If you like spiders, you've forgotten that they tried to eat Frodo AND Harry Potter.

如果你喜歡蜘蛛，想必你是忘了牠們曾經試圖吃掉佛羅多和哈利波特。

And yet, scientists insist upon telling us that spiders are just misunderstood.

話雖如此，科學家卻一直說蜘蛛只是被誤會了。

Here's why you shouldn't kill spiders in your house.

以下幾個理由要告訴你為什麼不該殺了家裡的蜘蛛。

Spiders: Pest control for free.

蜘蛛：免費幫你解決害蟲。

According to Science Daily, spiders consume between 400 million and 800 million tons of insects every single year.

根據 Science Daily，蜘蛛每年平均會吃掉 4 億至 8 億噸的昆蟲。

They eat flies, earwigs, cockroaches, and those obnoxious moths that leave holes in your sweaters.

他們會吃蒼蠅、蠼螋、蟑螂，還有那些在你的毛衣上咬洞的討厭蛀蟲。

But scientists say you shouldn't kill that terrifying eight-legged thing climbing all over your walls as you try to eat breakfast.

但科學家說，你不該在你吃早餐時殺死那些爬滿你墻壁的八腳小怪獸。

"Why on Earth not?" you're probably wondering.

「為什麼不要？」你或許在這樣想。

Well, it's because spiders do a great job at controlling pests.

是這樣的，蜘蛛在控制害蟲方面有很大的功勞。

Thanks so much, you helpful, totally horrific thing!

多謝啦！恐怖死的小幫手！

They don't want to hurt you.

牠們不想傷害你。

Prepare to have your world shattered: Spiders aren't actually all that aggressive with humans.

準備好接受震撼：蜘蛛對人類其實並無惡意。

In fact, they tend to avoid people, so it's unlikely you'll ever meet the majority of spiders that lurk inside your home.

事實上，牠們往往會避開人類，所以你不太可能會遇到絕大多數家中潛伏的蜘蛛。

That was intended to be a comforting thought.

我們這樣說是為了讓你安心。

We swear.

真的啦。

"Do it!"

「動手！」

Sure, the Sydney Funnel Web spider has been known to attack people… and its fangs are sharp enough to cut through leather.

是沒錯，雪梨漏斗網蜘蛛會攻擊人類 ... 而且牠們的獠牙尖銳到可以刺穿皮革。

But if you don't live in Australia, you almost definitely have nothing to worry about.

但如果你不是住在澳洲，你幾乎沒有什麼好擔心的。

We said almost.

我們是說幾乎。

Fearing spiders is silly.

害怕蜘蛛是很傻的事。

In a 2014 Wired article entitled "I promise: spiders are not trying to kill you," entomologist Gwen Pearson suggests our fear of spiders is irrational.

在 2004 年，《連線》雜誌一篇叫做 <我保證：蜘蛛不會想殺你> 的文章中，昆蟲學家 Gwen Pearson 表示，我們對於蜘蛛的恐懼是不理性的。

Your mind tends to exaggerate the size, speed, and intentions of things you're afraid of.

針對你害怕的事物，你的心智往往會誇飾它的大小、速度和意圖。

So when you see a tiny spider, your brain might process it as a monstrous, twenty-ton killing machine.

所以當你看到一隻小蜘蛛，你的大腦或許會將它視為一個重達 20 噸重的怪獸殺人機器。

In fact, your fear of spiders is a learned behavior.

事實上，你對於蜘蛛的恐懼是習得而來的行為。

You don't fear spiders because we're programmed to fear spiders.

並非我們天生註定要害怕蜘蛛，你才會怕牠們。

You're afraid of spiders because your parents were terrified of them.

你之所以會怕蜘蛛，是因為你的雙親也很怕牠們。

Basically, science is telling you to get over yourself because your fear of spiders is stupid.

基本上，科學家是在告訴你：省省吧，害怕蜘蛛很蠢誒。

Nice attitude, science.

態度真好啊，科學。

Spiders are clean.

蜘蛛很乾淨。

No, really.

真心不騙。

Spider webs might get messy, but arachnologists want you to know that spiders themselves are actually quite clean.

蜘蛛網可能看起來髒髒的，但是蜘蛛學家希望你知道蜘蛛本身是很乾淨的。

In fact, they even groom themselves, since any debris on their legs could cause them to get caught in their own webs.

實際上牠們甚至會梳理自己，因為牠們若是腿上有一點臟東西，就會被自己的網纏住。

Which would be embarrassing.

想想那一定很尷尬。

But spider bites can get infected, right?

但是被蜘蛛咬到會感染，對不對？

Well, according to Science Daily, bacterial infections from spider bites are quite uncommon.

根據 Science Daily，起因於蜘蛛咬傷的細菌感染非常少見。

Blame your doctor if your arm needs to be amputated because of that, quote, "spider bite."

「蜘蛛咬痕」說道：要是你因為這樣就要被截止，怪你的醫生去吧！

A recent study found that, out of 182 patients claiming to have spider bites, only about 4 percent actually did.

最近一項研究發現，在 182 名聲稱被蜘蛛咬了的病患中，只有大約 4% 是真的被咬了。

Most of the other patients had skin infections.

其他大多數病患只是皮膚傳染病。

"Be afraid. Be very afraid. Everything about you is changing."

「恐懼吧！深深地恐懼吧！與你有關的一切都在改變。」

Don't just take them outside.

不要只是將牠們帶出門外。

Before you take that spider outside, totally secure in the knowledge that you're doing Mother Nature a solid... consider this.

在你把那隻蜘蛛拿出去前，先確定你是真的在幫牠一把 ... 想想這點。

There are some species of spider that actually evolved to live inside, and they won't survive in the great outdoors.

有一些品種的蜘蛛其實是演化來生存於室內的，牠們在外頭的大自然中無法生存。

Of course, many species positively thrive outside.

當然，有一些品種在外面活得可好了。

“Arania Exumai!”

「蜘蛛退散！」

“Go!”

「快走！」

According to Mother Nature News, about 95 percent of the spiders you find in your house didn't wind up there by accident.

根據大自然新聞網，在家裡出現的蜘蛛中有 95 % 是本來就在那裡的。

They were born and raised in your home, and they've never been outside at all.

牠們在你的家中出生長大，從未到過外面的大自然。

In other words, that spider you just scooped up in newspaper and gently released on your porch doesn't have much of a chance at survival.

換句話說，你剛剛用報紙捲起來然後輕輕地放在你大門外的蜘蛛，不太有可能活下來。

Now who's the monster?

現在誰才是怪獸啦？

"Can you check under my bed?"

「你可以檢查我的床底嗎？」

"You were just having a bad dream."

「你只是做了個惡夢。」

You're fighting a losing battle.

你打不贏的。

Now we come to the final reason you shouldn't eradicate the spiders in your house: like a bug caught in a spider's web, you're fighting a losing battle.

現在我們來到最後一個為什麼不該消滅家中蜘蛛的理由：就好比困在蜘蛛網中的蟲，你註定要打場敗仗。

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the goal is, quote, "pest control, not pest eradication."

根據《雪梨晨鋒報》，目的在於「控管害蟲，而非撲殺害蟲。」

Whether you stomp them, spray them, or wash them down the sink… they'll just keep coming back.

不論你是用腳踩踏、用噴霧伺候或是把牠們沖下水槽 ... 牠們就是會一再捲土重來。

But perhaps you'll take comfort in this little fact: You're not alone.

但或許你聽了這個小事實會有點安慰：你並非孤軍奮戰。

A 2016 survey of 50 homes in North Carolina found that every single one of them contained spiders.

2006 年，一項在北卡羅萊納州針對 50 個住家的調查發現，這些家中每一個都有蜘蛛。

The average home reportedly hosted around 100 different species of arthropod, the group that includes both spiders and insects.

據稱平均每個住家住有 100 種不同的節肢動物，也就是包含了蜘蛛和昆蟲。

Surely all those spiders hiding in every dark corner of your home must be doing something positive, right?

當然啦，這些藏在你家黑暗角落的蜘蛛一定會帶來正面影響，對吧？

For now, let's listen to the entomologists… until they start telling us we should start letting cockroaches live in our homes, too.

就目前為止，我們暫且聽從昆蟲學家的話 ... 直到哪天他們說應該也讓蟑螂住進我們家時，再另當別論。

"I hope you die!"

「我希望你不得好死！」