Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

False widow spider outside of window...should I kill it with fire?

56 replies

Hidinginthelootoo · 26/07/2018 22:25

Complete arachnaphobe...taken all my strength to Google what one looks like...it's there, big shiny and menacing...im scared...should i kill it with fire?

OP posts:
Chaosandmadness · 26/07/2018 22:27

Yes. Yes you should.

Mammatron · 26/07/2018 22:27

Yes yes you Should. It's either that or moving and never ever returning!

CruCru · 26/07/2018 22:28

No. Spiders are our friends. They kill flies and mosquitoes and therefore slow the spread of disease.

Saisong · 26/07/2018 22:30

You know of you kill one, ten more take its place. And they have long memories...

NEFink · 26/07/2018 22:31

They are everywhere and have been for years. Its the media that has done this.

fuzzywuzzy · 26/07/2018 22:31

No don’t.

Move house.

Deshasafraisy · 26/07/2018 22:31

Leave it alone ffs

Brazenhussy0 · 26/07/2018 22:34

It's outside so leave it be. Just keep that window shut for now if it genuinely frightens you.

easyandy101 · 26/07/2018 22:34

If you like killing animals I say go for it

mummmy2017 · 26/07/2018 22:34

Yes, one of the buggers bit my daughter.
It is one could breed many many more.

Guiltypleasures001 · 26/07/2018 22:37

Go hang something out on the line, preferably next door, and it will run over there to wipe its willy on it 😁

Unless it female in which case your on ya own

Hidinginthelootoo · 26/07/2018 22:37

Just told my husband..he's out there now...shining a torch at it... I'm gesticulating through the window telling him to back the fuck away as if it pounces I'm not going out there to help....

OP posts:
Hidinginthelootoo · 26/07/2018 22:38

My washing is out getting moth dust and spider willies..why did I let my washing get darked on??

OP posts:
Mammalamb · 26/07/2018 22:41

No, that would be cruel and it’s very unlikely to harm you

DameDoom · 26/07/2018 22:41

Leave it be - should sort out the fetid, disease-spreading houseflies that are everywhere. It won't hunt you down to bite you.
I trimmed the ivy a couple of weeks ago - huge spiders in there and I
think one may have bitten me as had some slight irritation but nothing compared to a wasp sting ... shouldn't have rammed my hands in to their home.

FrankiesKnuckle · 26/07/2018 22:44

I have a large tube web spider in my front hedge. (Google is not your friend if you're an arachnophobe)
We've called him Cyril.
He's as creepy as fuck but y'know, supports the ecosystem and all that.
He'll even eat wasps which is a plus as my daughter suffered her first sting last night.

Wasp karma.

DameDoom · 26/07/2018 22:51

FrankiesKnuckle we have them in our garden wall - one was brave enough to wave its legs about in front of one of my cats in protest which was foolhardy. They are quite feisty but as you rightly say, eco-supporting and harmless.

NEFink · 26/07/2018 22:52

I apologise to them, if I move a plant pot & I disturb them. I quite like the fact that they choose my garden.

Jjacobb · 26/07/2018 22:55

Leave it alone it won't hurt you.

DS had one in his bedroom. He left it for a while then put it in a tank and fed it tiny crickets. It lived for several months. He called it Veronica Grin

Magicpaintbrush · 26/07/2018 22:57

Someone I know was bitten by a false widow spider in their bathroom and he said it was incredibly painful.

I do want to love all creatures but this particular variety of spider would have to go, sorry.

Have you got a Spider Catcher (little plastic cage on the end of a pole) - best thing we ever got!! We use it daily for all sorts of insects and release them outside.

Pebblespony · 26/07/2018 23:00

We've one in our bathroom for ages. It won't bite you unless you go near it. If it's outside, just ignore it.

EllenJanethickerknickers · 26/07/2018 23:04

False widow bites can be really nasty. My friend's bite was infected and not taken seriously by the GP. After 6 months of various antibiotics and under a dermatologist consultant it finally cleared up but she has a lumpy scar around the size of a 20p coin. I don't kill spiders but I'd be very wary of a false widow.

twattymctwatterson · 26/07/2018 23:05

Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure

GladAllOver · 26/07/2018 23:06

How do you know it's a false widow, looking from inside the window?

It takes an expert to tell them apart from the other far more common Steatoda species and many other Theridiidae that look so similar.

Leave it alone. Its job is to kill flies, which are far more of a health risk to you just at the moment.

FrankiesKnuckle · 26/07/2018 23:07

@DameDoom but have you seen the fangs?! They're ugly buggers!
Impressive web.
Added to our quite large house spider collection I think we're doing ok, and I'm no spider lover!