Everything I've read says they are not harmful; they can bite, and will if they need to, but will get away if they can.

I've killed a few, but I think I won't any more. Not necessarily because of this article, I just hate killing things.

I never knew of them before this fall until a friend of mine went on "removal" spree at his place, and now I've seen a lot more of them in my own yard.

One issue is we also have migrating hummingbirds, and the webs are big enough to foul them up. The spiders won't eat them of course, but I also can't have our hummingbirds dying over getting caught so I'll be knocking down webs in their area if I have to.