Don’t kill spiders!

My love for spiders started one day when I went bug hunting with my kids. In one day we found two baboon spiders and a very small gecko by just looking… Amazing how nature comes alive when you actually look.

It was the most amazing thing to inspect the small male and female baboon spiders (Harpactira sp. ‘Robertson’) and since my father did the same for me as a child, of course I just had to catch the third one we saw in the house to look at it closely and release back into the garden. It made me think of how my grandma used to kill every spider in sight with Doom…

Why do people kill spiders? They are a valuable part of the eco system and they are quite effective in eradicating insects. We’ll I’m sure most people mainly kill them because they are afraid that they can be dangerous and possibly deadly.

Well I found this exert from How stuff works – Home & Garden

“Most spiders don’t harm humans. In fact, they help us.

Dr. Linda S. Rayor, Assistant Professor of Entomology, Cornell University

Spiders are beneficial inhabitants of any garden, ecosystem, or home because of their important contributions to biological control of pest insects. Spiders are considered to be the most important terrestrial predators, eating tons of pest insects or other small arthropods every year. Spiders are generalist predators that are willing to eat almost any insect they can catch. They are abundant and found in most habitats. They only need to be left alone!

Spiders are voracious hunters and will reduce the amount of pests in your garden. However, spiders will also go after bees and other favorable insects. Spiders aren’t aggressive like mantises, so importing the arachnids to your garden isn’t going to quash an aphid outbreak. However, their very presence will reduce garden pests. (And no chemicals!)

Like the good Doc says, all you have to do is leave them alone.”

The Spider Club of Southern Africa has a great free printable booklet that will enlighten you on how many actual deadly spiders we have in South Africa. Download the booklet HERE  and next time you see a scary looking creature…. know that he’s most probably harmless and more afraid of you than you are of him.

Just leave him alone and you should be fine and if you absolutely have to, rather transfer him to the garden by catch and release with a glass and a piece of cardboard, You’ll come to notice its actually not that scary!