Is it ok to kill spiders?

[teqrevisited]

I'd like to reiterate a previous statement I made about spiders:
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Fuck spiders. Fuck them and the way they move their legs, fuck their ability to multiply by the million and fuck their eight, beady little black eyes that offer unblinking, soulless glimpses of the blackest depths of hell itself.
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I wouldn't kill them if they didn't scare the shit out of me. Once I had one disappear under my bed the night before an interview. I spent an hour looking for the bloody thing before I gave up and went downstairs to sleep on the sofa.

 

[jurnag12]

On a conceptual level, I have nothing against spiders. They're a lot better to have than not, since they keep other crap away, and they generally keep to themselves. I'd probably be the kind of guy that puts them outside whenever he finds them.

However, this is prevented by...

Arachnophobia. Which I've got so bad that any spider I see I either run away from or try to kill with the most excessive use of force possibly, usually before I realize it. I am not joking in the slightest when I say that I was once walking through my room, saw a rather big spider on the wall, and, out of reflex, threw my goddamn desk chair at it.
The very sight of them gives me nightmares, to the point that even looking at the spider-bro comics higher up the page made me curl up into a ball on my chair and inspect every corner of the room from my chair to make sure no spiders are present.

I'm pretty sure me and spiders could be pretty good friends, but every time I see one my goddamn ancestral memories kick in and make me murder all arthropods in the vicinity or just get the fuck out of there.

 

[lunavixen]

Considering my phobia of spiders, they must die or I can't sleep and it causes me a panic attack to boot... Especially sucks for me considering I live in Australia where a lot of the venemous ones live T_T. If they're out of sight, they can stay in the house, but as soon as i've seen one, it has to die or I severely panic.

We've had spiders the size of dinner plates you know... just so you know...

 

[siomasm]

Got no love for the loathsome critters, except for maybe some of the smaller, fuzzier jumping variety.
"What if I told you, there are more bugs to eat outside my house than in?" Morphious meme I saw comes to mind. Ultimately if the tables were turned, they would undoubtedly kill me, being the savage little killing machines that they are. They go beyond being creepy in mere appearance when you really consider the horror of any creature they consume through the methods they use.

-shivers-

No reason not to protect your territory. Wouldn't life be much better if spiders were removed from the eco-system and replaced with...hell I don't know. Tree frogs? Geckos? Finches?

 

[bojackx]

I like spiders; they're much easier to catch than flies and they don't bite unless you're seriously posing a threat.

If I'm hanging out in my room and I see a spider, that guy is being set free outside, even if he's running about everywhere so instead of opening my window behind my blinds and risking him crawling under my bed as I go to release him, I go all the way downstairs to let him out the door.

I live in England and anyone who's shit scared of spiders here really needs to man up.

 

[Scappo]

What most people don't know is that spiders are actually the trapped souls of all those who have murdered, raped and tortured people in the past. It's the universe's way of ensuring they'll suffer for an extended period of time.

It is absolutely right, and just, to kill spiders without pain, fear, or regret. The universe will reward you handsomely for carrying out the death sentence for it .

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

If there's a fucking black widow scuttling around your house, it probably is a threat to you. Daddy long legs cant bite you and will eat any other bugs that happen to show up in your house so I actually let those stick around. Your call really what's right and wrong.

 

[piinyouri]

Spoiler

Of course it's not okay to kill them, you unfeeling brutes! Spiderbros have your back! They're just trying to help you!

Seriously though, fuck spiders.

Oh my god...that is...that made me laugh. And I'm arachnophobic, have no remorse for anything that buzzes, crawls or slithers, and have no compunctions over killing anything that invades my personal sacred space, but that was great.

The line with furniture polish really got me. Someone certainly knows what they are talking about. (I've used hairspray, febreeze, anything I can spray I figure if I coat something in it it will die eventually.

My name is pi and I am going to insect hell.

 

[freedash22]

No. It is not okay to kill spiders just because they look scary (unless they are poisonous). I live in the Philippines and there is a Huntsman Spider living in the house and that critter is almost is as big as my hand. I leave it alone. It used to freak me out but I trained myself to tolerate it because I knew it was the only way. I knew it would never harm me. It would show up in unexpected places and even in the bathroom, kitchen or closet at night. Every time I saw that thing grabbing an insect kill, it felt good.

