In breaking spider news, some of you probably shouldn’t watch this video.
Obligatory Lucas the Spider link.
I bought the plushies for myself and my adult children for Christmas.
For the record, all spiders are venomous. It’s just that their venom is intended to kill things that weigh a few milligrams, and so for most, it’s not capable of doing anything more to humans than producing an itchy welt.
I’m one of those who not only tolerates but actually welcomes them in my home. I’d rather they don’t crawl on me, but even there, if I have a chance to see what it is before reflexively swatting, I’ll try to brush them off gently (though the swat reflex is still there, since my tolerance does not extend to all arthropods).
Web’alekum a-salaam.
Since it is for the record, that is almost but not quite true.
I quite literally hate people who kill animals for the sole reason that they are irrationally afraid of them. I hate you, every single one of you. You’re like tiny Hitlers. I hope a giant alien steps on you and squishes you just because you look ugly and skittery to them. You deserve no less.
I’d be more of a really really huge Hitler, wouldn’t I? Relatively speaking.
I lurvs me some spodders.
My garage is occupied by several members of the widow family of spiders. I don’t bother them, they don’t come in the main part of the house, all is good. Spiders are welcome in my home as a hold over from my pre-airconditioned youth when they were considered an important part of fly control.
Sadly, other than the widders out’n the garage, I ain’t seem t’see the little critters as much as I used to.
Yellowjackets/wasps/hornets, otoh, are a plague where I live. When I was prepping the exterior of my house for painting a few years ago, I discovered a large nest in the wall where the siding had come loose some how. Sealed those evil little fuckers right up with some strategically placed screws and judicious use of caulk. You’re welcome Humanity and World.
Thanks, everyone, for the varied thoughts on the topic.
I had no intention of engaging in smug Yank-bashing; primarily, I just found it interesting how often the words “killing spiders” show up on the (mostly “US-populated”) Dope, as an instance / figure of speech re “things the strong can and should do, to help the less strong and get them off the hook of having to do it themselves” (whether that attitude is basically condescending and offensive, is another thing altogether). This thing is not, in my experience, seen nowadays in this way, in public discourse in Britain. As given in the links – plenty of us are arachnophobic, and daft things are sometimes done in human / spider relations; but my impression is that, “for public consumption”, our arachnophobes regret their phobia, and recognise that it’s irrational.
Thudlow Boink writes; “I was tempted to question the OP’s premise that Brits are all totally cool with spiders”.
As above: I didn’t mean to suggest that – just meant that among “goodthinking” people here, there seems to be agreement re this issue, that “live and let live” should be the right approach. I have every sympathy for those folk – anywhere – such as mixdenny, with a visceral loathing of spiders; I am (with genuine regret) a bit that way myself, especially re the big 'uns.
Miss Mapp and Baron Greenback’s exchange re “the biggest one has eaten the competition” – they are indeed, in my understanding, cannibals (the spiders, of course, not Miss M and BG); still,“nobody (and no species) is perfect :)…”
I gather that London Zoo (and, I’d imagine, a good many other undertakings worldwide) run a day course whose intention is to help the arachnophobic to get over their fears; if all goes well, as at the end of the day you’ll have – happily enough – a tarantula sitting on your palm, with you petting it in whatever way one does with such a creature. I’ve had thoughts of taking that course; but have figured that my problems with spider-kind are not really great enough to justify the expense.
Nope. They gonna die if I see 'em.
I did NOT expect this thread to fall to Godwin.
Anyone here a boat owner? Spiders are really drawn to boat docks and fighting them is a constant battle. For those unfamiliar, spider poop seems to be a mixture of blood and battery acid, and if not removed will pit and stain your boat to a point it cannot be scrubbed out.
Entire businesses exist to help protect boats from these vile creatures and their low ph offal.
I no longer accept the “they kill other bugs” excuse. Insect populations are falling all over the world, so we no longer need their help. If I see them, they’re history. No exceptions.
I generally leave spiders alone. Wolf spiders though? Nah, they dead! Thankfully I only see one in the house once in a blue moon.
That’s exactly what Hitler would say.
I did spare one bug from Queenie’s jaws.
He looked a bit like David Hedison and I thought I heard a faint voice saying “help meeeee! help meeeee!”
[QUOTE=Two Many Cats;21513251 I see the whole stereotype of the woman running squealing to the man to kill the spider she just saw is alive and well. Nice misogyny there, despite the recent gains through politics and #MeToo.[/QUOTE]
I would consider getting married again if I could be sure that my potential husband would take spider removal duties seriously. I have known women who perpetuate the stereotype. It became one for a reason. Yes, I can cope with spiders on my own – I lived in a house in Port Townsend that was infested with the giant ones. Even my cat, who took care of normal house spiders in other states, carefully pretended that the Washington ones didn’t exist. But, if I had a man in my life, I would happily turn over spider coping to him. If he couldn’t cope with him, I would consider him less of a man. Not correct at all, but true.
Oh, and for people who advocate catch and release? I was doing that for a while. But, you know, you release a spider outdoors when the temp is below zero? It curls up its legs and dies before it reaches the gap in the snow in the bushes.
Hating people who have irrational fears? That’s a bit like hating the mentally ill, the injured, the handicapped, and those suffering from other disorders. Isn’t that aligning oneself with the fellow with the toothbrush mustache?
You mean these muddafuggahs? (for those who don’t know, the coin is 1 inch in diameter–that’s 3.7 kilometers for you metric users) Them sumsabeeshis are why I can’t handle spideys as an adult. an 8 year old me crawled into bed one cool, late autumn evening and felt what I thought was a lint ball on my thigh, but it wiggled when I reached down to brush it aside. I didn’t have to do the math, I just levitated out of bed, knocking the beast to the floor as I did so. I got the light on just in time to see the abomination trying to scuttle under the bed. I murdered the creature on the spot, and felt right and just about it. And then I just stood there, looking at my bed. No way could I get back under those covers. Nope. But…Aw, I was just being a dumb kid, right? I should go back to bed, I’m sleepy, and my room is cold. But…just flip back the covers to be sure. Silly thing to do but flip Waaaagggh! Another one! It died. I slept on the couch.
But in this instance, American society often *glorifies *the killing of harmless spiders.
If someone went around killing butterflies because he or she felt an irrational compulsion to do so, I don’t think we would be praising it. But when it comes to spiders, “Hey, they look scary” (shrug) even though those arachnids eliminate several hundred million tons of harmful insects every year.
Edit: Also, even with the mentally ill, we don’t praise their killing or violence when or if they do it.
I leave 'em alone if they stay out of my way, though I do sometimes have to clean up the webs. But if they get near me, I tend to get rid of them. The exception is if there in a place where I know someone else will be, which means I also get rid of them to avoid having to be asked to do so later.
It’s not really a moral stance, though. While I can’t establish a hard and fast line, I do tend to view spider intelligence (like that of insects) to be below that line where I could consider them possibly conscious. And that is the line that makes me care.
Though I admit mice test even that. I do think they could be conscious, but damn, there doesn’t seem to be much way to get rid of them without killing them off.
You misunderstand. I don’t hate people with irrational fears. I hate people who ACT on those fears to destroy innocent, harmless living things. Big difference.