How can I kill spiders while suffering from arachnophobia?

Question

So i have arachnophobia, so bad that my body will lock up and i black out if there is a spider on me.

Now i do live with my parents and it occurred to be today when i freaked out when i saw a Huntsman that when when that dreadful day comes where i no longer have my parents and i live alone i'm not not going to be able to call them to kill the spiders for me.

I live in Australia so i can't buy a semi-automatic and shoot the hell out of them and using homemade flamethrowers (aerosol can (like deodorant) + lighter) will cause too much damage because i am liable to overkill them and burn a hole in the wall/floor/ceiling/house.

it's also very hard for me to be close to them. in the past when i've been told to try and crush them myself i find it hard to move my body in range to stomp on them or smash them in between the wall and a shoe on my hand.

So how can i kill spiders accurately with me being far away from them but also minimizing collateral damage to the rest of the house

Answer 1

Two responses:

1 - I would look into a gecko or other type of lizard that eats spiders, and allow it free range. It will be a companion of sorts (though generally will seek to live behind your stove or under your furniture); in the event that you see a spider and have some mechanism for capturing/disabling it - the lizard will also serve as a simple disposal mechanism - no need for cleanup.

2 - Seek professional help with your phobia. You are not weak, or sad, or defective for having this phobia - but there's GREAT news: phobias are, BY FAR, the psychological issue with the highest treatment success rate. You CAN receive reasonable and unscary treatment for this phobia and get on with your life. Enough with the little buggers. You can be free!

If/when you do that - you'll be able to use normal tools to deal with them. Your gecko friend will also be very proud of you, if a little hungrier.

Answer 2

I used to suck them up with the vacuum cleaner. It works fine, I promise you they die in there, but eventually my conscience got the better of me and I trap them instead, with a big tall glass and a bit of card.

Answer 3

While I'm not sure how big the spiders are in question, (I would imagine that in Australia, they can get pretty big), my sisters both use something called the bugzooka. This is essentially a spring loaded vacuum-creating device that sucks the bug or spider into a semi-sealed chamber which will eventually starve it to death or you can also choose to humanely release it somewhere outside.

Answer 4

Killing method

• A long pole (quaterstaff or something). The distance is good and wait while they are sitting still, aim and then one good jab. Do a quick finish if it isn't killed in one go.

Non lethal method

• Maybe like makesift a box with a lid and rope on a long stick and just capture it and release it somewhere else. Like this:
  

• Check out spider catcher: Spider catcher maybe you can buy somewhere else for cheaper.

Fun little fact: Some spiders keep frogs as pets.