Credits: Social Media
Animal lovers devastated after learning that all released spiders die outside
If you’ve ever thought of yourself as a budget David Attenborough while releasing a spider outside, we’re sorry to inform you that the little critter is now very dead.
Unlike the dogs and cats we know and love today, spiders are a highly controversial creature in many households. Some people aren’t bothered by the 8-legged animals while others can’t get past films like Arachnophobia and terrifying facts that Bali’s spider-infested streets. You don’t need to travel halfway across the world for scary spider moments though, because those are also in your backyard.
A devastating truth about releasing spiders
Though you might hate the thought of a spider crawling around your house, what is waiting for them outside is so much worse. Thankfully, it’s not a cordyceps fungal infection.
A sad truth was recently shared by TikTok’s Alex Falcone (@alex_falcone), who has started an “unfun facts” playlist for his 425k followers.
“Every spider you’ve carefully put a cup over, and slid a piece of paper under, and then gently released outside, died outside,” he revealed. “They can’t live out there. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
Though Alex had included the depressing tidbit in an earlier rendition of his trend, countless fans said it sounded “like something a spider would say.”
In truth, Alex had learned the fact from spider scientist Greta Binford, who was most known for gathering the world’s deadliest spiders from very residential areas. Following his initial clip in March, numerous scientists spoke to the Huffington Post about the troubling truth that spiders die when released outside.
If the spider is a native to the area, it will likely be able to survive outside. But if the spider is a transplant thats become a house spider even if its ancestors made the voyage to the new place decades to hundreds of years ago odds are, the spider will perish outside, Rob Crawford, the curator of arachnids at Seattles Burke Museum, told The Post.
So what’s the answer to your home’s spider issue?
As some studies suggest that you’re never more than 10ft away from a spider, trying to completely remove the arachnids from your life is almost impossible. Your only real option is to move to Antarctica, the only continent without spiders.
In actual fact, spiders are a vital component of the ecosystem of your home, eating pesky insects and forming a sort of “natural history” of your building.
Should you still want them out, or at least paying rent, you might consider removing them to a similar location like a garage, attic, or shed.
“That sounds like a spider problem, not a me problem,” one person ultimately concluded on TikTok.
