Spider Panic

I was collecting my laundry at the balcony yesterday when I saw this:


I let out a gasp. Hubby heard and came out. He jumped when I pointed in the direction and he came face to face (nearly) with this:

There is only one thing to do.

Take out the Mortein Spider Control. And spray. Spray like no tomorrow. It took nearly half a bottle and close to 10 minutes before it curled up..presumably, died. Still hanging on a strand of web.

Courtesy of online spider enthusiasists (eeks), this is the spider that we presumably killed: the Golden Orb Spider. Took me a long time to find this pic, because there are many "varieties" in this species. Got fat ones, silver ones, thin ones. But I'm sure this is THE ONE.

And why did I say "presumably killed"? This morning, I woke up and found the curled up body gone. 3 possibilities:

1) A bird ate it

2) Wind blew and it dropped downstairs

3) It was just faking death yesterday and is now prowling somewhere to get it's revenge on us. (and yes, i read that spiders can close their lung valves and survive on very little air for a number of hours)

Note to MF, MP and SY who are visiting in Jun/Jul - I hope you are prepared for this (: