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I personally love them. They get rid of all the annoying moths and Cane Flies that fly about in my room, and watching them wrap and devour a bug is most entertaining.
I really have a dislike for people who kill spiders, Bees and other "good" insects/arachnids. I admit, I will not hesitate to swat, say, a Moth or a Wasp, but I will never, ever kill a Spider. Even when I found a 3 inch wide spider in my room (and for Ireland that's fething Huge), I just let it go about it's merry way, and now it's got a nice little web by my light, where I watch it catch Cane Flies, gnats and toss the occasional stunned moth into it.

Yes, they're useful, but...

You live in Ireland. You haven't seen a real spider yet. Ever heard of the Sydney Funnel-web? Oh man, those are scary things. Not to mention Black Widows, Red-backs, and those hugeass South American spiders that eat birds.

Yeah but Oz is weird:

Are you asking a rhetorical question by any chance Gwar!?!?!?!? oops, got carried away on that .

Spiders are scary because the ones that we used to be around (and the ones that come people still deal with) can kill you...

Yep, not much more than that really. Snakes are also scary, but on the whole they are usually less venomous.

Funny thing is that most people that think that they are afraid of scorpions are just weirded out by them. Spiders on the other hand (OMFG IT IS ON MY HAND KILL IT!!!...) are serious business, as are sea snakes.

I would hesitate to say that most people are actually that afraid of Tarantulas, the same would apply for tomato spiders... which are profusely cute in an epic fail kind of way .

Spider's are cool.

But I'll smash any bug, purely for amusement.

Spider's i think have just been a sign of badluck or being troublesome, most people also assume they are all are Venomous.

I don't mind them, and i admit making a spider into a symbol for a Chapter/group would be cool.

It's weird, I've got a spider eating 2 moths ATM and one with nothing and I feel bad for the one with no bugs to eat :(

God I hope this image doesn't get pulled. It is an AIDS awareness poster after all.

Cant stand Spiders. Just seeing one is a picture makes me shudder.

I knew a girl who got AIDS from a spider. It was very sad.


In other news, I don't like bugs getting in my way, so I'll smash spiders if they're bothering me. However, I'll leave them alone if they're not in path, as I can always use another ally in my war against the more annoying arthropods. (Ants are a big one. I kill every ant I see, I just know they're the scouts...)

Ooh I can't stand Ants. Nasty little buggers.

On a totally unrelated note, I found out that Tomatoes are a Type of Nightshade and the Leaves will kill you. Who Knew!

I'm mildly allergic to lots of insect bites/stings. Mosquito bites swell a bit and itch like hell, but aren't serious. March Fly bites become huge and once I had so many on one arm that I had to have it put in a gel-filled binding.

Now, Bullants (or Inchmen if you like) are my worst experience with insects. Got bitten on the ankle in 6th grade, and that was horrible. The initial bite hurt like hell and I was rolling around bawling my eyes out, and the aftermath was worse. It didn't hurt, but it itched. Oh man, it itched. I was scratching and scratching for hours on end, and no amount of cream or ice could relieve it. All that scratching caused this horrible bubble of fluid to form over the bite that grew back in less than an hour when it popped. It was a horrible thing to go through, and I now exterminate Bullants wherever I find them. Pour a bit of petrol down the hole, and throw a match in there for good measure.

Whoomph!

I hate insects. Spiders are scary, but they're our friends.

Cheesey you carry petrol and matches around with you?!
I think cheese might be a Pyro manic? Cause any bush fire's lately?

Narp, but I keep a can of petrol in the carport (that's garage to you Yanks) for when I find some Bullants or for when my off-road buggy runs out of fuel.

Carport? You ozzies are utter nuts. Must be the breeding

And I agree with you, Spiders are Humans friend. As long as we don't mess with them, they leave us alone and eat all the nasty bugs/birds that annoy us.

And here is an example of what they can do if they bite you:
bite image (gore)

Sleep Tight! Dont let the bed bugs bite!

I didn't think the majority of camel spiders were venomous.

