Mission accomplished. The formidable creature has met a most disastrous fate.

The night before last, acting stealthily, I approached the front porch via the garage so as not to alert the spider of my presence. I used my NightVision-enabled video camera so the spider would not be alerted by light that I was approaching. Once it was confirmed that the spider was indeed out in the open - in a predaceous manner, ironically - I began to formulate a plan.

Knowing that I was dealing with a potentially deadly enemy, I decided to use "venom" of my own. I got as near to the spider as I dared and then doused it completely with Roundup®. The spider dropped to the cement below the web, obviously stunned but then quickly retreated to an unseen hiding spot. Using various items from the yard and garage, I attempted to "scrape" the spider from under the ledge by the door. All attempts failed, which led me to look for a more effective way to reach the suspected hiding location. I ended up using a rake, which, after several attempts, led to the extraction of the spider.

Once the spider was removed from it's "home" I placed it in the flower bed far away from any place to hide. Realizing it's vulnerability, the previously haughty spider curled up in a ball - shamefully covering it's face. Using a large spike I smashed the spider, thus bringing it's reign of terror to an end.

As a side note, I then went around the yard and poked holes in the lawn with my spike so that water could more easily reach the grass roots and hopefully make my lawn greener. Also, I did it to cleanse the spider guts from the spike.