Arachnophobia can eclipse our ability to feel compassion
October 6, 2021 11:56 PM Subscribe
Why so many of us are casual spider-murderers - "The moment we sense the pitter-patter of their tiny feet across the living room floor, or catch a glimpse of movement in the corner of an eye as they abseil down from the ceiling, they're likely to end up squashed, poisoned, vacuumed up or simply flushed away from our homes. Why do many of us kill spiders so casually, swatting out their lives with our god-like power, almost like it's a reflex?" (via)
As the ecologist Stephen Kellert wrote in his book Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia In Human Evolution And Development, "...perhaps the most disturbing, these creatures [insects, spiders and other invertebrates] appear to lack a mental life". He explains that, to us, they don't seem to experience human emotions – it's as though their own minds are irrelevant to their existence. (Though of course, this is an illusion.)also btw...
All this means that it's possible to squash a spider without receiving any feedback whatsoever – and unless your target runs away or the gruesome task is incomplete, there aren't many signals that you're doing something unpleasant.
However, this is only true when they're small – and many people struggle to kill larger ones.
"Here we have huntsmans, which are these massive spiders like this big," says Greg Neely, demonstrating around six inches (15cm). "But here people don't kill them, they're our friends. You might try to shoo one out of the house, but you wouldn't murder it," says Neely, professor of functional genomics at the University of Sydney, where he studies pain in fruit flies, among other animals.
Lockwood can relate to this. "The same thing can be true of some very large cockroaches – my wife was pretty much normally averse to insects, but she would not, and I know others that do not like to, step on a cockroach because they make that crunch," he says, explaining that – many years ago – his wife would catch the insects under yoghurt pots for him to despatch when he got home. "It was like a little death row," he says.
"There's something about crushing another being that we don't have a big problem with until we get some sort of sensory signal, which says that this is an actual killing or this is violence," says Lockwood.
- What we do and don't know about kindness - "In recent years, psychologists have gained a deeper understanding of human kindness and its benefits, but as Claudia Hammond writes, there's still so much to explore."
- Huntsman spider nest discovery reveals arachnid's unusual family ties - "While some boxes had become homes for possums, one box was full of dozens of huntsman spiders, all believed to belong to one family... 'A single adult female lays eggs and the successive generations of siblings help each other out and share prey items.'"
Spiders and really neat. I still recoil and react in fear of them when they show up but usually that reaction passes and I can spend a couple moments looking at them.
I try to leave them be or move them gently elsewhere if they are in my way. I really don't like to harm them.
My spouse used to kill them but stopped. I never asked her not to but I think my not hurting them has rubbed off on her.
posted by Hicksu at 12:32 AM on October 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
I try to leave them be or move them gently elsewhere if they are in my way. I really don't like to harm them.
My spouse used to kill them but stopped. I never asked her not to but I think my not hurting them has rubbed off on her.
posted by Hicksu at 12:32 AM on October 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
If they're not hurting me I don't hurt them.
This awkward dancer video is the latest one from my desk.
At the end you can see his quiet protest of injustice against arachnids and his silent acceptance that it will never change.
posted by bendy at 12:41 AM on October 7, 2021 [14 favorites]
This awkward dancer video is the latest one from my desk.
At the end you can see his quiet protest of injustice against arachnids and his silent acceptance that it will never change.
posted by bendy at 12:41 AM on October 7, 2021 [14 favorites]
A few spiders or other creatures that eat bugs I just leave alone or take outside unless they are poisonous. At some point when they become numerous enough to be a problem a switch flips in my head and I turn into a monster.
The exceptions are houseflies and german cockroaches. Flies make me irrationally angry and cockroaches will turn into a serious problem way too fast to give them any quarter whatsoever.
posted by wierdo at 12:42 AM on October 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
The exceptions are houseflies and german cockroaches. Flies make me irrationally angry and cockroaches will turn into a serious problem way too fast to give them any quarter whatsoever.
posted by wierdo at 12:42 AM on October 7, 2021 [7 favorites]
The exceptions are houseflies and german cockroaches. Flies make me irrationally angry and cockroaches will turn into a serious problem way too fast to give them any quarter whatsoever.
That's my reaction exactly. I might move a spider or other insect out of my apartment or wherever, but I can't abide flies at all and a cockroach is just a bigger problem waiting to happen.
I think the idea that people feel spiders lacking a mental life are why they squash them might not be entirely accurate, I find a lot of people see them as actively malign, as if they had an intent to harm, and that implies some notion of at least limited mental capability different than ants for example.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
That's my reaction exactly. I might move a spider or other insect out of my apartment or wherever, but I can't abide flies at all and a cockroach is just a bigger problem waiting to happen.
I think the idea that people feel spiders lacking a mental life are why they squash them might not be entirely accurate, I find a lot of people see them as actively malign, as if they had an intent to harm, and that implies some notion of at least limited mental capability different than ants for example.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [10 favorites]
I think there are two things going on here.
1) people perceive things like spiders, flies, small insects to essentially have no consciousness, so therefore it is not immoral to kill them. They're considered more like tiny robots than "creatures".
2) it is considered acceptable to kill something that means us harm. It's ok to trap rats and mice in the house, poison mosquitos and bed bugs, dangerous dogs get put down. Now, of course, most spiders are not in fact dangerous! But emotional harm can be a kind of harm, and if you are terrified of spiders, having one living in your bedroom can feel harmful to you. I say this as someone with a phobia of spiders who does, nonetheless, carefully put them all outside without hurting them. Those giant house spiders are not, exactly, harmless to me, even if they may not do me physical harm.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
1) people perceive things like spiders, flies, small insects to essentially have no consciousness, so therefore it is not immoral to kill them. They're considered more like tiny robots than "creatures".
2) it is considered acceptable to kill something that means us harm. It's ok to trap rats and mice in the house, poison mosquitos and bed bugs, dangerous dogs get put down. Now, of course, most spiders are not in fact dangerous! But emotional harm can be a kind of harm, and if you are terrified of spiders, having one living in your bedroom can feel harmful to you. I say this as someone with a phobia of spiders who does, nonetheless, carefully put them all outside without hurting them. Those giant house spiders are not, exactly, harmless to me, even if they may not do me physical harm.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
Sometimes superstitions are based on rational thinking. For example, walking under a ladder? Really dumb! So if you make it a spooky reason, maybe folks will take heed.
My grandmother was adamant that (admittedly among many other, less reasonable things) killing spiders brought bad luck, specifically that it would cause it to rain on an otherwise sunny day. Drilled into me as a child, I still make sure to never kill them. Plus, they're wondrous to look at! Love our little spider flatmates.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:38 AM on October 7, 2021 [13 favorites]
My grandmother was adamant that (admittedly among many other, less reasonable things) killing spiders brought bad luck, specifically that it would cause it to rain on an otherwise sunny day. Drilled into me as a child, I still make sure to never kill them. Plus, they're wondrous to look at! Love our little spider flatmates.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:38 AM on October 7, 2021 [13 favorites]
it is considered acceptable to kill something that means us harm
I think the article is on point talking about the sense of surprise, inability to control and fear of "alien" beings in shaping reactions and how that extends beyond spider-world. Some good stuff there.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I think the article is on point talking about the sense of surprise, inability to control and fear of "alien" beings in shaping reactions and how that extends beyond spider-world. Some good stuff there.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
My spouse has a fear of spiders but knows I won’t generally* kill them. She calls me in to put them outside with the cup-and-paper method. If she doesn’t notice, I’m happy to see a small web or two that’s catching fruit flies.
*I did find a black widow in our woodpile yesterday which did not survive our meeting. I generally don’t kill bugs, but sorry, mosquitos get the beatdown.
posted by transient at 2:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
*I did find a black widow in our woodpile yesterday which did not survive our meeting. I generally don’t kill bugs, but sorry, mosquitos get the beatdown.
posted by transient at 2:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I leave all bugs be unless they are right up in my vicinity, like in my sink while I am using it. Then I will drown them and I don't feel bad about it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:06 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:06 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I read somewhere that we all swallow several spiders a year during our sleep. I think that was when I went back to evicting them whenever possible. But if they run around my feet in the shower... well, I'm sorry, you know what happens.
posted by Atom Collection at 2:08 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by Atom Collection at 2:08 AM on October 7, 2021
Cockroaches, rats, bats, mosquitos, sharks, snakes, any woodland critter that can carry rabies, die, Die, DIE, but I'm cool with spiders. I think they're pretty awesome.
posted by Beholder at 2:24 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by Beholder at 2:24 AM on October 7, 2021
I love spiders -- they eat the other guys I like much less! My town is just crawling with them this summer and they have made my front porch look all witchy. A veritable orb-weaver family reunion, and some of those funnel-web spiders too. I clean the webs occasionally, but I try to leave the animals alone.
I saw a huntsman once in a kitchen, when I went to Sydney with my family. Normally I'm not really afraid of spiders unless they're crawling on me, but I didn't know what this fella was, whether it might be one of Australia's famous poisonous creatures, and I had a small child with me. I alerted my mother-in-law to its presence and we dithered about whether to kill it. By the time we got up the nerve to try, it had wised up and fled. Once I was able to look it up, I was glad we'd left it alone. The encounter is a memorable moment from my trip there.
Mosquitoes in the house, on the other hand: those I kill with no regrets.
posted by eirias at 2:38 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
I saw a huntsman once in a kitchen, when I went to Sydney with my family. Normally I'm not really afraid of spiders unless they're crawling on me, but I didn't know what this fella was, whether it might be one of Australia's famous poisonous creatures, and I had a small child with me. I alerted my mother-in-law to its presence and we dithered about whether to kill it. By the time we got up the nerve to try, it had wised up and fled. Once I was able to look it up, I was glad we'd left it alone. The encounter is a memorable moment from my trip there.
Mosquitoes in the house, on the other hand: those I kill with no regrets.
posted by eirias at 2:38 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
Spiders started to alarm me late in life (50s), not because of any negative experience I can recall, but I think because I developed some (more) autoimmune problems — and I started to have a fear of heights at the same time — which makes me think fear of spiders is probably built in.
