To humanely squash massive spiders

[Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses]

They're huge, they're in my house, and I'm terrified of them. 3 in 2 weeks. Big ones.

I love animals, I feel really guilty but I just can't live with them. They're massive and they're really unusually fast and I'm constantly on edge in my own home.

So AIBU to squash and remove?

(I'm only squashing because DH away and I am SO scared that leaving them to go through the house to pop up another day is scarier than getting near enough to squash. Although it still takes about half an hour to work up to it)

I left 2 massive spiders with a loo roll ladder for 3 weeks in the ensuite sink once. They were too stupid to use it. They eventually started having legs drop off and things(?) and I had to DROWN them to put them out their misery. Traumatic

You love the idea of someone seeking proper help if they have a proper phobia?

Me too. I think it would be helpful to a lot of people who have proper phobias.

You drop bricks on them? Not exactly Dignitas for arachnids, is it?
No I'm still going with YABU - buy a spider catcher.

Fair point, feck! But ... eugh.

worra - lots of people have phobias of spiders. It's quite normal - unfortunately.

Bloody horrible.

I hate them but I don't kill them. My husband catches flies and let them outside as well. And there is a very special way of catching flies and he is an expert at it.

House spiders are fine outside, honestly. There are tons in my ivy!

Seems more likely your ivy spiders are not house spiders- www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/myths/comein.html

No phobias are 'normal'...that's the whole thing about proper phobias.

A fear of spiders or a strong dislike is normal, but generally adults accept they have to step up and deal with it.

The word 'phobia' is becoming as overused as the word 'depressed', when someone is feeling extremely down.

The two should not be confused.

Worra, as ashamed as I am to admit it when I was a single parent and had no one else to deal with one, and couldn't get hold of anyone else, I was very very close to phoning the police. I know it's stupid and irrational but I could not get close enough to deal with it in any way shape or form and I was hysterical/hyperventilating etc.

I don't care if the person who deals with it for me has a penis or not I just need it gone!

I really do need help :(

my dog terrorises them. he is an alsatian and if he finds one he will trap it between his paws and catch it in his mouth then let it go then do the whole process again. occasionally he will be led down and has discovered he can let it run then knock it back to him, a bit like scar with the mouse in lion king DS gets rid of them.for me otherwise. I just can't stand the thought of touching them, and as for professional help I would feel silly going to the gp to tell him I am scared of spiders!
if DS is at school and I see one I just avoid it like the plague

I love spiders and happily catch them and put them outside. But crane flies/ daddy long legs I find really scary! Despite this I have trained myself to deal with them in the same way. So YABU, killing a creature that isnt a risk to you is wrong.

So you sought help for your phobia ApignamedJasper?

Because it's clear from your post that you have one, rather than just a pretter normal fear/dislike.

I totally agree with everything that Worra said.

If you have a true phobia that affects your every day life, you get help.

Personally, I love spiders... and any other creatures that creep. not that keen on dogs . My dd doesn't like spiders but she has learned that if I'm not about she can use a glass and some paper and put them out because, much as she dislikes them, got her fear from the ex mil she couldn't stand to kill something.

worra - ah, no.

This is a common misconception.

Some phobias seem to be pretty well ingrained. If you think about it, they make sense. So, some of us are scared of heights, or of deep water. Others are scared of spiders. They seem irrational fears now, because we live in quite a safe world. But, back in the day, they might have been helpful warnings.

So, I think someone who is scared should not feel guilty. If they can deal with the issue, what's the problem?!

And btw, no, worra, 'phobia' doesn't mean 'depressed'.

I really need to but I've heard that it's 'exposure therapy' that involves being put in contact with them and I just can't handle the thought of that :(

I now have a mental image of my husband attempting to use his willy to deal with spiders. !!

Could it be an effective therapy for women who are terrified of spiders? Watching men trying to deal with them with their willies?

Apig, there's other ways of dealing with this.

You can make your house inhospitable to spiders. You can get good at trapping them so you don't have to touch them.

If you don't want to touch them, let's not be silly - this isn't reality TV! You can just sensibly avoid that.

Sorry, topseyt!

But that's the thing isn't it Jeanne, if they're killing innocent creatures or having to rely on someone else to help them, they're definitely not dealing with the issue.

Spiders entering our homes is a fact of life. Therefore people need to learn to deal with it themselves.

I've read time and again on MN that people are cowering and shaking because their DH isn't home and there's a spider in the room.

And when you think of it, there is no such thing as 'massive' spider, compared to the size of a human being...even compared to the size of a newborn baby.

I hate the scuttling little fuckers...they give me the heebie jeebies but I'm an adult so I learn to deal with removing them. The same way as I learnt to deal with all other aspects of owning a home.

If someone can't do that, they should seek help imo.

Ah, my post about not killing them obviously too far upthread! But I have already said all if this.

I don't totally get hating spiders - it just isn't my phobia - but of course, I did post in the first place to explain how people could get around that. It works a treat - try it!

And btw, no, worra, 'phobia' doesn't mean 'depressed'

Huh?

No idea what you're talking about now but you clearly misread my post

It's so weird but live spiders don't bother me. I pick coo at them and give them names. A few years ago a spider made her web on my gate and had been blessed with adorable little spiderlings. They were so tiny like little full stops.
But dead spiders on the other hand absolutely terrify me. It makes no sense

I meant this post:

'The word 'phobia' is becoming as overused as the word 'depressed', when someone is feeling extremely down.'

I thought if you meant that the word 'phobia' was often misused, in the same way as is the word 'depressed', which is often in contexts where someone is 'feeling down'?

If you didn't mean that - what did you mean?

Ilive - oh! Wow, I've never met someone else who felt that. I am the same.

Totally happy with live spiders. I will pick up the big ones. But the dead ones?! The way they bunch up?

I hate it.