Moral dilema and strawberry question.

[bogfrog]

Hi, just a couple silly gardening questions here.

Yesterday i caught a very creepy spider which looks alot like a katipo, but i think its a false katipo, which although its bite can be very painful, is not fatal to humans.

I just don't know what i should do with it!

If i release it, it will likely settle down in my garden and have a family, but if i kill it i have a funny feeling i'll be seeing alot more of them.

And secondly, i was about to put bird netting over my strawberry patch, but then insects won't be able to get to the new strawberry flowers to pollentate them.

Will this mean i wont get any more strawberries? Or do they not rely on insects for pollenation?

[Moses]

strawberries use both wind and insects to pollinate, you could easily just give them a bit of a "dusting" with a paint brush and help pollen transfer i guess

[whitewind]

I had some redbacks living under my back door sill, they lived there for over a year before a zealous friend saw them and removed them. They seemed to tolerate my presence well, I think I would remove them nowadays and put them somewhere else, if only because I have a very curious daughter. Thing is, if there is a beastie in the area there will likely be others nearby, and you will just be vacating the spot to allow another of the same to take it's place.

[bogfrog]

I'm not really sure where it came from, i was just sitting on the lounge floor and it ran at me!

I had serious spider paranoia while i was weeding my garden today.. Think il just let it go then, hopefully it doesnt try another home invasion.

And thanks Moses, i gave all my strawberries a fluff with a paintbrush before covering them with mesh.

[Foo]

Throw it over the neighbors fence