Their bites have a reputation of being able to cause miscarriages, which would account for that, perhaps, but I don’t have a definitive source to point to.
posted by jamjam at 2:45 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Their bites have a reputation of being able to cause miscarriages, which would account for that, perhaps, but I don’t have a definitive source to point to.
posted by jamjam at 2:45 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
But they, or some subset of them, do demonstrably mean me harm. Every fall and winter I get several big spider bites, presumably in my sleep. I still don’t usually kill them unless they’re especially bitey-looking, but that’s just because I’m lazy.
posted by HotToddy at 2:54 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by HotToddy at 2:54 AM on October 7, 2021
In my youngest days, I remember killing insects as a matter of course - - eg: stepping on every ant I saw, swatting bumble bees out of the air hard onto the ground. It was just what everyone did back in the day.
When I arrived at adulthood though, I made a major change in policy. I tried my best to not knowingly kill anything (other than what was required for my survival as an omnivore mammal) - - eg: I did not kill any mosquitos for a 30 year long period. This went along with my belief that I received far fewer mosquito bites because of the positive energy I was generating towards them.
However in recent years with the increase in West Nile virus from mosquitoes and Lyme disease from ticks, I have reversed my long standing policy. I am now comfortable killing any insects that attempt to bite me or my family.
Additionally, I now also feel free to kill any insects that cause damage to my dwelling (such as carpenter ants) or to my belongings (like moths that eat clothing). I do make a general exception for the large predator insects that live inside such as spiders and centipedes for the service they provide in eating myriad smaller pests.
Outside, if the insects are not bothering me, my family, my dwelling, and my possessions I still maintain my policy of not knowingly killing anything. In this regard, I often think of the following quote:
posted by fairmettle at 3:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
When I arrived at adulthood though, I made a major change in policy. I tried my best to not knowingly kill anything (other than what was required for my survival as an omnivore mammal) - - eg: I did not kill any mosquitos for a 30 year long period. This went along with my belief that I received far fewer mosquito bites because of the positive energy I was generating towards them.
However in recent years with the increase in West Nile virus from mosquitoes and Lyme disease from ticks, I have reversed my long standing policy. I am now comfortable killing any insects that attempt to bite me or my family.
Additionally, I now also feel free to kill any insects that cause damage to my dwelling (such as carpenter ants) or to my belongings (like moths that eat clothing). I do make a general exception for the large predator insects that live inside such as spiders and centipedes for the service they provide in eating myriad smaller pests.
Outside, if the insects are not bothering me, my family, my dwelling, and my possessions I still maintain my policy of not knowingly killing anything. In this regard, I often think of the following quote:
"If all of humanity were to disappear, the remainder of life would spring back and flourish. The mass extinctions now under way would cease, the damaged ecosystems heal and expand outward. If all the ants somehow disappeared, the effect would be exactly the opposite, and catastrophic. Species extinction would increase even more over the present rate, and the land ecosystems would shrivel more rapidly as the considerable services provided by these insects were pulled away."My life's relationship with insects has been an interesting ethical journey.
- E.O. Wilson & Bert Hölldobler in Journey To The Ants (the introductory version of their Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece: The Ants)
posted by fairmettle at 3:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
@Atom Collection
No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep. That's an urban myth, like never being more than 6ft from a rat.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:11 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep. That's an urban myth, like never being more than 6ft from a rat.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:11 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
This kind of thing always reminds me of the Perry Bible Fellowship comic Amends.
I think at least some spider fear is situational. I grew up with one parent who absolutely could not deal with spiders, to the point of making us kids trap & monitor them if one showed up when the parent who could deal with them wasn't around, and a lot of it rubbed off. I really didn't like spiders for a long time. But after living with a partner who is generally chill about spiders for eight years, I no longer immediately freak out on seeing one, and only tend to get rid of the ones that hang around in the ceiling corners if I have friends who are known arachnophobes coming over. I don't love them, but they gross me out to encounter and look at a lot less than they did when I was a child living with an adult for whom seeing a spider automatically meant an emergency-level freakout, and I now feel like I can reliably choose not to have an intense emotional reaction to seeing one.
Mosquitos I too kill without mercy, because I'm mildly allergic to the bites and getting bitten means a week of crusty itching. We finally caved and put up mosquito nets in the bedroom windows this summer, even though we're not in an area that's traditionally considered high-mosquito-traffic (eastern UK, though we live near a bunch of lakes) and it was a big quality of life improvement.
Regular houseflies I also kill more often than I feel comfortable with when I stop to think about it. I have auditory & visual sensory issues, and the combination of the buzzing sound and the intermittent visual distraction of a fly flying around sets my nerves on edge and increases the (already generally high) likelihood of pushing me into sensory overload. On some level I don't inherently believe that their lives have less worth than mine (and I don't kill or eat animals in other contexts for the same reason), but I just cannot tolerate coexisting with them on a sensory level. I try to move them on rather than killing them as often as I can (weirdly, buffeting them out of an open window with a big throw pillow works way better than swatting or just hoping they notice the aperture, in my experience, without seeming to harm them) but they're dumb enough that sometimes murder is the only option.
posted by terretu at 3:18 AM on October 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
I think at least some spider fear is situational. I grew up with one parent who absolutely could not deal with spiders, to the point of making us kids trap & monitor them if one showed up when the parent who could deal with them wasn't around, and a lot of it rubbed off. I really didn't like spiders for a long time. But after living with a partner who is generally chill about spiders for eight years, I no longer immediately freak out on seeing one, and only tend to get rid of the ones that hang around in the ceiling corners if I have friends who are known arachnophobes coming over. I don't love them, but they gross me out to encounter and look at a lot less than they did when I was a child living with an adult for whom seeing a spider automatically meant an emergency-level freakout, and I now feel like I can reliably choose not to have an intense emotional reaction to seeing one.
Mosquitos I too kill without mercy, because I'm mildly allergic to the bites and getting bitten means a week of crusty itching. We finally caved and put up mosquito nets in the bedroom windows this summer, even though we're not in an area that's traditionally considered high-mosquito-traffic (eastern UK, though we live near a bunch of lakes) and it was a big quality of life improvement.
Regular houseflies I also kill more often than I feel comfortable with when I stop to think about it. I have auditory & visual sensory issues, and the combination of the buzzing sound and the intermittent visual distraction of a fly flying around sets my nerves on edge and increases the (already generally high) likelihood of pushing me into sensory overload. On some level I don't inherently believe that their lives have less worth than mine (and I don't kill or eat animals in other contexts for the same reason), but I just cannot tolerate coexisting with them on a sensory level. I try to move them on rather than killing them as often as I can (weirdly, buffeting them out of an open window with a big throw pillow works way better than swatting or just hoping they notice the aperture, in my experience, without seeming to harm them) but they're dumb enough that sometimes murder is the only option.
posted by terretu at 3:18 AM on October 7, 2021 [9 favorites]
I wouldn't kill most spiders. Too much respect ... and some of them are beautiful. IF I came across the deadly sort in my living space, though, boom.
Where I live in Mexico, we have the most disgusting huge grubs I've ever seen in my life. Just imagine what your nightmare fuel grub would look like and you'd have these guys. They like to crawl into my apartment in the morning, probably when I go out to take a look at the early morning sky, and this is after the seal under the front door has been fixed. Those I flush with impunity, although I may start removing them from the apartment again, since I don't trust that they're actually getting drowned in the toilet.
Small scorpions are also common apartment visitors. I've already been through a sting, and while it hurt like hell for 90 minutes, it didn't make me sick. I typically will try to put a glass over them and evacuate them, if I can, but I'll take them out if necessary. They move very fast.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 3:33 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Where I live in Mexico, we have the most disgusting huge grubs I've ever seen in my life. Just imagine what your nightmare fuel grub would look like and you'd have these guys. They like to crawl into my apartment in the morning, probably when I go out to take a look at the early morning sky, and this is after the seal under the front door has been fixed. Those I flush with impunity, although I may start removing them from the apartment again, since I don't trust that they're actually getting drowned in the toilet.
Small scorpions are also common apartment visitors. I've already been through a sting, and while it hurt like hell for 90 minutes, it didn't make me sick. I typically will try to put a glass over them and evacuate them, if I can, but I'll take them out if necessary. They move very fast.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 3:33 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
One time I was doing the dishes and was surprised by a centipede, which happens a lot. But this time I saw its reaction and it was was terrified of me. I don't like centipedes and I'm terrified of spiders but I don't kill bugs. We usually put them outside, or when I was living alone, I'd just hope it/they would go away (I've slept on the couch to avoid a spider in the bedroom many times. I could never get close enough to kill a bug even if I wanted to). After seeing this centipede's reaction, though, my fear of certain insects changed considerably. I'm still revolted for the most part, but it's not as bad. They are unknowable. I think that's why they're scary. But I think they're in there, just like us, just living their lives.
posted by marimeko at 3:44 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by marimeko at 3:44 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
This article is very timely. I am currently summoning all willpower to tolerate and host a female huntsman who is clutching her egg sac on the underside of my patio table here in Sydney. I'm already pretty squicked out by the size of huntsmans, and the thought of this resident releasing dozens (hundreds?) of her kind in the near future is pretty terrifying. At least she is outside (for now). Intellectually, I know they do good, and I should leave them alone, but I really do have to overcome my feelings of fear and revulsion. Last year we had a huntsman who hung out in our bedroom for a couple of weeks. It started out across the room, high up, and gradually, day by day, began moving closer, hanging close to our headboard, until finally I couldn't stand it anymore took the opportunity to usher it outside. A friend of mine believes they are actually social.
However, I have no problem whacking cockroaches with my slipper.
posted by amusebuche at 3:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
However, I have no problem whacking cockroaches with my slipper.
posted by amusebuche at 3:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I have been cohabiting with a large spider in my kitchen window for a couple of months now. Charlotte (of course her name is Charlotte) spends a lot of her time chilling out in the corner of the window, one leg sprawled out and the others neatly tucked in.
When it was warmer I had the back door open and she caught so many flies and mozzies that she seemed to give up for a whole week. She didn't stir at all, and I was worried she had died, but no, one morning there she was, rebuilding her web. Maybe she was just stuffed.
Every time I go into the kitchen in recent weeks, there are a handful of fruit flies bimbling around the fruit bowl and the window. I usher them in Charlotte's general direction and they blunder right into the web. I think the record was seven in one go.
She used to hurtle down to grab them one by one and go back to her corner, but I've seen her wrapping up three or four in one giant bundle and saving it for later. I don't look too closely because it's icky, but I can see her draining the hapless flies. The remains fall under the web and look like tiny black gravel -- or maybe that is spider shit? I don't particularly want to look that up.
