Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/25/gentleman-sets-fire-to-his-par.html
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Literally killing it with fire.
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While I am not enamored of them being in my house they are great for keeping down the flies and other pesky bugs.
I just have to remember to use the vacuum on the basement rafters yearly to clean up the cob webs and obvious egg sacs.
Outside I love the local cross orb weaving spiders which are still active right now. Cool looking little beasties and really cool webs.
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Well, wait…is it technically still just a phobia if they’re actually ready, willing and able to kill you?
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Only if you have sex with a black widow.
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…and apparently, even then not terribly likely outside of laboratory/confinement conditions. Thanks for sending me on a really interesting Wikipedia trip!
this was a particularly cool factoid…
Male black widow spiders tend to select their mates by determining if the female has eaten already to avoid being eaten themselves. They are able to tell if the female has fed by sensing chemicals in the web.
*sniff* *sniff* is that…Todd I smell in your silk?
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I know it sounds cool, but it’s rarely a good idea in actual practice, as this gentleman discovered.
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No, to me it sounds very unwise. 
It’s a hyperbolic statement meant to imply one’s extreme aversion to something, but literally trying to kill stuff with fire usually ends badly.
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So that’s what they’re named! We’ve got them all over the outside of the house right now. We often get exterminators ringing the door bell, using fear to sell their services. I just tell them our daughter’s pet tarantula would be quite upset.
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Yeah, ‘Dracarys’ is only cool for fictional purposes.
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I could do with some fiction right now.
The only fire which really could solve every earthly problem:
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Welp, there’s a link I shouldn’t have visited. A spider here or there I’m OK with, all the spiders on one web page, though, is a hard pass.
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I will take them over hearing the crunch of the roaches underfoot I got to experience in St. Louis.
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My memories of living in Texas for two years when I was a kid are riddled with June bugs, “water” bugs, roaches, fire ants, every poisonous snake available in the US minus Coral, scorpions and tarantulas. Soooooo many tarantulas.
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Yeah, ‘kill it with fire’ is very much NOT the best solution.
And while black widow spiders are on my KOS list if they are inside the house, I do tend the leave the other ones alone (‘daddy long leg’ variants by and large) as they keep down the gnats and other little tiny nuisance insects. Now if I can just find some spiders that will kill wasps in the same friendly manner, I’ll be super happy.
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I like the point it was his parents house and he was house sitting for them.
Because you know a conversation like this happened: “I knew it, I knew it was a bad idea when you brought it up”
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