I would kill cockroaches and other bugs but I leave spiders alone because they hunt down and eat the more dangerous insects like mosquitoes and cockroaches which carry diseases and parasites. They also serve as a deterrent to termites and ants. And they'll protect you for free. I don't need harmful insecticides anymore as they keep the biodiversity of the house to a minimum.

I really think house spiders deserve a chance.

 

[EHKOS]

Usually I'll let them go about their business and never see them again. I also have gnats, and they only swarm me at certain times in certain areas of my apartment, so I let them be. I have a few rules, to kill a spider/insect it must be my definition of large, it must be on the wall or floor, and it must gross me out. Any two out of three spells their death. My dad once had to kill a huge cockroach with a screwdriver.

 

[Legion]

I don't generally agree with it, and wish people wouldn't do it. I don't like spiders either, but I try and avoid harming them whenever possible. I don't judge people too harshly if they do, because some people are genuinely afraid of them and I can understand why somebody might react like that.

I think it is much better to simply pick them up using something like a rolled up paper/magazine and let them outside.

If it is venomous like in other countries or else harmful I can understand it a lot more. I have no objection to killing wasps, gnats or flies for example.

 

[irok]

I say yes, because the last time I killed one it was because I was bare foot in my bedroom and one bit me, it hurt and so I stomped the crap out of it in a fit of rage, hurt for a bit but I think the copious amount of stomping was probably more to blame then the spider itself.

I personally have no problem with spiders in general , except for the fact every time I see one its more of a eventually they will do something to incur my wrath so we might as well get it over with quickly, and when I kill them I don't want it to be a slow death from nerve gases so much as instantly removed from existence by the finger of god and that's all the mercy I've got.

 

[generals3]

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?

Thing is, while the spiders may not be venomous they can still bite (which is harmless but annoying). For me it's simple, a spider inside the house = dead. Except those house spiders (tiny body and long legs) because they don't look as disgusting and tend to just chill around.

 

[stormeris]

Except those house spiders (tiny body and long legs) because they don't look as disgusting and tend to just chill around.

If by that you mean a harvestman, or Daddy Long-legs as they are usually called. Well, they're not even spiders actually. They're opiliones, they're arachnids, but are COMPLETELY, 100% harmless, they have NO venom at all. They don't even have fangs like the spiders, their 'fangs'are actually grasping claws

 

[Alcamonic]

Spiders are total bros. They're just like me, somewhat introvert and kill bugs (although I don't eat the bugs, well maybe in my sleep).
But if they go beyond a certain size or look threatening I will capture them and "set them free" (aka throw them outside to die in the cold... OH GOD I'M A MONSTER!).

General rule of thumb, larger leg-span than 2 cm = bye bye.

I will edit in Daddy longlegs (they're called Harvestmen? what the fuck?), they're total bros and I do for some reason express no fear towards them. I don't kill/remove them regardless of size, but if they become larger than a cat we will need to have a talk.

 

[NathLines]

Kill spiders? I get annoying-ass bugs in my room all the time. I'd much rather have 1 completely silent spider in my room than a bunch of wasps, loud-ass flies, big-ass moths and giant-ass hornets that sound like small helicopters.

If I find one in my room I usually try to feed it. If I find one in my bathtub, I extract him and put that soldier back in the field.

Also, I think I became kind of biased when I decided to read through all of the Spiderman comics.

 

[ISearchForTraps]

Spiders kill flies and other insects, so it's important to not kill them. If it's a nuisance, just put it outside, MOST Spiders are harmless anyway.

 

[DSK-]

This made me remember watching this last year, still makes me laugh:


OP: I don't mind spiders, but I hate them being in my room. Anywhere is fine, bar my room.

 

[captainballsack]

Is it human? No? Then I'll kill it because it suits me. My ancestors didn't spend 20,000 years struggling their way up to the top of the food chain for me to pussy out about killing something that could threaten me.

One could say that you're a pussy for being so afraid of something unbelievably smaller than you are. Last time I checked, it took a lot more courage to pick up a spider and place him outside.

Of course, I don't do that though; I scream and kill them because, yes, I am a complete baby when it comes to spiders.

 

[senobit]

I catch spiders and let them go - same as bees.

Wasps, flys, slugs(fuck knows where there coming from - I live in a 4th floor flat) and ants all get killed