Her kin have spun giant webs in the garden from the trees and on my washing line. They hang in the middle of them, swaying in the wind. I walked into one the other day and swear it made the washing line spin round.
I don't know how long Charlotte and I will coexist, but I am enjoying her company even if she isn't particularly aware of mine.
posted by Orkney Vole at 3:56 AM on October 7, 2021 [20 favorites]
When it was warmer I had the back door open and she caught so many flies and mozzies that she seemed to give up for a whole week. She didn't stir at all, and I was worried she had died, but no, one morning there she was, rebuilding her web. Maybe she was just stuffed.
Every time I go into the kitchen in recent weeks, there are a handful of fruit flies bimbling around the fruit bowl and the window. I usher them in Charlotte's general direction and they blunder right into the web. I think the record was seven in one go.
She used to hurtle down to grab them one by one and go back to her corner, but I've seen her wrapping up three or four in one giant bundle and saving it for later. I don't look too closely because it's icky, but I can see her draining the hapless flies. The remains fall under the web and look like tiny black gravel -- or maybe that is spider shit? I don't particularly want to look that up.
Her kin have spun giant webs in the garden from the trees and on my washing line. They hang in the middle of them, swaying in the wind. I walked into one the other day and swear it made the washing line spin round.
I don't know how long Charlotte and I will coexist, but I am enjoying her company even if she isn't particularly aware of mine.
posted by Orkney Vole at 3:56 AM on October 7, 2021 [20 favorites]
For me, once I found out what a brown recluse spider bite can do, I have to ask myself, do I want to get close enough to one to determine whether or not it's a brown recluse?
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:41 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:41 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Re: the giant cockroach thing... Lived in Miami Beach for five years back in the mid-'90s. Mostly saw those things outside, often in groups. We steered clear. A couple times they got into the apartment. Those times I did the plastic cup and cardboard trap-thing to fling them away off the balcony. Why? Well, first of all we thought of them as "outside bugs" that wandered (also: they fly... ick) in. Second, they aren't super fast like little house roaches which I smashed on reflex (happily didn't have too many of those, but they can REALLY get out of hand in the subtropics). But mostly? They'd fly in and land on the walls or a rug or a shelf. They're big. Smashing one would result in a wet, sticky, brown mess. Didn't want that on the painted wall or anywhere, really. I think that's a big factor in whether a bug is squash-able for me.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:44 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 4:44 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Spiders & house centipedes are always welcome in my place.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
I have a radically different set of scenarios based on whether or not I am startled by a spider. I am super chill about spiders and house centipedes if I see 'em first. If they surprise me, all bets are off.
posted by Shepherd at 5:07 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by Shepherd at 5:07 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
I think I like this concept of catch and release spiders. And I appreciate this whole arachnids are good for keeping away bug populations. My son really doesn't like the idea of getting bit by insects. I think I am going to make one of the kids rooms into the spider room... that was the purpose of this article right?
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:26 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:26 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've carefully conditioned both of our kids to be spider and house centipede lovers, and it seems to have worked. We live in old, sort-of decayed house that always has at least a few around, and they now excitedly report spottings + know to leave them alone.
We're probably mediocre parents, but I feel like this is a real accomplishment.
posted by ryanshepard at 5:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [13 favorites]
We're probably mediocre parents, but I feel like this is a real accomplishment.
posted by ryanshepard at 5:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [13 favorites]
I can't engage with this thread TOO much because hey, big big BIG fear of bugs here, but I don't fear them/kill them because I don't think they lack an interior life. I am, for some reason, DEEPLY freaked out by things with a) more than four legs, and/or b) exoskeletons. I can eat crab/shrimp sometimes, but if I think too much about the fact that it's a REALLY big bug that lives underwater, I can't anymore. Spiders especially freak me out - webs are gross, and spiders are the bug likeliest to turn up around the house when I am least in the mood to deal with a bug (say, while naked in the shower, or in my pajamas getting into bed). The killing is mostly because I desperately want it to stop being and moving near me, as quickly as possible. Mr. bowties is a cup-and-paper freer of bugs; he says that's because the only thing worse than a live bug is a dead one, but I think it's just because he's a bit of a softie. That's okay; I just delegate bug removal to him and I think everyone is happier that way. I know intellectually that bugs are a really important part of the ecosystem, but I just CAN'T. My mother in law raises honeybees and I can't fathom ever purchasing and keeping bugs voluntarily. I don't even like a lot of Pokemon for that reason. I haven't caught a lot of the spookier, leggier non-butterfly bugs in Animal Crossing. Nope nope nope.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 6:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by bowtiesarecool at 6:02 AM on October 7, 2021 [5 favorites]
This bug catcher was the best ten bucks I ever spent, but the big wolf spiders are challenging to get into it and the ones I least want to encounter in a vulnerable moment. (About which, I realized one summer after being threatened by a scorpion in the basement that humans' evolutionary advantage over the insects is not feet, it's shoes.) Still, I try if at all possible to catch-and-release bugs that get into the house and having a purpose-built tool for that makes it much easier.
posted by ob1quixote at 6:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 6:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Some of the comments here make me sad though I get where they are coming from.
In the U.S. Mid Atlantic, people wanting to get their squish on should go laternfly hunting. Let's destroy them because they're beautiful (and because it is right). Maybe we can learn to better live alongside the ugly and creepy in the process.
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 6:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
In the U.S. Mid Atlantic, people wanting to get their squish on should go laternfly hunting. Let's destroy them because they're beautiful (and because it is right). Maybe we can learn to better live alongside the ugly and creepy in the process.
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 6:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Ethically, does intention matter? Every one of us who has ever driven a motor vehicle is an insect mass murderer. The evidence is splattered all over the windshield bumper and radiator.
Does size matter? If you’ve ever washed your sheets, pillowcases or pillows, you are also killing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of insects.
Personally, I don’t feel great about this, but it does help me justify the occasional one-off intentional killing of a bug in my living area.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 6:28 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Does size matter? If you’ve ever washed your sheets, pillowcases or pillows, you are also killing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of insects.
Personally, I don’t feel great about this, but it does help me justify the occasional one-off intentional killing of a bug in my living area.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 6:28 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I have mild aracnophobia. My wife and son are worse.
We have a dangerous spider around here, the Chilean recluse, and it's fairly common to find one lurking on the ceiling or have it run out of bed clothes.
I never kill them.
I'm always in charge of trapping them and putting them out a door or window.
I do this specifically because I'm afraid of them. I feel that my humanity, buddha nature, karma and general thing would be diminished if I l went and killed these amazing beings just because I'm scared of them or they don't look or behave like me.
posted by signal at 6:30 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
We have a dangerous spider around here, the Chilean recluse, and it's fairly common to find one lurking on the ceiling or have it run out of bed clothes.
I never kill them.
I'm always in charge of trapping them and putting them out a door or window.
I do this specifically because I'm afraid of them. I feel that my humanity, buddha nature, karma and general thing would be diminished if I l went and killed these amazing beings just because I'm scared of them or they don't look or behave like me.
posted by signal at 6:30 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
There are no dangerous spiders where I live, so we just ignore spiders in our house. They rarely descend from the ceiling to our level, but I suspect that may only be an illusion caused by the cat eating any that are unwary enough to leave the safety of the ceiling. House centipedes similarly get ignored when they scuttle by. Again, I think the cat deals with any that are not cautious enough.
The spiders and centipedes eat other insects, so I don't mind them. Also, being an entomologist they don't bother me.
On the other hand, I give ants no quarter.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:00 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
The spiders and centipedes eat other insects, so I don't mind them. Also, being an entomologist they don't bother me.
On the other hand, I give ants no quarter.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:00 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
i mostly leave spiders alone, or, if they're traversing my immediate space (or bed), will catch and release -- i keep a tobacco can with a lid at hand for this -- as with other bugs found within the dwelling (stink bugs and box elder bugs, mostly). but i often wonder whether carrying one of these unfortunates outside for release is morally better, especially in winter, though other seasons may pose risk -- birds, sunlight, hostile populations of yard bugs -- i cannot confidently discount. it is not uncommon an occupant of the can will expire in there before i get them out the door. is it worse to starve, suffocate(?), crush or cause to die of exposure, morally, for me the causer of death? anyway, i got thoughts and anecdotes and questions, but no time just now. fruit fly pain, huh? interesting discussion; carry on.
posted by 20 year lurk at 7:13 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by 20 year lurk at 7:13 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you’ve ever washed your sheets, pillowcases or pillows, you are also killing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of insects.
A-ha! I knew I was saving lives by not doing this!
Spiders seem to gravitate to one (unopenable) window in the basement and whenever I remove one, another will appear a week or two later. If nothing else, we rarely seeother insects in the house, so I imagine the sources of food are minimal. When the weather is pleasant — i.e. not during a Canadian winter — I grab them in plastic jar I keep handy and relocate them into the hedges out front of the house. This seems to me to be much more promising hunting grounds.
Of course, over the years I have relocated dozens to this hedge. For any flies or beetles or whatnot that wander into the hedge, it must be a house of horrors.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
A-ha! I knew I was saving lives by not doing this!
Spiders seem to gravitate to one (unopenable) window in the basement and whenever I remove one, another will appear a week or two later. If nothing else, we rarely see
Of course, over the years I have relocated dozens to this hedge. For any flies or beetles or whatnot that wander into the hedge, it must be a house of horrors.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep.
That's true for most people. Georg, who lives in a cave, however...
posted by acb at 7:15 AM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
That's true for most people. Georg, who lives in a cave, however...
posted by acb at 7:15 AM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
The passing reference and link to the paper on (literally) structural extended cognition is really fascinating too. It's of course much more speculative and more a frame of a way to think about a thing than firm, but what a frame!
I'm also in the tribe that's never had a problem with spiders, much more prone to gently relocating them than killing. Growing up in a farmhouse prone to constant houseflies and summers where the air was more mosquito than oxxygen might well factor into that! (The mosquito-hatred factor is also why I particularly love dragonflies. There was at least one otherwise lovely camping trip with mosquito levels the only negative, just a constant low-grade being-eaten...except for one glorious area with an absolute swarm of dragonflies nimbly buzzing around with zero interest in the weird mobile trees that people are, slaughtering the local mosquito population before they could ever reach skin. I swear there was triumphant music playing, and like to believe that inside their cognition, there was.)
posted by Drastic at 7:19 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm also in the tribe that's never had a problem with spiders, much more prone to gently relocating them than killing. Growing up in a farmhouse prone to constant houseflies and summers where the air was more mosquito than oxxygen might well factor into that! (The mosquito-hatred factor is also why I particularly love dragonflies. There was at least one otherwise lovely camping trip with mosquito levels the only negative, just a constant low-grade being-eaten...except for one glorious area with an absolute swarm of dragonflies nimbly buzzing around with zero interest in the weird mobile trees that people are, slaughtering the local mosquito population before they could ever reach skin. I swear there was triumphant music playing, and like to believe that inside their cognition, there was.)
posted by Drastic at 7:19 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
The spiders and other bugs can live in my house when they start paying rent. Until then, it's out, alive if they're very lucky.
posted by Dysk at 7:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Dysk at 7:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
A large garden spider once took up residence in a corner of my kitchen ceiling in late fall and I managed to keep it alive for most, but unfortunately not quite all, of the Halifax winter by dropping little pieces of beef onto its web every few days. This did seem to pass for food for the spider: you'd see little white fang marks tattooed into the meat.
posted by Flashman at 7:27 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 7:27 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
I've noticed a social game where the more submissive partner demonstrates their dependency towards a dominant partner through their "inability" to kill a spider. The act of killing the spider affirms the dominant partner's quality as brave protector and thereby can reinforce the relationship. The game alienates the spider as a mere object.
posted by grokus at 7:34 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by grokus at 7:34 AM on October 7, 2021
One to stun, two to kill, three to make sure!
posted by jabah at 7:35 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jabah at 7:35 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Every time I kill one I have a moment where I think, “I, too, am just a bug who could be squashed by something larger at any moment,” and feel compassion for the bug and some recognition of the casual cruelty of the universe. So, like, it’s relatively easy not to kill them, so I don’t have to go there.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 7:40 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by jeweled accumulation at 7:40 AM on October 7, 2021 [4 favorites]
Spiders get ignored unless they are physically on me. Those tend to get squished out of reflex. I think house centipedes are cute, something my wife does not agree with. I have however, managed to get her to reconsider the kill on sight policy for house centipedes she used to have. Spiders I put in the hallway if I can't convince her to ignore them. It helps that all our spiders are tiny.
I'm far less accommodating to other arthropods. Roaches get killed on sight, anything else that eats human food or humans likewise (fruit flies, house flies, ants, mosquitos, ticks, etc.)
I also have a mild phobia towards bees, wasps, and other flying stinging things. I'll try to get them out, but if I can't do so quickly, they will die. I know they are crucial to the ecosystem (even yellow jackets, which are the assholes of the wasp world), but if they're around me inside, they die. Outside I generally try to relocate away. I know that some release pheromones when killed and I'd rather not learn first hand which ones work to get revenge on behalf of their fallen sister.
posted by Hactar at 7:42 AM on October 7, 2021
I'm far less accommodating to other arthropods. Roaches get killed on sight, anything else that eats human food or humans likewise (fruit flies, house flies, ants, mosquitos, ticks, etc.)
I also have a mild phobia towards bees, wasps, and other flying stinging things. I'll try to get them out, but if I can't do so quickly, they will die. I know they are crucial to the ecosystem (even yellow jackets, which are the assholes of the wasp world), but if they're around me inside, they die. Outside I generally try to relocate away. I know that some release pheromones when killed and I'd rather not learn first hand which ones work to get revenge on behalf of their fallen sister.
posted by Hactar at 7:42 AM on October 7, 2021
I grew up in a recently-rehabbed former abandoned building that for a long time had a serious roach problem. No insects in the house, thank you very much. I do my best to leave them alone outside, but if you invade my dwelling, sorry.
posted by praemunire at 7:52 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by praemunire at 7:52 AM on October 7, 2021
Where I live there's really only 3 types of spiders that get into the house. The regular long-legged house spider which I attempt to leave alone. But the other two are Black Widows or Brown Recluses. I am very, very terrified of spiders.
A few months back we had two gigantic recluses invade the house, and of course I was the one who found both. They both took multiple squishes to kill. Then I proceeded to have a panic attack about that, and the possibility of there being more, and what would happen if Kid Objects had been the one to find them.
I would love to be the type of person who can live and let live with spiders. But not with ones that could kill or permanently maim myself or my child. Those brown recluses were probably just as scared as me as I was of them, I'll give you that. But anyone who's had to do extensive black widow killing knows those ladies are at the top of their food chain. They fear no one.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 7:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
A few months back we had two gigantic recluses invade the house, and of course I was the one who found both. They both took multiple squishes to kill. Then I proceeded to have a panic attack about that, and the possibility of there being more, and what would happen if Kid Objects had been the one to find them.
I would love to be the type of person who can live and let live with spiders. But not with ones that could kill or permanently maim myself or my child. Those brown recluses were probably just as scared as me as I was of them, I'll give you that. But anyone who's had to do extensive black widow killing knows those ladies are at the top of their food chain. They fear no one.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 7:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I think that acceptance of bugs depends on where you live. In some parts of the US, bugs including spiders are legitimate problems that bite you a lot outside and inside.
Just walking or sitting in grass can get you bitten up. Ants swarm and bite, and spiders form giant webs on your porch (especially) over night. Wasps sting with impunity and malice. And then mosquitoes bite relentlessly nightly and legitimately killed people (they were a big scary problem pre-COVID).
In other parts, you can roll in the grass and be fine, ants are numerous and swarm but don't bite, and spiders don't come inside much.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:53 AM on October 7, 2021
Just walking or sitting in grass can get you bitten up. Ants swarm and bite, and spiders form giant webs on your porch (especially) over night. Wasps sting with impunity and malice. And then mosquitoes bite relentlessly nightly and legitimately killed people (they were a big scary problem pre-COVID).
In other parts, you can roll in the grass and be fine, ants are numerous and swarm but don't bite, and spiders don't come inside much.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:53 AM on October 7, 2021
I was bit in my sleep by a venomous spider when I was a kid, this happened in West Africa. One of the more severe infections resulted, that bite took a while to heal. I'm not sure of the heat attraction for arachnids, would they be inclined to come in close to a sleeping body? Then you move in your sleep, alarm the creature, and the bite results? Otherwise I live and let live, in this part of Canada there simply aren't a lot of venomous insects and the winter is hard on everyone, no need to go wantonly killing anything.. but wasps, they can be real assholes. I have a spider on my bedroom ceiling at the moment, I worry about her quality of life and hope she is eating okay. A gorgeous black widow caught a ride on a pallet from California once and we were just thrilled to see her, we carefully gathered her up and took her to the local bug room at the museum. One of the most spectacular displays of spider life I've seen in Alberta was when I went late to the place I worked at the time, and normally I'd only be there during daylight, and as I approached the entrance I froze because.. what on earth were these shapes suspended from the awning? My introduction to jewel spiders, native to Alberta but mostly nocturnal so A LOT of locals freak out when they see these critters, convinced they're some monstrous invader from the tropics. I rounded up some friends and my little nephew and we stayed out for hours watching these massive jewel spiders moving along their web structures and catching all the insects coming in for the light under the awning, they were feasting!
If we extend interiority to other creatures, we have to accept that some individual creatures may be assholes. My friend certainly takes this position when it comes to bears: most bears coming through his property are fine, but occasionally he gets an asshole.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
If we extend interiority to other creatures, we have to accept that some individual creatures may be assholes. My friend certainly takes this position when it comes to bears: most bears coming through his property are fine, but occasionally he gets an asshole.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:54 AM on October 7, 2021 [8 favorites]
Put up with malice from bugs for a while and the impulse to kill them first kicks in. Whether via a regular exterminator or with the foot.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on October 7, 2021
I am working through some serious arachnophobia currently. It's gotten a lot better, funnily enough, because of some vr exposure therapy to start that walked me through minimizing the fear response.
I've been following a suggestion that you imagine the spider is going to their best friends birthday party, wearing a tiny party hat, and carrying a present.
It means that I have to have a discussion with the spider before I squoosh it. My next step is to figure out how to scoop it up without the spider leaping on me to give me a hug.
posted by Lord_Pall at 8:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've been following a suggestion that you imagine the spider is going to their best friends birthday party, wearing a tiny party hat, and carrying a present.
It means that I have to have a discussion with the spider before I squoosh it. My next step is to figure out how to scoop it up without the spider leaping on me to give me a hug.
posted by Lord_Pall at 8:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I do not recommend Children of Time if you’re arachnophobic. Or maybe I do.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 8:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 8:05 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
OK, I really like spiders, so I didn't expect to find this thread so upsetting. I understand a nuance of trigger warnings I didn't before: I'd prefer to have read this when I didn't have to rush off so that I could watch something cute immediately after. Or at least process it _somehow_. Poor spiders.
posted by amtho at 8:12 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by amtho at 8:12 AM on October 7, 2021
House centipedes are rather long-lived so I've learned and that's had me taking an interest in the few individuals living in my basement. Mostly they just truck around down there doing whatever. They disappear for days at a stretch and then reappear somewhere, usually a corner, waiting for a meal to wander by. For the longest time I thought that there was a single large one and maybe a couple smaller, but apparently there were actually two large ones, and well I guess one night they found each other. I know this because I found the chunks of one in the utility sink while the other wiggled its many legs away from the scene of ghastly murder. Nature's way and all, but I'll admit this has somewhat dampened my amateur naturalist enthusiasm.
posted by wordless reply at 8:13 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by wordless reply at 8:13 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
something about a centipedes.. sinuousity.. and the fact it can deliver a good bite, makes me a little creeped out by them. when it comes to Team Spider vs. Team Centipede I am firmly with the former.. one night on the phone, my brother in Ontario delivered a blow-by-blow commentary on an epic battle between a spider and a centipede, in his basement.
posted by elkevelvet at 8:18 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by elkevelvet at 8:18 AM on October 7, 2021
I have both occasional wolf spiders and house centipedes in my current house, neither of which were a feature of the areas where I grew up as a kid. So the first time I encountered either was... a surprise.
On my first encounter with a rather large house centipede, the centipede did not survive. I was rather horrified to discover that centipedes do not necessarily fall cleanly into "alive" vs. "dead", but that parts of them can go on moving even when disconnected from the whole. It was almost enough to put me right back in my car and headed back to New England, never to go south of the Pennsylvania border ever again.
I am still working through my kneejerk disgust reaction to centipedes. I'm not even sure where it comes from, since I certainly never saw one as a kid. Luckily, one of the cats currently is very much into his job as Lead Centipede Exterminator, and so I don't have to deal with them too often. For some inscrutable cat reason, he has decided that the centipede legs don't taste very good, and so he must somehow delicately pick them off, because all I ever find are small piles of legs in the basement. It's the circle of life as far as I'm concerned.
The wolf spiders I have tried to build a better relationship with. When cleaning, I'd found a few dead ones of rather impressive size, so I suppose I was primed a bit when I came across my first live one that was bigger than palm-size. Some hilarity ensued when I tried to capture it under a coffee can, though, because I didn't consider the fact that the spider can obviously sense light/darkness, and is smart enough to move—and quickly!—when it senses the shadow of some approaching object above it. I'd like to think that the spider and I were equally surprised by each other that time.
This year I relocated two wolf spiders with egg sacs from the basement, and I felt almost bad about that because I'm not sure what their survival odds are like outside. But in both cases they had fallen into a cat-litter box with smooth sides and were unable to get out, and were probably going to dessicate if just left there anyway. So putting them outside under the deck seemed like the appropriate thing to do, given that I wasn't about to just release them and their many not-yet-offspring back into my house. (There are some things that are just a step too far for my empathy at the moment, I guess.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:34 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
On my first encounter with a rather large house centipede, the centipede did not survive. I was rather horrified to discover that centipedes do not necessarily fall cleanly into "alive" vs. "dead", but that parts of them can go on moving even when disconnected from the whole. It was almost enough to put me right back in my car and headed back to New England, never to go south of the Pennsylvania border ever again.
I am still working through my kneejerk disgust reaction to centipedes. I'm not even sure where it comes from, since I certainly never saw one as a kid. Luckily, one of the cats currently is very much into his job as Lead Centipede Exterminator, and so I don't have to deal with them too often. For some inscrutable cat reason, he has decided that the centipede legs don't taste very good, and so he must somehow delicately pick them off, because all I ever find are small piles of legs in the basement. It's the circle of life as far as I'm concerned.
The wolf spiders I have tried to build a better relationship with. When cleaning, I'd found a few dead ones of rather impressive size, so I suppose I was primed a bit when I came across my first live one that was bigger than palm-size. Some hilarity ensued when I tried to capture it under a coffee can, though, because I didn't consider the fact that the spider can obviously sense light/darkness, and is smart enough to move—and quickly!—when it senses the shadow of some approaching object above it. I'd like to think that the spider and I were equally surprised by each other that time.
This year I relocated two wolf spiders with egg sacs from the basement, and I felt almost bad about that because I'm not sure what their survival odds are like outside. But in both cases they had fallen into a cat-litter box with smooth sides and were unable to get out, and were probably going to dessicate if just left there anyway. So putting them outside under the deck seemed like the appropriate thing to do, given that I wasn't about to just release them and their many not-yet-offspring back into my house. (There are some things that are just a step too far for my empathy at the moment, I guess.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:34 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
My wife can abide the presence of some spiders, but not house centipedes, so when I'm around and she spots one I am pressed into duty to terminate them with extreme prejudice.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:34 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:34 AM on October 7, 2021
On my first encounter with a rather large house centipede
That's another one - in some places this is a house centipede
and in other places a centipede is 6 inches long plus red and black thing that's feet click when it walks on solid surfaces inside your house.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:46 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
That's another one - in some places this is a house centipede
and in other places a centipede is 6 inches long plus red and black thing that's feet click when it walks on solid surfaces inside your house.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:46 AM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
LOL, thank you for the pictures The_Vegetables. While everyone was talking about 'house centipedes' I was totally picturing the huge 6 inch+ version and wondering why everyone was so freaking calm about it!!
posted by sharp pointy objects at 9:06 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by sharp pointy objects at 9:06 AM on October 7, 2021
Yeah, around here it's the leggy weirdos, not the angular/pointy tubes.
posted by wordless reply at 9:11 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by wordless reply at 9:11 AM on October 7, 2021
tl;dr but the reason is, many (even here, in this thread) can't or won't discriminate between insects, and spiders - they're all just bugs. And any creepy-crawly which invades my living pod is met with immediate, lethal force, although spiders are given a pass since they seem to be on my team. My apologies though, when it comes to the webs - I ain't living in no Haunted Mansion.
posted by Rash at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2021
posted by Rash at 9:14 AM on October 7, 2021
In the last place I lived, there was a little spider living in the crevice behind my kitchen sink; it would often come out and just hang, watching me wash the dishes. Never bothered me in the least, in fact, I rather enjoyed the fact it didn't seem too threatened by me. I got to the point where I'd put out a little water in a bottle cap behind the faucet. One day, it seemed like it wasn't moving anymore, it had died in place, and I cleaned it up and waited to see if any baby spiders would appear sometime. I was sad that my little roommate was gone. Having once lived in a house in West Marin with a scorpion infestation, any fear I might have had of insects pretty much subsequently evaporated. Now, ants? Fuck 'em, even though I'm a huge E. O. Wilson fan, I don't give them the same quarter he would, I eradicate them; in a fair fight, they would destroy us all.
posted by dbiedny at 10:07 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by dbiedny at 10:07 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I put all bugs I encounter outside, except ants & only because when they come streaming in looking for water & food there's too many of them. I absolutely hate doing "ant genocide" as I call it but I have to or they'd take over the house & I need to live here. The other day I killed a spider by accident because it startled me & I dropped the thing it had hitched a ride on and I felt a real sense of regret. It's interesting to me to see other people's perspective.
posted by bleep at 10:15 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by bleep at 10:15 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I first encountered Jainism as an exchange student in Sri Lanka in the early 80's, when Jains of my acquaintance showed me how to remove, rather than swat, mosquitos that i feared were going to give me malaria. I found that I could embrace the practice with every insect except mosquitos (although i was careful in the presence of these new friends). It has helped me be a better friend to bugs ever since, but I still feel that mosquitos pose more danger than good and should be eradicated, or at least neutralized with extreme prejudice. Spiders are cool and good and I value their presence around me as bug killers and birdfood.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:17 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:17 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have a deal with the spiders in my house: they stay in windows and corners and catch bugs and I leave them alone. If one is on the wall away from its web, it gets blown on sharply to remind it of our agreement. I hate spiders crawling on me so spiders in my bed or on furniture get squashed...but since I stuck this deal I havent had to squish a single spider. These are all non-venomous house spiders, and mostly quite small. They do a good job of keeping fruit flies and errant gnats down, which get particularly intense in the fall when we have crates of fruit in the house awaiting canning, drying, or storing for winter. It's much nicer than hanging those gross fly strips everywhere.
Large black flies are too burly for the spiders to snare, so I kill those myself with much satisfaction and no remorse. Flies are a disease vector like roaches, so those are a hard no from me. I sometimes leave the flies for the larger spiders, but mostly they get put in the compost.
posted by ananci at 10:36 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Large black flies are too burly for the spiders to snare, so I kill those myself with much satisfaction and no remorse. Flies are a disease vector like roaches, so those are a hard no from me. I sometimes leave the flies for the larger spiders, but mostly they get put in the compost.
posted by ananci at 10:36 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
well I guess one night they found each other
Oh, I swear I thought this was the beginning of a romantic tale about the centipedes in your basement! It was oddly uplifting, even kind of cute. I was all about it.
posted by marimeko at 11:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Oh, I swear I thought this was the beginning of a romantic tale about the centipedes in your basement! It was oddly uplifting, even kind of cute. I was all about it.
posted by marimeko at 11:14 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
What if you just keep a cat or a pet iguana, bird, bat, or some other animal who will let nature take its course?
posted by Apocryphon at 11:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Apocryphon at 11:22 AM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep.
We do, however, swallow an average of five dwarven spiders every year.
posted by charred husk at 11:33 AM on October 7, 2021
We do, however, swallow an average of five dwarven spiders every year.
posted by charred husk at 11:33 AM on October 7, 2021
and in other places a centipede is 6 inches long plus red and black thing that's feet click when it walks on solid surfaces inside your house.
Well I just found the limit of my empathy. Cause that is a hard nope.
Anything that makes clicking sounds when it walks around in my house better goddamn well either be a misdirected tap dancer, or have four legs and fur and eat Purina from a bowl in the kitchen.
We do, however, swallow an average of five dwarven spiders every year.
I thought it was just Spiders Georg.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:48 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
Well I just found the limit of my empathy. Cause that is a hard nope.
Anything that makes clicking sounds when it walks around in my house better goddamn well either be a misdirected tap dancer, or have four legs and fur and eat Purina from a bowl in the kitchen.
We do, however, swallow an average of five dwarven spiders every year.
I thought it was just Spiders Georg.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:48 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure putting a house spider outside is tantamount to killing it.
They're called house spiders because they are adapted to, and only live in, dwellings.
posted by lastobelus at 11:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
They're called house spiders because they are adapted to, and only live in, dwellings.
posted by lastobelus at 11:53 AM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I refuse to kill spiders or put them outside, and since my son was born my partner doesn't kill them anymore either, so the Eratigena duellicas in our house can live to a large old age. The biggest I've seen had a legspan of almost 7cm.
posted by lastobelus at 12:04 PM on October 7, 2021
posted by lastobelus at 12:04 PM on October 7, 2021
Oh, I swear I thought this was the beginning of a romantic tale about the centipedes in your basement! It was oddly uplifting, even kind of cute. I was all about it.
Heh, I had the same thought when writing it, and yes I too would have preferred the romantic outcome.
posted by wordless reply at 12:09 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Heh, I had the same thought when writing it, and yes I too would have preferred the romantic outcome.
posted by wordless reply at 12:09 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I think I told the story before here, but I was once bit by a black widow spider. The venom itself was no big deal, but the bite led to an inflamed and eventually necrotized lymph node. I had to assist on my own surgery to remove the lymph node and surrounding tissue.
After that I developed an irrational fear of spiders (before that I had a rational fear of spiders).
