Slight moral dilemma - Would YOU kill this spider?

[Minimus]

I hate killing bugs and I never use pesticides. If a bug comes into the house I usually try to catch it and let it go outside. A huge spider showed up at my back door yesterday and is giving me the heebie jeebies. I had to use the front door today.

I researched and discovered it is a GOLDEN SILK SPIDER (sometimes called banana spiders).

Female Golden Silk (Banana) spiders are the largest non tarantula spiders in North America. A single banana spider can place a web across a 12 foot wide trail overnight. The bright yellow web, is usually about 6 - 9 feet above the ground and usually has an area from 8 to 36 square feet.

Picture of a female:




Picture of male and female:



I know this probably seems silly to some, but I am seriously frightened to walk by her.

WWDD - What would DUers do? Would you kill it or just continue to inconveniently use the front door?

[huskerlaw]

1. Hell yes, I'd kill it!

With a large can of RAID, standing as far away from it as possible.

That thing is fucking SCARY. :scared:

[VLC]

24. That "fucking scary thing" is 3 cm long.

[Maine-ah]

42. I'm with you

except I'd make my husband do it. :scared:

[lost-in-nj]

2. um YEAH

sitting here creeping out from the pictures


ugh


lost

[Parche]

11. Nice Web Of Deceit Condoloser Rice-A-Roni

I would take the spider and mail it to New Jersey, and then lose it somewhere...........:bounce:

:hi:

found

[Richard Steele]

3. No. Killing a spider is serious bad hoodoo.

Catch her in a can and take her elsewhere if she
bothers you that much.

[Minimus]

7. I'm too scared to get close enough to catch her.

[Richard Steele]

25. Well, can't you get someone else to do it?

Or at least try using a broom to gently pull her web down
without harming her. That may encourage her to move along,
y'know?

Bear in mind, those aren't a "jumping" spider; she CANNOT
come off of that web sideways and land on you. If she sees
a broom slowly approaching slowly, she's gonna drop to the
ground and run AWAY from you.

[Minimus]

28. Knowing she won't jump eases my anxiety a little.

If she is still here tomorrow during daylight I think I will ask (beg) a neighbor to try moving her with a broom.

[Deja Q]

4. Some observations

1. The male is smaller. I'd hate to fathom what she does to him during and/or after nookie.
2. Is either of them poisonous?
3. That's a big web.
4. Are you sure you don't want to get a can of Raid?
5. How about a RAID 5 disk array and throw the drives at the spiders, crushing them instead?
6. She has big eyes. I wouldn't fondle them.
7. Make them your pets and hand-feed them small insects. Maybe they'll see you as a friend and let you live.
8. Sign them up for "The Tonight Show". Jay Leno could probably use a boost in his guest star clientèle.
9. Rip off the legs and use them as miniature pipe cleaners.
10. Kick me for making such a gaggle of silly statements.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

5. I would try to capture and relocate it.........

I'm not a huge spider fan, but I recognize the pest-killing benefits of having spiders around the house.

[LaurenG]

13. I agree, just get a coffee can and capture her and take her outside.

:)

[Minimus]

26. Sorry if I wasn't clear. She is outside at my back door. The web goes

from a porch pole to the side of my house.

[Corgigal]

6. go adopt a cat or two

Any insect who enters my house is doomed. My 5 cats just love to say HI but I get to clean up the left overs in the am. Not a bad trade.

[ruiner4u]

8. *I* wouldn't kill it...

Im yell for my roommate to kill it for me..

[Taverner]

9. They're beautiful!

I wouldn't get near it, but it looks like she is about to mate. That's why the guy is there. They will consummate their love and she will return his affection by eating him alive. Then she will have eggs - lots of them.

I can't recommend the use of Raid, since that stuff is so toxic. But I would not want that spider seeding my house. No matter how elegant she is.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. She's beautiful! Don't kill her!

She'll probably be gone tomorrow; but if she's still freaking you out, catch her in a butterfly net, and let her go in your garden. Your plants will thank you for it. And don't worry about destroying the web...She'll build another. :hi:

[Minimus]

14. She showed up yesterday and was still here this morning .

I thought she would leave but she was in the same area when I got home from work this evening. I think she likes my back door.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Do you leave a light on back there at night?

Spiders like to hang out on my front porch, because I leave the light on, which attracts all sorts of yummy spider treats.

[Minimus]

30. Yes, I normally leave the light on but will turn it off tonight.

I was just surprised she was still here when I got home this evening. She was here this morning at 9:30 and it was still light out this evening so she seems like the area during daytime too.

[graywarrior]

12. Only if it had a face like

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. If I found a spider that looked like that...

I'd find a granddaddy long legs to feed it to.

[mainegreen]

15. From wikipedia: Some "Golden silk orb-weavers" display an almost manic fear of cockroaches.

it's got good taste!
Don't kill it!

[Minimus]

21. I have a manic fear of this spider.

I try to tell myself that it will not bother me but I just can't make myself walk past it.

