| So one of the fun things about living in England is the many and varied bug life. Well, okay, that's not fun (although the absence of the palmetto bug is actually fun. You'll get no complaints from me on that score. No huge flying roaches is a big plus for any place. You could ask me any day of the year, "So, Stacia, would you rather live somewhere with enormous flying roaches, or somewhere without enormous flying roaches?" and I'll say, "Without, please.") Anyway. I have of late started trying to identify some of the bugs I see--there was a huge bee on my car the other day, a fuzzy one. I hunted around Wikipedia until I found it. Then there was a very large pink-and-green moth in my living room. And a red moth outside. Hey, there's little else for me to do here. Yesterday I decided to see if I could find out what the little tiny red spiders that swarm on my patio every summer are called. Turns out they seem, in fact, to be called "tiny red spiders". There is a spider mite, which is red, and a velvet mite, which is also red, but they don't look like the spiders we have. And it seems a lot of people get these, as there are quite a few bug-discussion forums with long threads devoted to these tiny red spiders and their annoying swarming habits. Someone on one of these threads asked about how to kill the spiders, because they get in the house. Another person chimed in that they've invaded her toddler's sandbox and she'd quite like to kill them too. You've never seen such outrage. Well, okay, you probably have, but still. Everyone and their brothers joined in to berate these people for daring to kill some harmless little creatures, and to say what awful people they are for not wanting tiny red spiders to crawl all over their little children. I got the distinct impression that some of the commenters were in fact agents of the tiny red spiders, spies if you will, in thrall to the Tiny Red Spider Queen and commanded by her to protect the race at all costs, and if they failed in that task they would be devoured. I just found their passion...well, confusing, to be honest. They're bugs. Okay, technically they're arachnids, but let's be honest. It's not like if you kill an army of tiny red spiders you'll hear their shreiks rising up from the pavement. It's not as though there will be tiny red spider mothers at home wringing their hands and wondering why their babies never returned home. The tiny red spiders aren't working on a cure for cancer or anything, guys. Now, I dislike spiders. I know it kills part of my "cool spooky writer" quotient but the fact is, I don't like them. I like that they exist, because it is a powerful and sometimes inspirational image, but I'm not crazy about the actual creatures. They're in my house; I can't do much about that, because for some reason there is an actual vent to the outdoors in my living room wall and they get in that way, or through the open windows (remember, no screens here) or whatever. But despite my dislike, and despite my general bugs-outdoors-live, bugs-indoors-die rule (Why do I kill them? Because I can, that's why. I'm kind of bloodthirsty), I don't kill spiders. I use the time-honored glass-and-paper trap to catch them and put them outside. (Well, okay, I confess. At one point last year we had several dozen spiders in the house, all having built webs up near the ceiling, and in a fit of pique we vacuumed them all up with the hose attachment. But ordinarily we don't kill spiders.) Because it's bad luck. I was honestly surprised nobody on the bug forums mentioned the bad-luck aspect. I thought everyone knew it was bad luck to kill a spider (in the case of Vacuum Day, we figured we'd built up enough good luck with all the spiders we'd saved over the years to get away with it. Plus, there were dozens of them. Our home looked like Miss Havisham's place.) So killing a spider is bad luck. As is breaking a mirror, or walking with one shoe on and one shoe off, or sweeping dust out the doors instead of into the center of the room, or opening an umbrella inside, or any number of other things. Are you superstitious? What's good luck or bad luck to you? **Don't forget, my summer series this year is on writing hot sex scenes! Come on by and join in!** |
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Killing a spider is bad luck? I thought it was common sense. Damn. Now THAT explains why I'm not published. LOL And walking with only one shoe on is bad luck, too? And it's bad luck to sweep dirt out the door? Next thing you'll say is that my day job of smashing old mirrors at the land fill is bad luck, too.
You know you're stressing me out here.
That vent is there to prevent your central heating suffocating you. Please don't cover it up :). That would be bad luck!
We're not much troubled with spiders these days as our cat is ruthless with them. Also with moths. Also with anything that gets in the way while she's leaping after moths.
Sorry, Tom! The world is a treacherous place indeed. :-)
Lol Buffy, are you serious? Is that really why there's holes in my walls, because the builders think I'll suffocate otherwise? Here I thought windows and doors allowed enough air into the house. You learn something new every day, huh? :-)
We used to have a cat who was like that with flies. She hunted them relentlessly; it was amazing to watch. She'd even catch them in midair. Sometimes we'd open the door and let one in just to give her something to amuse herself with.
well living on a farm, if killing spiders is bad luck that definitely explains alot..lol.. but if it dares come in my house..its needing last rights.. i absolutely fear snakes and spiders.. gahhh im shivering at the thought of either one of them..
Spiders kill mosquitoes and flies. That's all I need to know. It's the circle of life, man.
If killing spiders is bad luck, I'm in deep trouble.
I let the one in my shower curtain live, 2 days ago (only because it was between the curtains). I still regret it. The little bugger's around SOMEwhere...
Actually, the little tiny spiders are called "money spiders" and the idea is to pick them up by the web and try to spin them in a circle once around your head (I swear I'm not making this up.) If you can do it you'll get money or so the superstition goes. Much as I believe in letting the horrible things live (I really am terribly superstitious) I've never had the guts to try that one. :-)
Oh, and yeah, Jaye, that's part of it too. I'd rather have spiders than flies or other bugs.
What's superstitious for me? I refuse to ever walk under a ladder. I have no problem with black cats, but freak if a hearse drives past me. Oh, and I used to have issues with the number thirteen, until my firm moved location to one of the historical buildings in Pioneer Square and we took over the entire floor 13 (yes, they actually still label it 13). As for the spiders, well, I'll just have to keep taking my chances with "luck," as no spider is allowed to live once I find it in my house. ;-)
I've never heard that killing spiders is bad luck. At least now I know the source of most of my problems. And it will continue to be so cause I will not tolerate a spider in my house. I live in an area that brown recluses are common so if it's brown, it gets stomped or swatted. Not chancing it.
you all talk about killing the living like it's a bad thing!
If killing spiders is wrong, I don't want to be right.
I've always heard that killing HOUSE spiders is bad luck. Tarantulas creeping across hot asphalt, though, beware my tires!
Is it weird that I showed up on the 13th comment?
No, Mark, it's fate.
Mark - The 13th comment on the 15th day of the 7th month... it all so odd.
My sister and I used to hold our breaths when driving past graveyards when we were really little. (If we had really thought about it, we would have realized how rediculous this was as there is a cemetary on the family farm. lol.) But beyond that I have no superstitions that I put stock in.
I own a black cat (who cares not a whit about catching anything but some z's) and a broken mirror (I am cheap obviously, since it costs what? five dollars at Walmart for a new one?) And I am the Might Killer of Spiders in our house since my husband jumps and squeals like a 8 year old girl at the sight of eight-legged creatures. Though usually I also try the catch and release method.
Well aren't I lucky that I always get something else to do the spider killing for me!! Although I wonder why my luck is bad...obviously I have been doing something else silly...
Oh and superstious Austrians believe that if you sit on the corner of the table you will get a bad mother-in-law.
I am sure alot of people have never sat on the corner of the table and still got a bad mother-in-law.