It took me a couple of years to deal with it, now I am fine and our house is a bug friendly house, except for mosquitos, cockroaches and one particular species of ant. The crab spiders and little jumping spiders inside the house take care of flies, mosquitos and other pests. When we get a spider population explosion the geckos move in from the backyard and take care of that. We like to capture baby mantises and keep them well fed for a few weeks before releasing them to give them a headstart.
Two years ago someone smashed a slice of cake into a rustic woven palm chair. It was almost impossible to clean the frosting without ruining the chair so I just moved one of the wild ant colonies in the backyard next to the chair and next day it was pristine. Last summer we had a house fly infestation in the kitchen after one of the dogs hid a little surprise under the dishwasher, we killed as many as we could with a flyswatter, for the rest we relocated jumping spiders from other parts of the house into the kitchen and the flies were gone in one night.
You get the idea.
What I find interesting about my own mind is that when I am breeding fruit flies I really do care for their wellbeing, I develop an attachment and am very kind to them. I feel bad when they are unhappy or when I accidentally crush one. But when I feed them to the ants they become just little packets of protein and calories. This goes up the chain, I love the ants, and the more I learn about them the more I like them (for a fun derail relating ants, calculating Pi, neural networks and 18th century French Counts who liked counting, search for : ants buffon's needle). But When I cull a colony by feeding some workers to the fish, I feel nothing for the ants but feel happy for the fish.
But yeah, the best way I have found to recharge my kindness batteries is to learn more about the little animals and plants, watch them and try to make their little lives a little bit better.
posted by Dr. Curare at 12:12 PM on October 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
After that I developed an irrational fear of spiders (before that I had a rational fear of spiders).
It took me a couple of years to deal with it, now I am fine and our house is a bug friendly house, except for mosquitos, cockroaches and one particular species of ant. The crab spiders and little jumping spiders inside the house take care of flies, mosquitos and other pests. When we get a spider population explosion the geckos move in from the backyard and take care of that. We like to capture baby mantises and keep them well fed for a few weeks before releasing them to give them a headstart.
Two years ago someone smashed a slice of cake into a rustic woven palm chair. It was almost impossible to clean the frosting without ruining the chair so I just moved one of the wild ant colonies in the backyard next to the chair and next day it was pristine. Last summer we had a house fly infestation in the kitchen after one of the dogs hid a little surprise under the dishwasher, we killed as many as we could with a flyswatter, for the rest we relocated jumping spiders from other parts of the house into the kitchen and the flies were gone in one night.
You get the idea.
What I find interesting about my own mind is that when I am breeding fruit flies I really do care for their wellbeing, I develop an attachment and am very kind to them. I feel bad when they are unhappy or when I accidentally crush one. But when I feed them to the ants they become just little packets of protein and calories. This goes up the chain, I love the ants, and the more I learn about them the more I like them (for a fun derail relating ants, calculating Pi, neural networks and 18th century French Counts who liked counting, search for : ants buffon's needle). But When I cull a colony by feeding some workers to the fish, I feel nothing for the ants but feel happy for the fish.
But yeah, the best way I have found to recharge my kindness batteries is to learn more about the little animals and plants, watch them and try to make their little lives a little bit better.
posted by Dr. Curare at 12:12 PM on October 7, 2021 [12 favorites]
For me, once I found out what a brown recluse spider bite can do, I have to ask myself, do I want to get close enough to one to determine whether or not it's a brown recluse?
If you are still living in Illinois, there aren't any brown recluse spiders there.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:40 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you are still living in Illinois, there aren't any brown recluse spiders there.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:40 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was always told as a kid that it is a sin to kill spiders because one saved the Prophet's (Muhammad) life. Google now gives me conflicting answers about it but after a lifetime of not killing spiders I'm not going to start killing them now. I always tell my kids that if spiders are around they're eating other insects and it is better to have a few spiders than lots of whatever they've been eating. Of course I am in Ontario where it is extremely rare to happen upon a spider that could harm a person. If I were somewhere where poisonous spiders were more common I'd likely be a bit more selective in which spiders I'd let live.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:49 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:49 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
unless they are physically on me.
After having learned the hard way, twice, that moving quickly is the best way to get stung or bitten by many insects, I pretty much don't react when one gets on me, except to slow down. The exception, of course, is mosquitos.
Since I adopted that method almost 30 years ago, I've not been stung by a bee or wasp. I don't like having them on me, but it turns out OK.
My SO gets freaked the fuck out by most bugs if they get anywhere near her. She becomes convinced they are intent upon attacking her. I don't mind ejecting them from the house for her, but I could do without the screaming and shouting.
What really annoys her isn't my lack of reaction to bugs, though. It's my lack of reaction to snakes. I'm just like "oh, hi there snake. you plan on leaving soon? ok then." They feel more creepy on the skin than spiders and other exoskeleton-havers, but like most creatures, they aren't actually interested in me and didn't really intend to put themselves on me, it was just an unfortunate accident, so there's no need to get excited about it They almost all leave pretty quickly.
I'm actually heartened by the number of others here who make an effort to not kill crawly things. I would have expected to see a lot more "kill it with fire" type comments.
posted by wierdo at 1:23 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
After having learned the hard way, twice, that moving quickly is the best way to get stung or bitten by many insects, I pretty much don't react when one gets on me, except to slow down. The exception, of course, is mosquitos.
Since I adopted that method almost 30 years ago, I've not been stung by a bee or wasp. I don't like having them on me, but it turns out OK.
My SO gets freaked the fuck out by most bugs if they get anywhere near her. She becomes convinced they are intent upon attacking her. I don't mind ejecting them from the house for her, but I could do without the screaming and shouting.
What really annoys her isn't my lack of reaction to bugs, though. It's my lack of reaction to snakes. I'm just like "oh, hi there snake. you plan on leaving soon? ok then." They feel more creepy on the skin than spiders and other exoskeleton-havers, but like most creatures, they aren't actually interested in me and didn't really intend to put themselves on me, it was just an unfortunate accident, so there's no need to get excited about it They almost all leave pretty quickly.
I'm actually heartened by the number of others here who make an effort to not kill crawly things. I would have expected to see a lot more "kill it with fire" type comments.
posted by wierdo at 1:23 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep.
Thank you for the correction. It both inspired me to do a little research and made me want to be friendly towards spiders again. I hope this goes some small way towards consoling saddened spider lovers here.
posted by Atom Collection at 2:01 PM on October 7, 2021
Thank you for the correction. It both inspired me to do a little research and made me want to be friendly towards spiders again. I hope this goes some small way towards consoling saddened spider lovers here.
posted by Atom Collection at 2:01 PM on October 7, 2021
Really the correction that people don't routinely swallow spiders should make spiders friendlier to people, not vice versa.
posted by Drastic at 2:13 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Drastic at 2:13 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
if they run around my feet in the shower... well, I'm sorry, you know what happens
You pee on them?
posted by The Bellman at 2:14 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
You pee on them?
posted by The Bellman at 2:14 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
You pee on them?
You made me chuckle. But in fact I only ever excrete in the standard location.
posted by Atom Collection at 2:20 PM on October 7, 2021
You made me chuckle. But in fact I only ever excrete in the standard location.
posted by Atom Collection at 2:20 PM on October 7, 2021
I am bothered by killing of spiders and other small creatures, to the extent that I will try to catch and release outside if possible. However, I have read that house spiders can't really live outdoors, so basically you are just deporting some poor creature to a hostile environment which doesn't seem all that kind tbh. But not a lot of other options unless you're cool living with a bunch of 8-legged roommates.
For a while I really tried to take the tactic of not bothering spiders in my house if they didn't bother me, and sort of hoped that the whole "they keep my home insect-free" thing would be my reward. Then something bit me on the knee, an incredibly itchy bite that stayed around for nearly a year. I Googled and discovered that the yellowish-white spiders I'd been trying to live and let live with were possibly poisonous yellow sac spiders, and now I've got a me-or-them mindset that makes me feel somewhat less terrible about whacking them.
As far as keeping an insect-free home, since I got the cats I have hardly seen a single fly this summer, other than for the brief few seconds it takes for it to be caught out of mid-air and gobbled up by a happy cat. They're like "hey, I love these things!" and it makes their whole day.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 2:25 PM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
For a while I really tried to take the tactic of not bothering spiders in my house if they didn't bother me, and sort of hoped that the whole "they keep my home insect-free" thing would be my reward. Then something bit me on the knee, an incredibly itchy bite that stayed around for nearly a year. I Googled and discovered that the yellowish-white spiders I'd been trying to live and let live with were possibly poisonous yellow sac spiders, and now I've got a me-or-them mindset that makes me feel somewhat less terrible about whacking them.
As far as keeping an insect-free home, since I got the cats I have hardly seen a single fly this summer, other than for the brief few seconds it takes for it to be caught out of mid-air and gobbled up by a happy cat. They're like "hey, I love these things!" and it makes their whole day.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 2:25 PM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
I go through a considerable amount of trouble to remove spiders from our home. I actually don't mind them - they can give you a startle, certainly, especially dinner-plate-sized hunstmans - but they are no-nos as far as my partner is concerned, and also one of the cats eats them. I'd prefer this doesn't happen so I fortify myself with a slug of Gordon's and set to work. Since I've started doing it I've had a 100% success rate, even though it can sometimes take upwards of an hour.
They get deposited around the compost bin outside. It is in a shaded area in the garden, with plenty of leaf litter and foliage for them to hide amongst, and plenty of bugs to eat.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:40 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
They get deposited around the compost bin outside. It is in a shaded area in the garden, with plenty of leaf litter and foliage for them to hide amongst, and plenty of bugs to eat.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:40 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
However, I have read that house spiders can't really live outdoors, so basically you are just deporting some poor creature to a hostile environment which doesn't seem all that kind tbh.
