Birds also only eat spiders they see. Not sure how that’s any different

I don't kill spiders. They are my unpaid exterminators.

That's why I only kill the roaches that venture into my house, if I see a roach in the street I leave it alone to thrive that way all future offspring will be selected for street only living.

Don't think this uploaded correctly

Good, we should make them even more reclusive and smarter. Honestly, an army of highly intelligent bug killers specialized in keeping out of my sight hiding in the interstices of my house sounds like an awesome idea

In our house the rule is spiders can stay if they're out the way (up high, etc). When they get too close for comfort for my wife's tolerance limits, I pick them up and put them outside. Spiders are friends.

Huh, coincidentally,I just finished reading Children of Time

Why kill spiders? Oh, maybe it's Australia.

Any flies that fly into my house are given a chance to leave. If I can herd them out the window, they get to live and make lots of new baby flies.

On the other hand, their chances of getting a close up view of the fly swatter increase exponentially with every minute they spend refusing to leave and ignoring the fact that I'm literally showing them the exit.

I once tried making a similar argument to a game warden about only hunting deer during the day. They were not appreciative of the take.

This was after I hit a deer with my car while driving home from Thanksgiving, it was not a good time.

I have the same thoughts about hitting squirrels with my car.

Not that I do it on purpose or feel good about It, but I tell myself that at least the survivors will pass on their survivor traits to the next generation.

If I never know that the spider is there then we shall both live a peaceful life.

The reclusiveness selection argument makes sense, but why intelligence? Brains are crazy metabolically expensive, and I can't see why a smart reclusive spider would survive humans any better than a merely reclusive one.

this isnt true tho. we kill loads of them without seeing them.

i like the idea tho

This is why you shouldn't kill rattlesnakes. If we kill the rattlesnakes that make themselves known, over time they adapt to not rattle before striking.

My house spiders are cool. They eat the flies etc and I fish them out of the way before I have a shower. The only disagreement we have is over their little lair in the kitchen. There's a tiny hole in the skirting board in one corner, and cobwebs gather there. Now and then I brush away the webs and plaster over the hole. A week later the hole is back and the webs too.

Am I missing something here? Why is everyone talking about spiders

As long as the spiders don't break our agreement they can stay. They eat the bugs and pests, and they can live in the corners of my house. As soon as they come to the floor they're dead.

fine by me. as long as i don't see them, they don't exist.

Aren't they already smart?

I recognised this problem years ago and decided to also let them eat bugs in plain sight. Unfortunately my house isn't big enough to counter evolution on my own, but I feel there is more people out there who also stopped killing spiders because of this.

I catch them in a glass and cover the top with a piece of cardboard then dump them outside. Spiders eat bugs. Go be free little guy!

I like smarter spiders, but not the cost of getting there.

Whenever I see a spider in the house, I don't kill it. I do however, pick up my cat and say, "look dude, move out along before she figures out how to get to you. She will murder your ass."

The spider, always, leaves.

And cockroaches, too. They'll haul ass and scurry away every time. They know.

I think this every time I kill a mosquito or fruit fly but they don't seem to be getting any faster, smarter, or quieter. Where's Darwin when you need him to answer some questions?

I only kill spiders without opposable thumbs

I try to not kill them when i clean up excessive webs. Hope they appreciate the clean up and dont resent me for it...

yeah I accidently killed my pet invisible spider :( his name was bob

It depends also on the size. Not the same a cute jumper on the window or..

https://theworldhour.com/jba-fofi-unraveling-the-enigma-of-legendary-congolese-giant-spider-that-defies-science/

Got bit on my left leg last week by a brown recluse I didn't see. Garage is probably full of them

We are also making serial killers smarter.

I always knew I was right to scoop them up and put them outside. My wife just murders them outright.

I kill plenty I don't see, too, whenever I bug bomb my home.