Is it ok to kill spiders?

[Lieju]

All this anti-spider hate in this thread confuses depresses me.

I can maybe understand getting rid of spiders that are dangerous to you, but...

Well, let's put it this way;

When I walk through one of those webs that have spiderlings in them and get them all over my face and hair; my concern is for the safety of these wonderful critters.

And they take care of mosquitos and other pests. I've been known to purposely keep free-roaming spiders in my room for that purpose.

Anything that isn't a fly or mosquito gets a pass in my book. And I like the company of an eight-legged friend.

Salticids are so cute!

It's just too bad they're all rather small, if a god of some kind exists, s/he is a jerk for not making them tarantula-sized at least.

Besides, there are no bugs they could eat in my apartment, which means they wind up taking bites on me, and those leave welts.

Spiders don't eat people.

 

[Remag]

The house spiders in my home seem to keep the fly population at bay. Might be doing something to curtail the roaches and other less desirable pests too for all I know. They apparently want nothing to do with me. I've never woken up with a spider crawling on my face or anything like that, and don't walk into cobwebs inside my house.

As far as I'm concerned, they're saving me money on pest and disease control, so they're earning their keep. I'll even go out of my way to avoid disturbing them if at all possible (See one in a sink before washing my hands? I'll go use another sink). The only ones I kill are the ones that are potentially dangerous to me (the occasional black widow that finds its way in the house) or the ones my wife stumbles upon in her study (She's not comfortable with having me try to catch them, as she's worried it will scamper off and plot it's revenge on her).

 

[Yopaz]

I'm the sort of guy who will catch a Red back in a jar and put it out side. So yeah, not recommending you do that, but try to play nice with them if they aren't a threat to you or your property.

Sounds about right. Im paranoid if i put them outside that they will just return with their friends for revenge, but thats just me being an idiot.

They'll come back and they'll bring friends.

OT: The biomass of insects is actually higher than that of any other kingdom in animals. It's fine to kill a few spiders. Personally I put them outside though

 

[ACM_Shadow]

Depends on where they are, if they are in the bathroom or my room they're dead, no questions asked.
Anywhere else they are fine. Got colonies of them living on the side of my house, and they adapt... my sister used to spray them with bug spray... they started holding their breath and playing dead.
Also have one living outside my bedside window i call Jerry. He has fun running around every couple of days.

Size wise i don't really care, i find huntsmen as large as my hand regularly inside. and i enjoy watching it disappear from the living room one night to move to the kitchen the next, etc...

The red-backs in the shed are all good too, they stay in their little area, and i occasionally look at the pretty 3D webs between working on stuff.

Waiting for the huntsmen to get bigger though (think bird eating spider size) to deal with the rats from next door.

 

[MHR]

It really goes on a case-by-case basis for me. I most often get these little daddy long legs spiders inside or tiny little brown ones. I ignore them and they usually die of starvation anyway. If I were to ever have something huge more into my house or I were to have a huge colony erupt inside, I'd remove or kill a big one and fumigate a colony. It's not worth it to be hassled so much by being freaked out just to save the little buggers.

I live in Florida and if I ever saw a black widow or brown recluse, that thing is as good as dead. I don't need that crap around me.

 

[The Heik]

So just recently I had a spider the size of a tennis ball chilling next to my toilet roll.


And i smashed him with a shoe, then felt very guilty afterwards. He didnt mean me any harm, he had no concept that i will inevitably use the toilet role, and encroach on his territory. He was an innocent, caught in the crossfire.

Theyve got their role in the ecosystem, they eat flies, I get it that their helpful but dear christ just the sight of them fills me with bloodlust. Proof to me there is no intelligent designer, otherwise theyd just be circular smiley faces with legs.

I should probably add that i live in england where there arent any venomous spiders that might kill you.


Anyway, my question is, is it right to murder spiders just because we dont like the way they look?

edit: I dont know how to add a poll to an existing thread, could anyone help me there?

I'll put it this way: There are two criterion for killing another being

1)It is trying to kill you and you have no reasonable means of avoiding the conflict

or

2)You intend to use it to sustain your life, 4eg food, clothing etc.

Anything other than that is wanton cruelty. I mean killing something just because it looks weird borders on the barbaric. Put into perspective, if somone were to do this to other people they'd be labelled as a psychopath and thrown into an asylum, or prison, or flat out executed (depending on the country).

So why is it that people don't even bat an eye at doing it to another species? Seems rather hypocritical, for if some creature were try to do this to you, then you'd be raising bloody hell about it, so what's with the free pass on non-humans?

 

[FalloutJack]

Spiders!

Okay, first? I don't know the rule of thumb. Second, there are still big spiders who are also big and harmful with venom, and because I wasn't entirely certain on what kind of spider it was, I put in the word 'may', as in there was always a chance. I didn't know it, but it was more than zero. The fact is that the statement is true in that any large spider that DOES have venom can be harmful to humans. Beyond that, I said nothing of consequence.

