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multigraincracker

(34,202 posts)
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 05:14 AM Aug 2022

Here's Why You Should Never Kill A Spider

https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/heres-why-you-should-never-kill-a-spider/

Even though spiders are creepy crawlers that you probably despise, killing them could actually do your house more harm than good. Here's why.

Besides having long legs and a creepy demeanor, most people are scared of spiders for one specific reason: Their bite. If you’re not sure the type of spider, there’s always a chance that the spider could be venomous. However, it has been proven that only about 10 percent of spider bites lead to necrotic skin lesions. These types of bites actually don’t come from the innocent brown spiders that make a home within your home. In fact, it’s actually quite difficult for a spider like that to bite you.

So if that’s the case, why in the world are we so drawn to killing spiders? If anything, spiders can actually help our homes instead of harming them.

Spiders Rid Your Home of Pests

More at link. I've always thought it best to let them eat all the flies and other bugs and then they will starve to death after their work is done..
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Here's Why You Should Never Kill A Spider (Original Post) multigraincracker Aug 2022 OP
a big garfen spider weaves a nice web in my window every spring rampartc Aug 2022 #1
Back when I was 16 and 17, I had a summer job multigraincracker Aug 2022 #2
we do have black widows and brown recluses rampartc Aug 2022 #7
I must be really lucky then... 2naSalit Aug 2022 #3
No way a friend of mine got bit by a brown recluse. doc03 Aug 2022 #4
I worked with a woman at WIC who was bitten on her face by a brown recluse. vanlassie Jan 2023 #12
I am always happy to see spiders in my basement. apcalc Aug 2022 #5
Even if they are not deadly, any insect bit can multigraincracker Aug 2022 #6
Two spider stories PJMcK Aug 2022 #8
Spiders rule if..fish..had..wings Aug 2022 #9
Thanks for the numbers. Here are the greatest killers in the world. multigraincracker Aug 2022 #10
I leave them alone as long as there is no chance they will get on me. FoxNewsSucks Aug 2022 #11
I love spiders NJCher Feb 2023 #13
I tend to give them a chance to go back between the walls chowmama Mar 2023 #14

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
1. a big garfen spider weaves a nice web in my window every spring
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 05:26 AM
Aug 2022

well, either her or her children. anyway, the web goes up just a few days before our termite swarm. they are welcome all the time.

multigraincracker

(34,202 posts)
2. Back when I was 16 and 17, I had a summer job
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 05:40 AM
Aug 2022

painting barns.
Before that, I didn't care for them. I got pretty use to the thousands of them that lived under the overhangs and got use to them. Never got bit by the mostly Daddy Long Legs and then found them most interesting.

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
7. we do have black widows and brown recluses
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 07:17 AM
Aug 2022

definitely a caution when under the house and piles of wood and such. but even they are useful.

2naSalit

(93,098 posts)
3. I must be really lucky then...
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 05:40 AM
Aug 2022

I got my ten percent all in one fell swoop one night and got four bites on my face, almost twenty years ago, and still have nerve damage and other problems to this day. Spider indoors get whacked if it survives the poison I put around the outside of the house. Outside, I leave them be.

doc03

(36,813 posts)
4. No way a friend of mine got bit by a brown recluse.
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 06:15 AM
Aug 2022

He nealy died before he got to the hospital. They were considering cutting off his leg but after 2 weeks in the hospital and 100 IV s he made it but hasn't fully recovered and that was 10 years ago. My brothers boss also got bit and nearly died several years ago. A spider in my house is a dead spider.

vanlassie

(5,899 posts)
12. I worked with a woman at WIC who was bitten on her face by a brown recluse.
Wed Jan 18, 2023, 09:32 PM
Jan 2023

Next to her nose. It would NOT heal. The doctor was getting worried, having tried several treatments. She went in to work as asked a coworker who happened to be nursing a baby if she would give her some pumped breastmilk. The breastmilk healed that wound. Her doctor was flabbergasted. Not we breastfeeding advocates, however.

apcalc

(4,518 posts)
5. I am always happy to see spiders in my basement.
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 06:20 AM
Aug 2022

They get the bugs I don’t want.
If I find one in the other parts of the house (rare) I trap them and take them outside, to continue their work.

multigraincracker

(34,202 posts)
6. Even if they are not deadly, any insect bit can
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 06:21 AM
Aug 2022

cause sepsis. I was in the hospital for sepsis a year ago and they never did figure out what caused it. Can happen from an ingrown hair, a small prick from anything or even a UTI.