This is incorrect, as no spiders evolved to live exclusively indoors in the sense that we understand it. They did of course evolve to require shelter from the elements, like any other animal. So you don't want to take a spider, such as my huntsman friends mentioned above, and just flick them out the door onto concrete in the blazing sun or whatever. Take a little extra care and effort and deposit them somewhere where they can get shade, get somewhere to hide from predators, get access to territory (e.g. don't just put them on a potted plant outdoors on your patio, get them down into the yard and the bushes), and get access to food.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:49 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
This is incorrect, as no spiders evolved to live exclusively indoors in the sense that we understand it. They did of course evolve to require shelter from the elements, like any other animal. So you don't want to take a spider, such as my huntsman friends mentioned above, and just flick them out the door onto concrete in the blazing sun or whatever. Take a little extra care and effort and deposit them somewhere where they can get shade, get somewhere to hide from predators, get access to territory (e.g. don't just put them on a potted plant outdoors on your patio, get them down into the yard and the bushes), and get access to food.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:49 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Although, I must sheepishly admit that we ran into a bit of a redback infestation last year (by which I mean, two redbacks). They had both set themselves up on some of my partner's shoes that had been in the garage, unused, for a while. I took considerably less care getting them out of the house, and gently scraped them off onto a shrubbery that is in a generally unaccessed/untrafficked area of our yard. And now we are of course paranoid and constantly checking our shoes for redbacks, because those things will give you a bad time. By which I mean, you are probably going to lose at least a toe, possibly a foot, maybe even your whole body.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:55 PM on October 7, 2021
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:55 PM on October 7, 2021
For my whole life, I've been very bug-friendly, and after reading Charlotte's web at 7 or something, spiders became my favourites. I like spiders. I also had a pet bug that we couldn't identify (all of this was encouraged by my family) and I still wonder what it was, maybe a type of cicada. I was once stung by a bee, but I always daw it as my own fault.
During our high school years, our biology class had a lot of interesting pets, including a black widow.
But, and there is always a but: when I was younger, I was pretty hysterical about flies and mosquitoes in my bedroom, and that was part of my preference for spiders, since they would eat the flies and mosquitoes. I developed elaborate systems for keeping my bedroom free of bugs except spiders.
And now, there is a different situation. I don't know why, but after I renovated our farmhouse, it has been colonised by an insane amount of spiders. I don't really mind for myself, but I am aware that anyone who enters will see it like a weird witches lair because if I don't clean everything twice a week, there will be cobwebs everywhere. As in, you can't pass from one room from the other because of a giant cobweb in every doorway. So now I am vacuuming away the spiders. It's sad.
posted by mumimor at 2:59 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
During our high school years, our biology class had a lot of interesting pets, including a black widow.
But, and there is always a but: when I was younger, I was pretty hysterical about flies and mosquitoes in my bedroom, and that was part of my preference for spiders, since they would eat the flies and mosquitoes. I developed elaborate systems for keeping my bedroom free of bugs except spiders.
And now, there is a different situation. I don't know why, but after I renovated our farmhouse, it has been colonised by an insane amount of spiders. I don't really mind for myself, but I am aware that anyone who enters will see it like a weird witches lair because if I don't clean everything twice a week, there will be cobwebs everywhere. As in, you can't pass from one room from the other because of a giant cobweb in every doorway. So now I am vacuuming away the spiders. It's sad.
posted by mumimor at 2:59 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
That's a shame mumimor. I'm sure you arrived at vacuuming after trying many other things, but I find that using a dusting brush and kind of twisting it gently amongst the cobwebs will more often than not also adhere the spider to it all, and then you can take it outside as per normal procedures.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:35 PM on October 7, 2021
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:35 PM on October 7, 2021
Wolf spiders have the same kind of reflective layer (called the tapetum lucidum) in their eyes that you find in many vertebrates (particularly in nocturnal hunters, like cats).
So, if you go out in your yard at night and shine a bright flashlight around you will most likely discover _lots_ of tiny green "headlamps" reflecting back at you (hold the base of the flashlight to your nose for best results). This can be a fun activity to do with your kids.
posted by TwoToneRow at 3:54 PM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
So, if you go out in your yard at night and shine a bright flashlight around you will most likely discover _lots_ of tiny green "headlamps" reflecting back at you (hold the base of the flashlight to your nose for best results). This can be a fun activity to do with your kids.
posted by TwoToneRow at 3:54 PM on October 7, 2021 [6 favorites]
I live in a small cabin in the woods, on a lake, with a dirt basement that has doors open to the elements. So as you can imagine, I am no stranger to spiders. If they are skittering across the floor, and manage to outsmart the cats, I generally don't go after them. Or if they're in a corner of the ceiling in the summer, catching midges, that's cool too.
When we first moved into this place, there were some holes in the walls, which I patched up. No screens on the sliding windows on either side of the picture window. I got new screens, and also did the whole steel wool around the kitchen pipes, to keep mice out. That worked for a while, then got another couple of meeces coming around, so I did more steel wool, followed by spray foam on top, and have seen less spiders since then.
It's not their fault if there are entryways to them getting inside. I've done my best, and have seen less of the lil guys running around. I don't freak out over them, unless one is crawling on my arm, which has only happened once or twice. But when I first moved in here, there were tons of Daddy Long Legs in the bathroom, particularly over the shower stall, eh, that's not my bag, sorry Daddy.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:07 PM on October 7, 2021
When we first moved into this place, there were some holes in the walls, which I patched up. No screens on the sliding windows on either side of the picture window. I got new screens, and also did the whole steel wool around the kitchen pipes, to keep mice out. That worked for a while, then got another couple of meeces coming around, so I did more steel wool, followed by spray foam on top, and have seen less spiders since then.
It's not their fault if there are entryways to them getting inside. I've done my best, and have seen less of the lil guys running around. I don't freak out over them, unless one is crawling on my arm, which has only happened once or twice. But when I first moved in here, there were tons of Daddy Long Legs in the bathroom, particularly over the shower stall, eh, that's not my bag, sorry Daddy.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 4:07 PM on October 7, 2021
So I looked up house centipedes and whoamuthafucka. I can totally abide spiders but I freaked all the way out when one of those monsters popped up next to me one time. Sorry dude, I'll try to control myself next time, but . . . *shiver*.
posted by whuppy at 4:19 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by whuppy at 4:19 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Another bit of wolf spider trivia: Momma Wolfies carry their egg sacs around until the spiderlings all hatch, and then the _hundreds_ of itsy bitsy spider babies all ride on her back for a week or so until they strike out on their own. Anyone who squishes Momma during the week that the babies are getting carried around is in for an interesting surprise!
posted by TwoToneRow at 4:26 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by TwoToneRow at 4:26 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Why so many of us are casual spider-murderers - "The moment we sense the pitter-patter of their tiny feet across the living room floor, or catch a glimpse of movement in the corner of an eye as they abseil down from the ceiling, they're likely to end up squashed, poisoned, vacuumed up or simply flushed away from our homes. Why do many of us kill spiders so casually, swatting out their lives with our god-like power, almost like it's a reflex?"
Because spiders suck, that's why. They have eight eyes -- why? Whatever are they doing with all of those eyes? They are thinking of ways of making us unhappy, is what they are doing. They are hoping that they'll turn poisonous, if they are not already poisonous, and pouncing on our clothing and then pouncing on us, so they can make us as unhappy as they are, the little rat bastards.
I pray most days before I step outside the door, so that I don't inflict myself upon anyone who comes near to me. I pray on my knees, because that works better for me, and for you, also. I had a guy I really respect tell me that once I understand that it's all about humility, and than once I understand that I needn't do it any longer. But he doesn't live in my body, I do, and prayer on my knees is different, and good, and it's going to happen, most days.
I told you that to tell you this -- I was working as a maintainance carpenter for an apartment complex, there in Houston, and we had these uniforms, our name over one pocket, the name of the complex over the other pocket. I get on my knees, did the thing that I do ("Help! I'm a big wreck! I'm a fucking ruin! Please help!") and then off my knees and into the day, sortof wondering why I had a wet spot on front of that work uniform. Inside 30 minutes I'm sick as a damn dog, and wondering wtf, put it together when my dang leg swelled up big as a coffee can.
Brown recluse spider. I was sick as hell at least a week, a chunk of flesh the size of a peanut rotted and fell out.
I could go on. I'll save you that. Suffice to say -- I kill spiders, and you should too.
posted by dancestoblue at 5:13 PM on October 7, 2021
Because spiders suck, that's why. They have eight eyes -- why? Whatever are they doing with all of those eyes? They are thinking of ways of making us unhappy, is what they are doing. They are hoping that they'll turn poisonous, if they are not already poisonous, and pouncing on our clothing and then pouncing on us, so they can make us as unhappy as they are, the little rat bastards.
I pray most days before I step outside the door, so that I don't inflict myself upon anyone who comes near to me. I pray on my knees, because that works better for me, and for you, also. I had a guy I really respect tell me that once I understand that it's all about humility, and than once I understand that I needn't do it any longer. But he doesn't live in my body, I do, and prayer on my knees is different, and good, and it's going to happen, most days.
I told you that to tell you this -- I was working as a maintainance carpenter for an apartment complex, there in Houston, and we had these uniforms, our name over one pocket, the name of the complex over the other pocket. I get on my knees, did the thing that I do ("Help! I'm a big wreck! I'm a fucking ruin! Please help!") and then off my knees and into the day, sortof wondering why I had a wet spot on front of that work uniform. Inside 30 minutes I'm sick as a damn dog, and wondering wtf, put it together when my dang leg swelled up big as a coffee can.
Brown recluse spider. I was sick as hell at least a week, a chunk of flesh the size of a peanut rotted and fell out.
I could go on. I'll save you that. Suffice to say -- I kill spiders, and you should too.
posted by dancestoblue at 5:13 PM on October 7, 2021
I am really curious about why some people are terrified of creepy crawlies and why some people aren't. A lot of articles start with the assumption that it's hard-wired, and I agree that makes sense, but I also can't relate. I have absolutely no fear or revulsion towards creepy crawlies at all.
So, if it's hard-wired, why isn't the fear of creepy crawlies universal?
I've tried googling the question, but I just get the same explanations of why the fear is so common. But surely someone has written about it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 5:42 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
So, if it's hard-wired, why isn't the fear of creepy crawlies universal?
I've tried googling the question, but I just get the same explanations of why the fear is so common. But surely someone has written about it.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 5:42 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
For the first year after I moved into my creek-side apartment, I squashed spiders when convenient, or if they were either above me or headed towards me in a threatening way along the wall. They promptly evolved into translucent spiders, at which point I believe I said out loud “if I can’t see you, I’m fine with that arrangement” and left that one alone. I see a lot fewer spiders now, and I worry sometimes that it’s not because they’re translucent. It’s because I’m not afraid enough anymore. Apparently science has proven that, and I’m not sure what to think. But I’m still proud of the translucent spiders for finding their niche.
posted by Callisto Prime at 5:42 PM on October 7, 2021
posted by Callisto Prime at 5:42 PM on October 7, 2021
I can totally abide spiders but I freaked all the way out when one of those monsters popped up next to me one time. Sorry dude, I'll try to control myself next time, but . . . *shiver*.
