Big, big spider

[Droopy]

Poll question: Big, big spider

We've got a spider that is about 3 inches in diameter in our basement. We've got him trapped under a paint can right now, but I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Should I:

[Guy_Montag]

1. There's good eating on them...

barbeque, then crack open the shell. Yum yum

[prole_for_peace]

2. my coworkers and such are always telling me not to kill spider...

that they eat mosquitoes and other bugs. oh yeah??? well other bugs don't freak me out near as much as nasty assed spiders.

[ChompySnack]

3. Put it outside

Slide a piece of cardboard under the can and take it out in the backyard.

You will feel better than if you ended it's life.

[molly]

4. They kill bugs

I lived in Ohio and saw some damn big spiders - they were not poisonous, so leave it alone. You probably scared it - poor thing.

Or, trap it and put it outside - that's what I used to do. I cannot stand to kill anything.

[Droopy]

13. Hey, I live in Ohio

This is the second spider I've seen in our house like that. I know their not poisonous, but I just can bear the thought that I might actually have to touch the damn thing.

I'll probably try to catch it in something and let it go outside.

[lanparty]

19. Only a few poisonous spiders in North America!!!!

The Brown Recluse is the worst. It's venom is necrotic and can lead to amputation if not treated with anti-biotics. But the brown recluse is a VERY small spider that rarely pokes it's head out. You can identify it by a violin shaped mark on it's back.

The Hobo spider lives in the west. It's about the same as the brown recluse. Again, a SMALL spider.

Black Widow - strictly a southerner. It has a bad reputation but I'd rather take a widow bite than a recluse bite.

In general, a bigger spider is probably not toxic to humans. The tarantulla for all it's largesse, is non toxic to humans.

Leave the spider alone. If it's living in your house, that means it has something to eat. That means it's killing and eating bugs for you. The truth is that there are probably tens of thousand of VERY SMALL spiders living in your house. Most are too small too even see. They too, are eating itty bitty insects and doing no harm to you.

[XNASA]

5. It's very bad karma to kill a spider.

Spiders are very beneficial. Let him live.

[supernova]

6. Take it outside

gently shove a piece of cardboard under the paint can, then pick the whole thing up and take it outside.

Take the spider away from the house and let him go.

[Ediacara]

7. Just be glad it's not a spider relative

like a scorpion


or horseshoe crab


Scorpions, of course, are very poisinous, and horseshoe crabs, well just plain creepy.

ON EDIT: for the record I say try to get him outside so he can continue his job of spidering.

[supernova]

9. That second pic is NOT

real?!

[Ediacara]

11. I highly doubt it's real :-)

But it did show up on the first page of a google image search :-)

[molly]

14. Which came first - the spider or the crustacean?

think about that the next time you have seafood.

[Ediacara]

16. Crustaceans

In a broad sense..... But all arthropod groups are at least as old as the Cambrian. The Insect/centipede group diverged first from the other arthropods known as schizoramians, then crustaceans diverged from the remaining arthropods known as arachnomorphs. Arachnomorphs are split into two lineages, trilobites and chelicerates. Horseshoe crabs diverged from the landliving chelicerates a long long time ago, and the land living chelicerates are spiders, ticks, and scorpions.

So ya, crustaceans as a group are older than spiders, but spiders aren't really recent either :-)

[molly]

17. Oh boy - too many big words!

I'll have to make myself a chart!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

23. Today is Big Word Day at DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1271534

[Ediacara]

25. k :-)

--1--Uniramia (insects, myriapods)
...`--2--Crustacea
.......`--3--Trilobita
...........`--4--Xiphisurida (horseshoe crabs)
...............`--Spiders + Ticks + Scorpions

Node 1 is Arthropoda
Node 2 is Schizoramia
Node 3 is Arachnamorpha
Node 4 is Chelicerata

[proud patriot]

8. If it's chunky it must go

I allow Daddy long legs to reside with us
in our home , but not the chunky ones .

I like my garden spiders and outside spiders
and leave them be .

[ZenLefty]

10. They are very beneficial.

Let him live, or catch him and turn him outside. They kill all sorts of pests.

[lanparty]

20. Winged insects ...

... they're just plain annoying. But I leave em be if they're not bugging me.

I've taught my dog to hunt flies in the house. A dogs life is pretty boring. He has to have SOMETHING to do. If it was practical to have a house mantis to catch those winged pests, I think I would.

I remember having a BIG wolf spider that would cross the floor at a particular time every night. You could almost set a clock by the thing. It stayed under the furniture during the day, and that was "just fine" in my book.

[Mrs. Venation]

24. My Dog

Buddy, the wonder dog, was afraid of flies. One day, he tried and tried to catch a fly, but he couldn't. I was reading, and all 55 pounds of Buddy jumped up on my lap. I kept telling him to get down, but he wouldn't. Finally, I sort of oozed him off of me, and he jumped right back up. He was so afraid his teeth were chattering. I believe he convinced himself that the fly was an evil demon from hell.

He was afraid of flies until the day he died. We could always tell if a fly had come into the house because Buddy acted so weird and afraid.

That old dog gave us so much to laugh about; I miss him every day.

[jukes]

12. very bad form

to kill ANYthing non-bipedal, except to end it's suffering. & i consider wings to be peds, just to keep consistency.




most bipeds aren't worth a bullet.

[GregW]

15. I assume it's an UPENDED EMPTY pant can?

If not, full gallon cans dropped on 3" spiders is OK in my book ... survival of the fittest, top of the food chain and all that.

[Droopy]

18. Well I got it outside

Took a piece of junk mail (I knew that stuff was good for something) and slid it under it and let it go outside. You can bet I was in a hurry to get that thing away from me.

[lanparty]

21. Just remember ...

There are probably spiders living on your skin as you speak. They're literally all over the place!!!!

Have fun scratching ;-) !!!!!!!

[Lestat]

22. Squish the mofo!

I hate spiders! They all deserve to diiiiiiiiiiiie!

[phillybri]

26. Kill that motherfucker...

Those things scare the holy shit out of me...:scared: