My brother is deathly afraid of spiders, as are most people. I’ve seen him jump on a chair out of sheer fright; a grown man scared of an insect no bigger than his pinky. Comically, I tell him that if it came down to a duel to the death, he would probably win. But rational arguments don’t have much effect when it comes to the visceral. So I’ve tried a new strategy in an effort to spare the little creatures.

This past weekend, we were in his garage, working on our bikes after a group ride. Washing, waxing, admiring, you know how it goes. I spotted a big bellied spider, the kind that look like Black Widows taking down a wood bug. As I admired the beauty of nature, my brother was busy trying to find a cup to trap the little guy in an effort to evict him from the premises. I urged him to leave the spider alone; that another two would quickly take its place. He exclaimed that was acceptable. I smirked.

As he was about to capture the little critter, it scurried away and hid. My brother was visibly disappointed. I used this opportunity to explain that every space has a natural ecosystem. A system that will always achieve balance. His garage was no exception. Think about it. It is a building filled with all manner of insect. Flies, mosquitoes, wood bugs, spiders, beetles, ear wigs, etc. Each of those species is a predator and also subject to predation. The ecosystem maintains balance because each species is represented. Now, if one were to remove as many spiders as they could find, all those other insects that are kept under control would flourish. Spiders are actually quite important. So much so, that they get a free pass when it comes to pest control. In fact, professional pest removal services will never harm spiders. The ecosystem would lose balance.

Fine, you say, so long as you don’t see another spider. Fair enough. But that is not taking into account the entire picture. Now that you’ve removed the local spiders, the other species will multiply. If you were a roaming spider looking for a good place to lay your web to get some grub, where would you go? If you answered the garage that is teaming with food, you answered correctly.

Now you’ve got spiders coming in droves because you’ve effectively created an arachnid smorgasbord. That means more spiders for you to evict. Keep trying to control their numbers, and the problem will only escalate. The bugs that were once controlled by the spider populace are now free to multiply. It’s a war you cannot win. Spiders are plentiful and there will be no shortage, trust me.

Truly, the best thing to do is let them be. The garage can only support so many spiders. Once their numbers reach the limit, the competition for food will be so great that no other spider will want to join the fray. They will seek other areas that have less competition for food. It’s a catch-22. You are damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It’s not very intuitive, I know. You could of course try to deplete their food supply by eradicating all the bugs they feed on. But who wants to spend their entire days catching flies, mosquitoes, wood bugs, or ants. They multiply far faster than you can hope to eradicate them, trust me.

So next time you see someone reaching for that kleenex, explain to them that when they kill off that little spider, two more will come and take its place. An ecosystem is always self-correcting. That is unless you can find the keystone species, but that is another discussion entirely.