House spiders are almost exclusively harmless and gain a terrible reputation. Down here in the south east we have an abundance of orb weaver spiders.

Absolutely gorgeous and, for the most part, totally harmless. I genuinely don’t understand why people are so terrified of these things. Spiders are one of the reasons we’re not completely overrun with insects and other pests, and most species would much rather avoid us than have anything to do with us.

The brown recluse and black widow should obviously be treated with respect, but even they are highly misunderstood. Neither species is particularly aggressive toward humans, and bites are relatively uncommon. They generally bite only when threatened, trapped against the skin, or otherwise disturbed. Their reputation is considerably worse than their actual behavior.

Spiders aren’t out looking for people to bite. They’re predators doing an extremely useful job of keeping insect populations under control. Unless you have a medically significant species in your home, there’s usually very little reason to be afraid of them and quite a few reasons to appreciate them.