They're fierce hunters that love to eat ants, roaches, pantry moths, termites + silverfish, so think 2x before you kill one. They are definitely beneficial.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:11 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
They're fierce hunters that love to eat ants, roaches, pantry moths, termites + silverfish, so think 2x before you kill one. They are definitely beneficial.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:11 PM on October 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't know. I don't LIKE them, and I don't enjoy getting bug bit (which I am prone to),but I don't get the screaming meemies every time I see a bug, either. It's more like "I'm gonna drown your ass, cockroach, buh-bye."
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:24 PM on October 7, 2021
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:24 PM on October 7, 2021
Actually I do get the screamy weemies but then I'm like ack I have to save this horrible thing before it kills me ack
posted by bleep at 6:52 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 6:52 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
i haven’t read the whole thread but just wanna say, i have really bad arachnophobia. but i think spiders are amazing. i need help in dealing with them but never want them killed. i’ve also come to the point where i can see one in my room and not have a panic attack so long as it’s just ~chillin~. i love them in the abstract but am terrified of them in reality, for no reason
posted by LeviQayin at 9:08 PM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by LeviQayin at 9:08 PM on October 7, 2021 [3 favorites]
TFA seems to have it backwards. I'd never kill small spiders; my most solidly-trusted moral intuition is "pick on someone your own size"; I consume not flesh nor fish nor fowl. The small spiders of the world are little robots --- little simplified instantiations of what might be the same processes that animate our own consciousness and thus endow us with moral worth --- and it is precisely for this robotic reason that to kill them would be both an abuse of power and a sin.
But all of this MetaFiltery talk of empathy and morality and theory of mind is exposed as a mere pretentious affectation when of a groggy midnight stagger to the loo one encounters the Land Kraken, Eratigena atrica, advancing implacably across the tiles. In such moments, the relevant question --- the question of which of us will occupy the flat, for there can only be one --- is not one of psychology, but one of power. The Land Kraken teaches us that political power grows from the tube of the hoover.
posted by busted_crayons at 2:46 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
But all of this MetaFiltery talk of empathy and morality and theory of mind is exposed as a mere pretentious affectation when of a groggy midnight stagger to the loo one encounters the Land Kraken, Eratigena atrica, advancing implacably across the tiles. In such moments, the relevant question --- the question of which of us will occupy the flat, for there can only be one --- is not one of psychology, but one of power. The Land Kraken teaches us that political power grows from the tube of the hoover.
posted by busted_crayons at 2:46 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Anyone remember that natural wiki/website that had write-ups about many common indoor arthropod species?
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:58 AM on October 8, 2021
posted by sebastienbailard at 2:58 AM on October 8, 2021
Here in Ottawa we get tiny (8 mm) little jumping zebra spiders. They hunt their prey, rather than building webs. And they're cute - if you move a pencil or finger tip near them, they'll turn to watch it.
As one astronomer found out, zebra spiders can see as well as a pigeon or small dog, and use this ability to hunt laser pointer dots, but more often tiny bugs.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:10 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
As one astronomer found out, zebra spiders can see as well as a pigeon or small dog, and use this ability to hunt laser pointer dots, but more often tiny bugs.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:10 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
We had an adorable little garter snake in the lower branches of one of our pine trees, sunbathing.
I wanted to show it off to our neighbors, but how to do you do this without scaring potential ophidiophobes?
Q: "Apropos of nothing, are you afraid of snakes?"
A: " ... ... Why are you asking me this?"
Q: "No reason. Snakes, they're great, right?"
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:13 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
I wanted to show it off to our neighbors, but how to do you do this without scaring potential ophidiophobes?
Q: "Apropos of nothing, are you afraid of snakes?"
A: " ... ... Why are you asking me this?"
Q: "No reason. Snakes, they're great, right?"
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:13 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
What the glue trap wants, the glue trap keeps.
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2021
posted by markbrendanawitzmissesus at 7:25 AM on October 8, 2021
Ugh, glue traps are really awful.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:46 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:46 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
I love spiders. Blame it on a childhood neighbor's pet tarantula, Rosie, and too much "Charlotte's Web" when I was seven. They get to hang out (literally and figuratively).
As I live in a woodsy, water adajcent house firmly in the heart of both mosquito country and the Giant Flying Cockroach/Palmetto bug (I call them all Elvis, ps)-rich region that is the American South, I spend most of my time trying to chase and keep the Elvises out of my house, ideally without squishing them with my Grandmother's copy of Emily Post's Etiquette on a wall. That was my preferred method for years, but god it made such a disgusting mess on my paint that when I moved out on my old apartment I had to forfeit part of my security deposit for (essentially) squished roach stains.
posted by thivaia at 7:59 AM on October 8, 2021
As I live in a woodsy, water adajcent house firmly in the heart of both mosquito country and the Giant Flying Cockroach/Palmetto bug (I call them all Elvis, ps)-rich region that is the American South, I spend most of my time trying to chase and keep the Elvises out of my house, ideally without squishing them with my Grandmother's copy of Emily Post's Etiquette on a wall. That was my preferred method for years, but god it made such a disgusting mess on my paint that when I moved out on my old apartment I had to forfeit part of my security deposit for (essentially) squished roach stains.
posted by thivaia at 7:59 AM on October 8, 2021
Heh I’m giving a talk today on “a spider’s sense of place”, my fancy way to describe habitat selection.
posted by dhruva at 8:45 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by dhruva at 8:45 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Chiming in late - but it's never to early to teach kids. My daughter is 7 and since birth I have always taught her that "Spiders are our friends" and I've explained to her that, without them, the world be overrun by insects of all kinds. If we see a spider in the house we remove in GENTLY to the outside to live it's life and catch some more bugs for us.
I was so happy to overhear my daughter pass on the message to her friends who were freaking out by a spider.
On the other hand, flies and mosquitos can go fuck themselves and we kill them without remorse.
posted by crayon at 10:17 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was so happy to overhear my daughter pass on the message to her friends who were freaking out by a spider.
On the other hand, flies and mosquitos can go fuck themselves and we kill them without remorse.
posted by crayon at 10:17 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you are still living in Illinois, there aren't any brown recluse spiders there.
Looks at link.
You might be mistaken about which state you think Illinois is.
posted by hwyengr at 11:13 AM on October 8, 2021
Looks at link.
You might be mistaken about which state you think Illinois is.
posted by hwyengr at 11:13 AM on October 8, 2021
I have no problem with spiders unless they're on me or headed my way. Centipedes creep me the fuck out on a visceral level I have to words to express. However, I am happy to share my bathroom with the occasional centipede, and even rescue them when they fall into the sink or tub, because I know without them we'd be overrun with silverfish, and silverfish are far far worse.
My aversion to multilegged creatures is something that's happened as I've aged, with no event that I can recall as a cause. When I was a kid I had no hesitation to pick up and observe caterpillars... now, you couldn't pay me enough to do that.
posted by Devoidoid at 12:29 PM on October 8, 2021
My aversion to multilegged creatures is something that's happened as I've aged, with no event that I can recall as a cause. When I was a kid I had no hesitation to pick up and observe caterpillars... now, you couldn't pay me enough to do that.
posted by Devoidoid at 12:29 PM on October 8, 2021
But all of this MetaFiltery talk of empathy and morality and theory of mind is exposed as a mere pretentious affectation when of a groggy midnight stagger to the loo one encounters the Land Kraken, Eratigena atrica, advancing implacably across the tiles. In such moments, the relevant question --- the question of which of us will occupy the flat, for there can only be one --- is not one of psychology, but one of power. The Land Kraken teaches us that political power grows from the tube of the hoover.
Eratigena are so docile though (at least the E. duellicas in PacNW). If you just nudge it it'll trundle off to a corner. Generally the only reason you see one is because they're out trying to mate.
posted by lastobelus at 2:54 PM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Eratigena are so docile though (at least the E. duellicas in PacNW). If you just nudge it it'll trundle off to a corner. Generally the only reason you see one is because they're out trying to mate.
posted by lastobelus at 2:54 PM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
The spiders I find on my wall are invariably really tiny. I know they’re harmless, and don’t carry pestilence, so I half the time I just leave them alone. If I want to get rid of them (usually at the behest of the wife), I grab them with a tissue and throw them out the window, trying not to crush them. I like spiders—the small, cute kind anyway. Never kill, not willingly.
But roaches? Mosquitos? Kill kill kill. No quarter no mercy. Death to every roach, every mosquito I see; I am become death. I am a vicious sociopathic murderer when it comes to roaches and mosquitos, and I don’t feel bad about that. One. Whit.
posted by zardoz at 4:58 PM on October 8, 2021
But roaches? Mosquitos? Kill kill kill. No quarter no mercy. Death to every roach, every mosquito I see; I am become death. I am a vicious sociopathic murderer when it comes to roaches and mosquitos, and I don’t feel bad about that. One. Whit.
posted by zardoz at 4:58 PM on October 8, 2021
• How To Care For Jumping Spiders [as pets]
• Jumping Spiders Are the Cutest, and You Can Catch Your Own
• How to Collect Jumping Spiders (Salticidae) – Wayne Maddison Lab
• Jumping Spider Handling Tips
posted by cenoxo at 12:53 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
• Jumping Spiders Are the Cutest, and You Can Catch Your Own
• How to Collect Jumping Spiders (Salticidae) – Wayne Maddison Lab
• Jumping Spider Handling Tips
posted by cenoxo at 12:53 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
> No, we don't swallow spiders in our sleep.
You say this, but there's recent research by a famous citizen-naturalist that suggests otherwise.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:33 AM on October 10, 2021
You say this, but there's recent research by a famous citizen-naturalist that suggests otherwise.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:33 AM on October 10, 2021
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Maintaining the subterfuge is a tightrope of emotion and sweaty palms. In the back of my mind, I know it is only a matter of time before one of them comes back and is recognized as a previous occupant.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:29 AM on October 7, 2021 [26 favorites]