PJMcK

(22,967 posts)
8. Two spider stories
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 07:18 AM
Aug 2022

A few years ago, while collecting firewood, I was bitten on the hand by what doctors thought was a black widow spider. I didn't feel it and wasn't aware of any problem for about 24 hours. Then my heartbeat increased, I had a 102º temperature and my hand had swollen to about 150% of normal. It was time to go to the ER! A series of antibiotics took care of the bite and infection and within a week I was back to normal. Now I always wear gloves when working around the yard, (our house is in a forest).

There is a very small spider who made their web in the ceiling corner of one of our bathrooms above the shower. It's been there for years! An exterminator told me that ir was harmless and lived off of mites and other tiny bugs. We'll let it live their until it dies.

Mostly, I don't want spiders in our house.

ETA: OR any other insects, for that matter!

9. Spiders rule
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 08:18 AM
Aug 2022

Dog bite deaths: 20 per year
Deer/Car deaths: 130 per year

Spider bit deaths: 7 per year

Oh, and spiders are not insects!

multigraincracker

(34,202 posts)
10. Thanks for the numbers. Here are the greatest killers in the world.
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 08:39 AM
Aug 2022
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-people-are-killed-by-mosquitos-every-year.html
The tiny mosquito is actually more than a buzzing nuisance- it is the deadliest creature in the whole world. Yes, the lowly mosquito kills more individuals than any other animal each year. Thankfully, we can easily kill this bug with one swat, but mosquitoes can also sneak up on us and bite us before we even know we are a target, making them a formidable foe that can be tricky to control.

Reports indicate that mosquitoes killed about 830,000 people worldwide in 2018. Astoundingly, these pests have been known to take out as many as two million people in just one year. According to the World Health Organization, over half of the world’s population lives where there is also a mosquito population present, which is daunting considering the destruction they can cause. Mosquitoes kill people by biting them when the mosquitoes are infected with certain potentially deadly diseases, spreading the illness to the person. It is thought that mosquitoes themselves become infected with some illnesses by first biting an infected animal, and then carrying the diseases over to a human victim.

FoxNewsSucks

(10,825 posts)
11. I leave them alone as long as there is no chance they will get on me.
Wed Aug 24, 2022, 10:54 AM
Aug 2022

I hate spiders, but as the article says, they have a purpose.

So as long as don't get on me, they get left alone or moved.

I almost wrecked my mom's car long ago when a spider came out of the sunshade and slowly dropped toward my lap while driving on the highway. When I locked up the brakes, it swung forward and the silk strand hit the steering wheel which made the spider let go and land on the seat.

Almost had another close call in the car. A few years ago on a work trip, we went downtown to eat. I left the sunroof tipped, and the back windows down a little bit. When we came back it was just after dusk. As everyone was about to get in the car, I just happened to see one of those big orb-weavers right in the middle of the back seat area. No one else noticed, and one almost got right in the web. They thought I was nuts to suddenly be yelling "STOP STOP OUT OF THE CAR OUT OUT OUT!"

I have no idea where it came from, and since we were only out of the car for a little more than an hour, am still amazed that it could make one of those big webs in such short time. Although the car interior would probably be easier than going from tree to power line to sidewalk like those spiders usually do.

NJCher

(38,087 posts)
13. I love spiders
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 06:03 PM
Feb 2023

in fact, like the British do, I made up a name for my house: Spider Hollow.

I talk to them. I let them live pretty much wherever they want.

In classes, students flip out over them. I have at least taught students not to kill them and to simply put them on a piece of paper and take them outside.

chowmama

(520 posts)
14. I tend to give them a chance to go back between the walls
Sun Mar 19, 2023, 11:52 AM
Mar 2023

where their food is. If they decide to take up obvious residence in our close living quarters, I'll still try to get them outside if it's summer. If it's winter - well, they can't stay here. Not visibly within feet of us.

Once in a while, we get orb spiders outside (for some reason, in the fall). I love seeing them work on those huge webs. Last fall, there was one working between the neighbor's second story and a nearby tree. When the light was right in the early morning or evening, I could see him moving back and forth, even at that distance. He/she was a big sucker. Knowing they're harmless, I just watched. Unfortunately, my neighbor saw me watching and got rid of the web - I don't know how they even reached it. I hope the spider survived. I had to re-home one once, when he tried to block the stairway to my front porch. I think he'd been watching too many Tarzan movies; we're obviously too big to catch.

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