Now that I'm over the heebie-jeebies.... Terminex came out.

[moriah]

We had a small-scale ant invasion and I was sick of spraying my home with nasty chemicals, locking my cat up, and baiting outside.

We also had a wasp nest right next to my back door.

So I gave in and called the pros.

Now, my man and I have always found spiders to be noble. I first learned the value of spiders when I lived in a home without an indoor bathroom -- an outhouse NEEDS spiders, and you just hope the Wolf Spiders who love flies will be the only year-round occupants of your outhouse. So we never killed the spiders that set up next to our windows outside -- they were doing us a service, keeping bugs from coming in.

The Terminex guy asked if we wanted to get rid of the spiders too, and I said "I have no problem with spiders as long as they are not going to kill me or make me sick, I know there are species other than the standard two that can bite and cause necrosis, so if you see any that look suspicious, feel free to murder them along with their food supply, it's nicer than starving them to death I suppose."

My exterminator got to take seven lovely specimens home to his friend's child who was doing a project on spiders:

Three perfect large black widows

Four egg sacs, all with the distinctive shape of the Southern Black Widow's egg sacs.

-------

Do you see why it took me a bit before I could think about this without being upset?

[Duer 157099]

1. I agree with the spider co-habitation position

I consider them allies. And yes, black widows give me the willies too, and I certainly find them often enough. I don't consider them a threat though (and I don't think I've ever found one in the house, always out side or in a garage/shed, so I figure that's fair)

I have a recent funny story about a spider - it was on this sculpture thing I found in a thrift store that I really wanted to buy, but I noticed the spider and got all squeamish. I finally managed to gingerly carry the thing to the register and pay for it, watching the whole time to make sure the spider didn't make a move and try to crawl up my arm (lol, as if). I noticed that there was an egg sac too, which explained why said spider didn't just evacuate when I started picking the thing up and moving it around. Anyway, as I was carrying the thing across the parking lot, being really careful to keep an eye on the spider, it somehow fell off or jumped off and at first it started to run away and then, like after half a second, it turned around like "Oh shit! My kids are still on that thing!" and ran back and lol, you know what I did? I put the damn thing on the ground so the spider could get back on!!! I had been intending to take it to the grass near the parking lot and leave the spider and her egg sac there - which is what I eventually did, but damn, in all of the excitement, the frikken egg sac hatched and suddenly now there were dozen of itty bitty (or is it itsy bitsy?) spiders all over this thing! I got a broom from the store and brushed all the spiders off onto the grass.

Ewwww...! I have a real ambivalent relationship with spiders. They creep me out but yet fascinate me too.

[moriah]

2. Well, I wouldn't have killed off the wasps....

... if I wasn't highly allergic to them.

I thought they were paper wasps, he said they were a species of yellowjacket that builds similar nests but was much more aggressive and venomous, and he was surprised that they didn't sting me when I told him how I noticed the nest -- I was reaching up to turn back on the light that they had nested on, it was a sensor light and they had nested on the sensor. He said I was lucky it was just dark out there.

I have an odd relationship with things that live in my home or places I frequent. If you can kill me and don't know any better but to kill me if I am stupid and get in "your" space, you're dead.

I only don't like mice because they can carry hantavirus, and rats because their fleas can carry the plague. But give me a live trap or a good old snap trap over a glue trap any day.

[Duer 157099]

3. Ugh, now wasps, I don't really have much tolerance for

Last year they decided to put their nest on the eaves right above the front door - like ok thank you, think you could find a *less* convenient spot??? But nonetheless, I somehow managed to survive the whole season, but once it got cold and they left, I squirt something on it (cuz I know they go back to the same spot the next summer) and they didn't come back to it this summer (fortunately!). But my son just told me that he found out where they are, they've made a nest in a pot in the backyard, lol -- which was fine with me this year as I didn't really spend much time out there.

I have no problem with killing these critters if they get in my way, but I try to let them do their thing if they're not bugging me.

[ThomCat]

4. I am very glad he found the black widows and now they are gone.

:hug:

I hope have no more uninvited guests in your home. :)

[moriah]

5. Meeeee too!

I have no desire to have tiny neurotoxin injectors in my home.