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

[Hidinginthelootoo]

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?

Yes. Yes you should.

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

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

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

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

No don’t.

Move house.

Leave it alone ffs

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

If you like killing animals I say go for it

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

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

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....

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

@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!