I don't hate spiders.

I do fear them - in a squeal-like-a-girl-kinda-way. The big ones, anyway.

However, our spiders (as Cheese has already mentioned) are something else.

The Eastern Funnel web (used to be called the 'Sydney' funnel web, but it expanded its base of operations) is aggressive and bites multiple times. Each bite is capable of killing an adult, but for them, overkill is the catchphrase. Can be found anywhere along the east coast of Australia. From Melbourne up to the tip of Qld.

They are known to chase down food. They are not ambush predators like many spiders. They do, however, have two native predators. The blue-tongue lizard (a large skink with a blue tongue) and the kookaburra.

Then there are also the domesticated housebrick, and thong (flip-flop, not some piece of butt-floss) - howver the thong has a tendency to merely briefly stun one and just p*ss it off.

<Nitpick>Solifugae (Camel Spiders) are not true spiders, which are from a different order, Araneae. Like scorpions and harvestmen, they belong to a distinct arachnid order.

As an Ozzie, I have a healthy respect for spiders. Poisonous ones in or around the house must die. Non-poisionous ones are removed and thrown into the garden. If there were no spiders, you wouldnt be able to breathe for the flies!

Interestingly enough my GF will happily remove spiders, but squeals over cockroaches. I just dont get it.

I treat spiders like I treat GOOD INSECTS. If they are in the house, I put em outside. If they get in my way, I kill em.

Bleh.

I feel really squeamish, insects freak me out.

I won't kill 'em. Usually. If it's in the house, ok. Just not my room. They're KOS (Kill on Sight) for me, as is anything that comes into my room that isn't a mammal.

i live in the mountains, i fething hate the mid size spiders that run towards the bite you and feth you up (i was out once and saw a bathroom out of order due to black widow infestation),
little spiders, i'll leave alone cause they keep the real pests away

Cheese Elemental wrote:Yes, they're useful, but...

You live in Ireland. You haven't seen a real spider yet. Ever heard of the Sydney Funnel-web? Oh man, those are scary things. Not to mention Black Widows, Red-backs, and those hugeass South American spiders that eat birds.

Don't forget brown recluses.

Of course once you start running into their nastier, biker gang tquila drinking cousins the scorpions, spiders don't seem that scary...
Plus they have tha dded bonus in that every scorpion I've met, when spotted comes right at you in attack mode.



WTF!!!

Is it true that the bigger the scorpion, the less venomous it is? Or is that just an urban myth?

I think one of the reasons UK'ers have such a different outlook on spiders is because they don't have any that will lay you out on your ass or kill you. Same goes for snakes.
While I personally like both critters, I do not hesitate to kill anything that finds its way into my house. They can have the outside, I can have the inside.
Except ants. I will take out every ant nest I can find. Biting little bastards... God I hate fire ants. Though I am super thankful not to live in Aussie land where they have those big ass and bastard cousins that jump at you.

Neferteila wrote:Same goes for snakes.

Hey, we have the Vipera berus (Common names: common European adder, common European viper), Not the deadliest of snakes but it will still take down a fair few people!

Btw, I was hoping you oz folks might have a look at this spider and see if you recognise it, it's living in my lighting fixture (Pictured inside a DVD Plastic Cover thing that goes on those packs of 25):

Nope, we don't get many kinds of dangerous spiders in Tassie. Ask one of the mainland folks.

Cheese Elemental wrote:Is it true that the bigger the scorpion, the less venomous it is? Or is that just an urban myth?

No

Frazzled wrote:

Cheese Elemental wrote:Is it true that the bigger the scorpion, the less venomous it is? Or is that just an urban myth?

No

Is it true that the bigger the scorpion, the less venomous it is? "No"

or


Is that just an urban myth? "No"

Sorry,
no its not true. I think the pad mofo Mexican scorpions are the biggest. Must dare to search the intranets...

EDIT: Jeez Mexico had 1,000 deaths from scorpion stings one year...AH AHA AHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Did I mention I hate scorpions ever since I woke up in my bed and one was laying next to my face?