[Critters2]

34. Get a cockroach and hold it up to her.

That'll teach her to build a web at your backdoor!

[VLC]

16. Why are you making this so hard? It's easy.

1. Just leave it alone until it goes away on its own, which should not take long.

2. If like most humans that is too much trouble for you, or you are finding yourself wanting to kill it for no reason like the ridiculous posters above, do this:

Take the broom. Put it under the spider gently until you have the spider on the broom. Walk slowly to the far end of your yard and put the broom down. Leave it there until the spider goes away on its own.

I think there's something seriously wrong with people whose first instinct is to KILL KILL KILL. Yes, even a spider. It's completely unnecessary and highly immature.

[Minimus]

23. I hate to kill anything and I would actually have to get someone else to do away with this spider.

It is seriously causing me anxiety.

I guess I could ask a neighbor to do the broom thing. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Shakespeare]

29. I don't care what you do with it, just get it the fuck away from ME.

I love all these suggestions "oh, put it gently on the end of a broom, and walk slowly..."

Are. You. Effing. KIDDING ME?!

Oh, yeah. Like I'm going to be able to scoop it up and do anything calmly with it running around on the end of a stick I'M STILL HOLDING ONTO. Freak-out city.

[Minimus]

31. If I tried to do it I too would freak out and the spider would probably end up in my hair.

That is just one of my fears.

[Shakespeare]

32. And then it will crawl into your bed.

It's a profound phobia. I've been terrified of them as far back as even my parents can remember.

Funny, though, I love every other kind of critter, no matter how creepy or crawly.

[VLC]

37. Well then get someone else to do it. That's usually easy too.

I understand the freaking out.

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. kill it? no. relocate it? yes.

Put it near some bushes or something.

[Throd]

19. Put it in a jar and release it someplace safe.

[applegrove]

22. I would be terrified to walk by her too. I hate killing spiders on the whole.

Found one the other night in my apartment and just let her go after destroying the start of her web. Now I wonder if I'll be seeing many of her cousins in the weeks to come. I should have captured her and let her go outside. Dam I regret it.

But that thing you have outside your house... I would move.

[SmokingJacket]

27. Use the front door! She eats bugs, right? nt

[Flaxbee]

33. No. Don't kill her

Spiders do AMAZING work keeping down the population of nasties like mosquitos, flies, etc.

If you need to, relocate her. Or just use the front door for a while. She won't be there through winter, most likely.

[pokerfan]

35. What do you do when a mosquito lands you

and starts doing her thing? Just curious because I fucking hate mosquitoes.

[Minimus]

36. You got me. I guess I do kill some insects. I usually slap at the area and

the skeeter ends up dead.

[pokerfan]

41. Spiders are cool

though I do tend to kill any brown recluse I stumble across.

[jmowreader]

51. Fun with skeeters

Next time a skeeter bites you on the arm, don't slap it. Instead, tense your muscles.

This does two things, both (in the viewpoint of the skeeter) bad: it traps her little proboscis so she can't leave, and it increases bloodflow into the skeeter.

End result: the skeeter explodes in front of your very eyes. Great entertainment.

[Mutley]

38. Okay, here's what I'd do:

* Get a broom or something really long.
* Catch the spider in the bristles and run many yards away from the house.
* Be sure it isn't climbing up the handle towards you while you run.
* Shake the spider onto the ground and haul ass back to the house.
* Prepare to explain to the neighbors that you haven't lost your mind.

I try to kill spiders only if they're poisonous, or touching me. That doesn't account for moments of panic though.

[crim son]

39. I wouldn't kill it, but I'd destroy its web

and try to get it to move elsewhere, by carrying it away on a stick or a piece of cardboard or something. I try not to kill spiders unless they actually climb into bed with me, or there is no other possible way to handle their horribleness. :scared: Yes, I find them horrible.

[Art_from_Ark]

40. If it was inside my house, damn right I'd kill it

I've had too many close calls with brown recluses to be nicey nicey with spiders in my house.

Outside the house, I'd might try to brush it away from the house with a broom. Might.

[Fire Walk With Me]

43. I'd be more afraid of the insects a spider that large knows must be lurking around.

[stuntcat]

44. no, she's a good spider!

I wouldn't want to pet her or hold her but I'd be excited to have one that big. That's a fancy spider there!

I set a BIG one loose earlier tonight, not as big as that but still real large. I trapped it in my basement shower a couple of weeks ago and I've been keeping it in the kitchen in an old jug and feeding it bugs that I catch :headbang: But I haven't been able to find a bug the last couple of days and I was afraid Spidey would starve so I set him free on the back porch.

[noamnety]

45. Try hanging some eucalyptus near her

Spiders don't like the smell of it. It's natural, not like Raid, it won't kill her, but it may send her looking for a new home.

[undeterred]

46. Does the spider do anything beneficial for you like trap mosquitoes?

If it does, then don't kill it. If mosquitoes are not a problem and it grosses you out to have it near the house, kill it.

