Killing Spiders

Killed a Giant Nope Spider from the land of I Don't Think So out by the front door. Grabbed a shoe and smooshed him. Couldn't tell what kind of spider it was, possibly a fearsome killer demon spawn from hell, did not look friendly, kinda had a scowl on its face, kinda looked like it was plotting my death...but you're welcome, family...we're all saved from eminent doom. *shivers*

So where I live, we have black widows and recluses. I can identify what a black widow is, in California there were black widows everywhere, but here I haven't seen any but my mom has in our yard. But I don't know how to identify brown recluses. Google images don't seem like much help. They are brown. But how can you tell the "good" brown spiders from the recluses? I have a feeling the nope spider I smooshed was a recluse...it just looked so big and scary and evil. Definitely a must-squish. *shivers again*

But I need to know how to identify what a recluse looks like, because if I got bit...Yikes. I'd be dead meat and not know it. *shivers once more*

Can anybody tell I REALLY hate spiders? FFS, I held a cockroach no problem! I've held snakes, lizards, birds, frogs, lizards, turtles, salamanders...all sorts of strange creatures. Been face-to-face, inches away from dangerous rattlesnakes, not an ounce of fear. But I do NOT do spiders. Or potato bugs. EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!! *hides and puts on biohazard suit*

All spiders are good, in my opinion. They eat a lot of the nasties that make our lives more uncomfortable. I don't kill spiders. I gently take them outside, even brown recluses that I've caught in my building. "Catch" isn't technically true, because they usually will walk up on me, if I sit very still. Most spiders do not want to bite people, we aren't their food. Can you imagine a little spider trying to wrap a whole big human? It would take days! They're actually extremely clean animals and other than old webs and dried carcasses they don't leave nasty messes. Please be kind to spiders. They help you, and you never have to ask them.

Lark, I respect your fear of spiders, but don't share it. If the beast you killed was hairy it wasn't a recluse. They are smooth.

I love your writing in the story about killing the monster!

SorryShaped, while I respect that some folks are afraid of spiders, I'm with you. Spiders are our friends. They eat the "bad" bugs. For the most part I don't move them outside. I try for living in coexistence with them.

I'm not necessarily scarred of spiders, but they do kind of creep me out. As in I won't run from them, but I sure as heck don't want them crawling on me or touching me in any way.

So I totally get it!

I don't take them outside of my personal space, but others will kill them if in my building.

I vacuum spiders XD I dont want some spiders to crawl around me. But unfortunately I cant remove all of them, so there is still possibility a certain spider crawling towards me. But The GOD will protect me, unless The GOD is a spider.

If you get close enough to a brown recluse you can see what looks like a darker brown violin shape on it's back.

Living on a farm, I tell all spiders if they want to live.....STAY OUT OF MY HOUSE. If I let every spider live that came into my house it would be overrun by them & that is just NOT going to happen. I have taken 2 snakes back outside this year & usually relocate mice far away but spiders inside my house are DEAD. The huge wolf spiders with the 3+ inch leg span are definitely dead if they come inside. No way can I catch a spider that big & I am sure NOT sharing space with a bug that size.

Those whispy cellar spiders drive me nuts too. All over every room so I do target practice with them using my cleaning spray. Can make a mess though but since cleaning spray it forces me to clean the mess up.

I have only seen one black widow here though people say there are many around. Having lived in the So. Calif desert for 20 years I know what they look like from birth to full grown. I have never seen a brown recluse here in Ky but I know many who have been bit by them. Their venom eats away at the skin around the bite. No desire to live in a house where a spider like that could bite me. I always get bit by bugs & spiders & I am very sensitive to bug bites of any kind....I welt up & itch or it gets sore.....so I don't take chances. Millipedes are not welcome either & neither are wasps.

I have been known to use anything within reach to kill bugs only because I know if I take my eyes off them they will disappear & that is just NOT going to happen inside my house.

Lol....I had to tell the 3 ft long black snake in my upstairs bathroom to "stay there" until I could find something big enough to catch it in. I definitely didn't want it disappearing somewhere in my house since I have no idea how it got there in the first place.

You really never know what the next encounter will be living on a farm with 5 acres of woods & stream

Lets see if this picture of the brown recluse with its violin pattern will post

Did not want to get close enough for identification...but yes, that's what it looked like. Right by the front door. Recluse or not a recluse, it was a terrifying NOPE spider and it was itching to get inside. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE.

I have yet to see a snake by my house, but at my school an orange bird had a black snake twice it's size in it's beak. Absolutely crazy. And at my school we get some kind of reddish-orange salamander/lizards crawling around all the time. So cute!

We do get bats a lot at night, which are so, so, so cool but my mom said not to let them land on you or bite because they're often highly contagious with rabies.

And my cat has caught three field mice indoors...once, she caught one and brought it into my room all proud of herself...and then dropped the mouse and it ran around my room...while I was sleeping! And my parents came in and hunted it down and grabbed it and threw it out!

I catch 'em and toss 'em if they're outdoor guys. Otherwise I leave them alone. By weight they couldn't help with the rent much anyway and they DO put in their chores. I have no real problem with 'em. That said, I don't live in dangerous spider country. That 'little brown recluse spider' thing kinda freaks me out. I'm def a FAR northern hemisphere kinda guy. Fanged meat eaters and dying from exposure are preferable to the crawly shite that haunts the more southerly climes.

Do I even want to know what you're referring to?

Bears n' big cats I suppose....but that seems to be about it for the dangers up north. A good stomping by one ton cloven-hooved antlered things is a risk too. Those mooses ain't meeces after all. : )