Mela said:

My dilemma is with bees. They've taken over a small corner where the porch meets the house and they've expanded into an underground city. I don't want to obliterate it because of the problems with the bees dying out, but on the other hand, want to protect my real estate. I've heard bees can do a lot of damage.

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Definitely call a beekeeper. If they're honeybees, some beekeepers will come and get them for you. Even if the beekeeper doesn't want to mess with them, he/she will probably know of someone in the area who can remove them. Worth a shot, and you won't have to call an exterminator after they cause expensive damage to the walls of your house.

Spiders outside are fine. I'm not sure what we have the most of; spiders or mosquitoes, so outside the spiders can rule the world for all I care, because they eat mosquitoes.

Spider in the house... meet shoe! I'd rather have snakes in the house than those icky sticky spiders.

Aw, I was cleaning up the vegetable garden the other day for fall planting and dang near put my hand right on a Black Widow. I cut that dear in half with a shovel.

I have a creepy, morbid fascination with spiders, but they terrify me. Any other bug I find in the house, I will pick up or catch it is something and put it outside. I do not like killing things. And I know how beneficial spiders are. But I have such an irrational fear of them. Well, maybe not completely irrational. We have black widows here, and I am afraid of my kids or dogs getting bit. Plus, I was bit by a spider in my sleep. Woke up to a sharp pinch right about my eye. Woke up swatting my face, and found a spider in my bed. My eye got so swollen. Even if they don't bite, I can't be around them. I will scream like a little girl.