I spent a summer living in Central Africa. We didn't have insecticides. I lived in a house, but we had dirt floors, and insects came in routinely, including big hairy spiders. The people I lived with basically taught me not to waste my time getting upset about the harmless, good spiders even if they were big and hairy and ugly- because they made webs and got rid of mosquitoes.

It was a great achievement when I could finally look at one of them and have a positive reaction. They also taught me which ones were bad (they might give you a terrible bite) and how to kill it and get rid of it. This kind of thing can be a huge emotional drain but it is possible to overcome it... I've also been to South America for 10 days... but I don't think I could ever get used to leeches.

[Kutjara]

47. My wife is seriously arachnophobic, but she...

...has just told me she wouldn't kill anything so beautiful. Instead, she'd make me relocate it.

[jobycom]

48. I would NOT! Here's a suggested tactic.

It took me decades to cure my arachnaphobia after meeting one of them puppies. I was riding my motorcycle down a trail. I had a friend on the back. I was twelve or so, probably, maybe a little older. I ran smack dab into one of those, stretched completely across my trail. Dude suckered right across my face! I started screaming, bringing beastie half into my lips. My friend grabbed it off me and smushed it. Took me ten minutes to mellow enough to ride the bike again, and I was terrified of any size spiders until my thirties, when I forced myself to conquer it--starting with little tiny spiders hiding in corners of the room.

Even then I wouldn't have killed it.

Here's a tactic that keeps you out of touch with it. Get some light objects you can throw. Pinecones work if you live around them, or small sticks. Throw one through the web--not close enough to hit the spider or drag it down. Also, stand on the porch so the objects go away from the house. :) Put a couple of holes in the web, it should move on. If you want to make really sure, take out a couple of its supports. Then run inside, lock the doors, and marvel at your own bravery.

Should be gone the next morning. If not, rinse and repeat.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

49. Aw, cripes. You're in NC? Me too...

and I DO NOT like that thing!! I don't think I'd kill it, but I'd do everything I could to get it away from my home. Perhaps I've spent too much time on brown recluse bite sites, but I'm no fan of spiders. Rational or not.

[jgraz]

50. She's beautiful. Please don't kill her

There are so many safe and non-lethal methods for getting rid of spiders. They're pretty easy to capture and release far away from where you are.

[Seabiscuit]

52. It looks like that Amazon killer spider in the movie "Arachnophobia".

I'd hire John Goodman to kill it.

[candycom]

53. Here is some more info.

http://frank.itlab.us/nephila/

This website seemed pretty informative. It says that they are not poisenous. I have never seen a spider like that before in my life. I would feel bad killing it because it is so unique. Maybe you should have someone come and collect it for you and let it off somewhere else. I know where you are coming from though. I HATE spiders! If they are in my house, they're going. It usually takes me about 10 min to actually get up the nerve to kill them though because I dont like getting close to them. Then when they crawl it creeps me out! Good luck with that!!

[Akoto]

54. Golden silk spiders are harmless. Let it be.

They're non-aggressive, and their bite is milder than a bee sting, so sayeth the wise Google.

[Jamastiene]

55. OMG, it's got pom poms on its legs like a poodle with

a Palm Springs haircut. Wow, I've never seen one of those.

You could take a stick and coax it onto that (or just get its web and let it dangle) and move it far far away from your door. :P

[bridgit]

56. omg!! the raspberry beret brigade is so gonna chastise you for not being...

lib/pro enough, tsk-tsk you're in such big major trouble :hide:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

57. It's a beautiful, harmless creature.

But what do I know? I even think Black Widows are cool (and yes, I've seen MANY Widows up close and personal). They have one rule: Leave me alone and I'll do the same for you.

I've seen dozens, and I've never been bitten once.

[lligrd]

58. Why Would You Even Consider Killing Something

that poses no danger to you? Read up on it and enjoy it. If the web is a nuisance tear it down and keep doing so until the spider gives up and moves.

[ashling]

59. Spider porn

[orleans]

60. i wouldn't want it coming into my house, that's for sure.

(spider, meet flying shoe)?

[deucemagnet]

61. Hell no! I'd let it be, take some pictures, and possibly

hug it and stroke it and name it George. Well, maybe not that last part, but that's a beautiful animal!

[billyskank]

62. I would take up my flute and attract it away

like the Pied Piper of Hamlyn.

Swatting all the kids away is a pain in the ass, though.

[Inchworm]

63. Pay the neighbor kid $5 to move it for you

Just tell her/him you don't want it killed. :D

:hi:

[Bzzzz]

64. I HATE spiders...

I trap them under the bathroom plunger for my husband to kill when he gets home...unless they're already dead from smothering under the plunger;-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

65. I scoop spiders onto a garden spade, then run like heck to their new home

[RebelOne]

66. I am an animal rights advocate, but I kill ALL bugs! n/t