# I bet some of y'all think this guy wasn't out of line at all for trying to kill a spider with fire **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292 "2014-07-16T18:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/21 "2014-07-17T02:12:17Z")
Reaffirms my predisposed inclination that sEattleites are a little s l o w if you know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/22 "2014-07-17T02:21:25Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I don’t think there’s such a thing as too much force when facing a spider the size of a Buick. Would ratshot work on smaller arachnids? I can tell you from personal experience that a hollow-point .22 will take down large spiders (say legs that stretch about a handspan) but you need to hit the abdomen or thorax. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/23 "2014-07-17T02:23:53Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > I can tell you from personal experience that a hollow-point .22 will take down large spiders (say legs that stretch about a handspan) but you need to hit the abdomen or thorax. If you hit a spider with a bullet, you’re going to be pretty well guaranteed that it’s going to hit the abdomen or thorax. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/24 "2014-07-17T02:27:29Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Pyrrhic victory. This comment made the whole thread worth it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/25 "2014-07-17T02:35:06Z")
I don’t know if people learned anything from this guy’s “tragedy” but I damn sure hope some spiders learned a lesson! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/26 "2014-07-17T02:41:26Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > If you hit a spider with a bullet, you’re going to be pretty well guaranteed that it’s going to hit the abdomen or thorax. If you take off a leg you just annoy them. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/27 "2014-07-17T03:57:35Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > To be fair, the article didn’t mention what kind of spider it was. I mean, if it was one of those big black ones with the creepy legs . . . Seattle? If he went flamethrower berserk on it, probably this beauty. Which by the way is absolutely harmless to human people of any size. > **[Giant house spider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_house_spider)** > > The giant house spider has been treated as either one species, under the name Eratigena atrica, or as three species, E. atrica, E. duellica and E. saeva. As of April 2020\[update\], the three species view was accepted by the World Spider Catalog. They are among the largest spiders of Central and Northern Europe. They were previously placed in the genus Tegenaria. In 2013, they were moved to the new genus Eratigena as the single species Eratigena atrica. In 2018, the three separate species were r ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/28 "2014-07-17T04:34:28Z")
Dammit, spiders are good. They have absolutely no interest in humans, but love to eat shit that does, grow up. ---
**Author:** ![Jsei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Jsei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jsei)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/29 "2014-07-17T04:39:45Z")
I had a talk with the last spider that I saw crawling on my bedroom floor. I haven’t seen it since. I’m more worried about the ants, but hey, I think the spider should take care of that. If not, it owes me some rent. Speaking of rent, how big do you think this guy’s deposit was? He won’t be seeing that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/30 "2014-07-17T05:49:13Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Didn’t our own\*\* Hal Briston\*\* do this and light his curtains on fire once? But do they call him curtain burner? No. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/31 "2014-07-17T05:50:31Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > If you take off a leg you just annoy them. Yeah, it makes them run in a circle and they hate that. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/32 "2014-07-17T08:00:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But do they call him curtain burner? No. Well _played_, sir. I’d have thought just coating the spider with spray paint would have pretty much finished it, no need to set light to anything. Then you’d have a perfectly preserved glossy specimen for your display cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292/33 "2014-07-17T13:14:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Should’ve used a nuke. From orbit, it’s the only way to be sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-some-of-yall-think-this-guy-wasnt-out-of-line-at-all-for-trying-to-kill-a-spider-with-fire/693292.md?page=1)