Also, I think we both know the distinction of what a camel spider is...is lost on those who have to deal with 'em. Amirite?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

It's perfectly OK because:

1. I can get rid of insects in my own house by myself perfectly well, thank you spiderbro. I'm not discriminating against spiders anyway. Any insect I see at all in my house will meet an untimely death by my boot.

2. For every spider you kill, there's 10 more waiting to take its place. There's no way in heck you're going to make a dent in even the local population.

3. They're hardly intelligent creatures.

 

[Broderick]

I personally love spiders. Aside from looking cute(in my opinion), the little guys are useful for killing any sort of annoying insect such as flies or mosquitos. Whenever there is one inside the house, I just put my hand down in front of it, and slowly get it to move onto it with my other hand. Then I just take them outside onto one of my plants. They are quite nice for killing insects that eat at your plants too.

As for if it is okay to kill spiders? Well that is a matter of perspective I suppose; I personally see no reason to kill them, unless they are a threat to me or my family. I however would take even a deadly spider outside rather than kill them. I am biased however as I love the little things. My parents and friends tend to call me the "spider whisperer" because of my ability to pick up a spider without pissing it off heh.

 

[Adventurer2626]

I usually try to extract them them, or evict them first. It's basically the sole reason I have/use Dixie cups. Black Widows and Brown Recluses (ones in Michigan) I hunt with extreme vengeance though. No reason to leave the actually dangerous ones around. If they get smushed on accident that's their fault. I've seen them run. They're way faster than me.

 

[scorptatious]

I don't like the idea of killing spiders, and if I see one, I try to leave it alone. But sometimes, they just end up invading my personal space.

I was taking a shower one day, and I was washing my hair, and then I felt something on my fingers, I looked and not a split second later, I flipped my shit and flung the spider onto the shower floor and I kicked water at it until it went down the drain.

And back in High School, we were doing warm ups in gym class, when I looked at my hand and saw a big ass black spider crawling in my hand and I screamed and flung it off. Whole class had a good laugh.

FUCK spiders.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

I actually keep a few spiders in my room, keeping out any pesky pests that might wander in (and since I keep a window open nearly 24/7, that's a lot). I allow them to do whatever they want, as long as they don't come to close, or stay out of sight. If they do bother me they get shown the door.

 

[Sectan]

I just put them in something and throw them into a corner. Out of sight out of mind. Since I've started doing that I haven't gotten bug bites in the house for years now...

 

[stormeris]

Theyve got their role in the ecosystem, they eat flies, I get it that their helpful but dear christ just the sight of them fills me with bloodlust. Proof to me there is no intelligent designer, otherwise theyd just be circular smiley faces with legs.

What if i told you... That there are already spiders with Smiley faces on their abdomen :/
The Hawaiian Happy Face spider

Spoiler

 

[LegendaryVKickr]

It is always ok. As an arachnophobic, I may be slightly biased when I say this, but I think it's never acceptable to let them live. Think of all those legs, crawling on you while you sleep...all those eyes watching you. There you go, now you feel disgusted and creeped out, not guilty. Imagine if you had let it live, it could have done that!!

 

[GundamSentinel]

If one assumes the human hubris that the worth of any animal is less than the worth of a human being, then maybe. I wouldn't blame you for it, people find spiders scary, it's a natural thing.

Personally, I always try to catch any animal that bothers me alive and release it somewhere out of the way. Then again, I'm rarely confronted by huge spiders where I live, so who am I to judge?

 

[Flames66]

Recently I was very stressed about something and found a maHOOsive Spider in between some clothes I was moving. As usual I tried to get cup and paper and put it outside, but I slid the cup too quickly and severed one of it's legs. I felt terrible about it. The leg is still sitting there, on my bathroom floor, as a reminder of my accidental cruelty.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

as long as it's quick, painless and thorough, it's okay, he won't have suffered.

Usually I wouldn't have a problem with spiders living in my house as long as they catch flies and musquitoes, which they suck at catching for some reason, so they don't earn their keep.

 

[Cazza]

If there was a spider the size of a giant and it saw you near it's place it would probably kill you. I guess the point here is it would then eat you which I doubt you ate it.

It's natural to protect your territory from creatures you don't like.

 

[Neonit]

I have had issue with high amount of mosquitoes. Right now i have an entire TRIBE of spiders living right by my window (on the outside). Each morning i open the window a little more (because its cold at night) and each time i see part of their nets being broken. No mosquitoes though. Its the natural, self-cleaning mosquito net. Looks nice too, when its wet.

As long as they are somewhere where i dont mind them (the dark corners of my room) i leave them be.

If they enter "my territory" i do the same most territorial animals do. Fight or flight.

Generally spiders are one of very few insects that i kinda respect, because of the mosquitoes. And im living in a student apartment, so i guess im more used to insects (nah its not that bad....) Any other insect is fair game.

Then again, if a girl starts screaming... i have to do my duty, you know?