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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Sarah Hilley

Glasgow Council giant spider warning as residents urged not to kill 'friends'

A giant spider warning has been issued by the council urging residents not to kill the eight-legged arachnids as they scuttle about homes.

Glaswegians had plenty to say when Glasgow City Council described giant house spiders as “friends” and asked people to carefully put them outside.

It is understood the male species come indoors searching for a mate.

The council tweet to its 198,000 plus followers sparked a huge debate at the weekend about how the multi-eyed visitors should be treated in the city.

Some residents said moving the creatures outside would cause them to perish while others felt the council should be more concerned about rats.

The council tweeted: “With Autumn coming you may find giant house spiders in your home! They may be big but are harmless and in fact our friends, so if you find one place a glass over them and slip card underneath outside.

The post added: “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

It was met with a huge number of opinions with one poster recommending a special spider catcher for the job.

Angela tweeted: “I just had one of these things running across my floor. Why are spiders getting the size of dugs these days. It’s not living here, no way.”

Another user replied: “I much prefer to use a rolled up newspaper.”

Gary tweeted: “Spiders covered. How do we deal with the rats now?”

Expressing concern about their welfare: Muggles Mishka & Me said: “House spiders can’t always live outside though. You could be sending them to their death.”

A council spokesman said: "Our social media channels reflect a very wide range of the work that the council and its partners are in involved in. A recent post about spiders was one of a regular series of weekly nature posts by the Countryside Rangers at Pollok Country Park. "

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