# So, releasing spiders outside kills them?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 18, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184 "2026-05-18T16:56:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/1 "2026-05-18T16:56:42Z")
Or so says this guy:
> **[Mia Birdsong on Instagram: "The spiders we put outside can’t live out there. ....](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5Cvgg8LYXN/?hl=en%2F)**
>
> 712 likes, 55 comments - miabirdsong on March 27, 2024: "The spiders we put outside can’t live out there. . . . I just don’t even know what to say.".
Unless my wife is around, if I see a spider I will just ignore it. I put them outside if she finds one and insists.
I can understand if you toss one outside in the winter in Minnesota, for example, but here on the mild, sunny left coast it seems like they should be able to hack it.
I’m not one to question scientists but this raises a question - how do they get into new houses?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/2 "2026-05-18T17:00:08Z")
I don’t have an Instagram account. Is he a scientist?
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/3 "2026-05-18T17:01:35Z")
He quoted a New Yorker article written by a scientist.
I might be wrong but I don’t think you need an account just to look.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/4 "2026-05-18T17:02:59Z")
I live in California, and have two cats. One was a stray for some years, and no doubt hunted a lot of his meals in that time, so he has some skills. The other is a rowdy kitten who thinks anything movable is a toy.
Putting spiders outside is no doubt better for their life expectancy than keeping them indoors dealing with the cats.
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/5 "2026-05-18T17:04:07Z")
Same clip on YouTube:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJ96NsovmQ)
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/6 "2026-05-18T17:09:17Z")
I’m pretty sure I don’t care if they die. They’re lucky I didn’t squash 'em.
They got more than I wanted to give by being pushed outside.
I’m talking to you; Granddaddy Long legs in my shower! Your hours are numbered.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/7 "2026-05-18T17:11:20Z")
Am I supposed to feel more empathy for the spider than for the other bugs they kill…you know-the ones that _don’t_ leave dead webs filled with carcasses lying in wait for people to walk into?
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/8 "2026-05-18T17:14:21Z")
Well, they control the mosquito population for example.
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/9 "2026-05-18T17:16:37Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#):
>
> He quoted a New Yorker article written by a scientist.
Anyone have a link?
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/10 "2026-05-18T17:16:41Z")
How many car accidents are caused by a spider in visor scenario?
A spider in my car is taking a flight. Don’t care what the weather is.
What’s that old joke, "What’s the last thing a spider sees when it hits your windshield?
That spider came from a car in front of you.
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/11 "2026-05-18T17:28:46Z")
Most spiders live fast and die young anyway. That’s why they make so many in **[one sitting](https://imgur.com/0MuC6OP)**.
Whether the one you just caught will live or die depends also on the species, the current weather, and the time of year.
But he wanted klicks, and he got them (but not from me, wrong medium), so everything is as it should be.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/12 "2026-05-18T17:28:54Z")
I’m not sure I agree with the premise. After all, where do these spiders come from originally? Are the ones that end up in houses somehow specifically adapted to that ecosystem/microclimate?
Now, I do have personal experience with escorted-outdoors spider death and it was kind of traumatic (more so for the spider than me): once when I dumped a spider out on the porch, it was immediately pounced on by another spider that had been hanging out under the door frame.
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/13 "2026-05-18T17:30:41Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> I’m not sure I agree with the premise. After all, where do these spiders come from originally?
That was my point as well. How do spiders that supposedly only live indoors, get into newly built houses?
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/14 "2026-05-18T17:30:58Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#):
>
> I can understand if you toss one outside in the winter in Minnesota, for example, but here on the mild, sunny left coast it seems like they should be able to hack it.
Yeah I’m with you here. I’m not in any illusions of how well that spider will do when I put him outside in the snow. But right now it’s a balmy 80-90 degrees out he stands a good chance. I’m not buying “every inside spider will definitely die outside”.
Not that I’m really doing it for moral or environmental grounds. Its more a lesson for my kids about not just squishing creatures you don’t like.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/15 "2026-05-18T17:30:59Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> I’m not sure I agree with the premise. After all, where do these spiders come from originally? Are the ones that end up in houses somehow specifically adapted to that ecosystem/microclimate?
Apparently yes, they are specifically adapted.
> **[Myth: Spiders come indoors in the fall](https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-spiders-come-indoors)**
>
> Outdoor spiders are not drawn to indoor habitats where they can't survive. Indoor spiders are different species, called house spiders.
> Some house spider species have been living indoors at least since the days of the Roman Empire, and are seldom to be found outside, even in their native countries (usually Europe). Many of these species now live in houses worldwide, and most have been carried by commerce to more than one continent. Few are adapted to North American outdoor environments.
>
> House spiders colonize new houses by [egg sacs](https://www.burkemuseum.org/blog/myth-all-spiders-make-webs) carried on furniture, building materials and so forth. They usually spend their entire life cycle in, on or under their native building.
Though I strongly suspect the spider I drop outside my window or door to appease my wife soon finds its way back in …
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/16 "2026-05-18T17:36:31Z")
> [@blondebear](#):
>
> once when I dumped a spider out on the porch, it was immediately pounced on by another spider
Reminds me of this guy with a mouse to set free. **[And then](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VyQipO4miw)**… so sad!
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/17 "2026-05-18T17:44:44Z")
I don’t bother spiders indoors generally. One may get get released outside occasionally.
If it can’t hack life outside, I feel the same way as about nuisance rabbits, squirrels and other animals that are live trapped once in a while and relocated. They’ve got a chance to reestablish in new areas: if it doesn’t work out, too bad.
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/18 "2026-05-18T17:57:02Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#):
>
> Reminds me of this guy with a mouse to set free. **[And then](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VyQipO4miw)**… so sad!
[And baby ducks…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H173WxgvrhE)
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### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/19 "2026-05-18T17:57:58Z")
> [@griffin1977](#):
>
> Its more a lesson for my kids about not just squishing creatures you don’t like.
Good human.
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-releasing-spiders-outside-kills-them/1030184/20 "2026-05-18T18:00:43Z")
Serves the mum with the skeaky voice right. 😁
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