Why are some people afraid of spiders?

[timejim]

I can't stand them They scare me. They are creepy, crawly nightmares. Why do they exist? I'll tell you. Just so they can hide in a place and come out and get you when and where you least expect it. To me, the black widow spider is yhe creepiest of all. They all are. I hope I don't have a nightmare about them tonight.
Aaaaaaeeeeeee.

What about you? Do you think the same way I do about them?

 

[holly]

Hon, you know what psychiatrists say about the fear of spiders!

I'm not scared of them. I think they should be in their place and we in ours. It is very, very bad luck to kill a spider in the house. Best to place them outside.

I have been bitten twice by spiders, and was very, very ill from it. One cat was also bitten by a black widow and barely survived and had a big dent in her for the rest of her life from tissue necrosis.

I have some spiders I like to play with. We call them "Bootsie Spiders," because their front leg-like things have little white boots on them. But my son is so terrified of spiders that if you even say the WORD, he will get goosebumps all over and shake. Don't eat crabs, for they are merely ocean-going spiders.

 

[Evo]

I don't mind spiders as long as they're not poisonous and they aren't on me. I actually like the little hairy black ones with the red dots on their backs, they don't spin webs and they can really jump. They keep insects off my plants.

What scares me is the brown recluse spider which is common here. The venom destroys flesh.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by holly
Hon, you know what psychiatrists say about the fear of spiders!

I haven't heard this one. Do tell.

Don't eat crabs, for they are merely ocean-going spiders.

This is a true fact. Crabs are quite spidery, and I don't eat them.

 

[motai]

Originally posted by timejim
To me, the black widow spider is yhe creepiest of all. They all are. I hope I don't have a nightmare about them tonight.
Aaaaaaeeeeeee.

I read somewhere that the average person eats around 8 spiders in their lifetime when they are sleeping. Hope that helps .

 

[motai]

Originally posted by motai
I read somewhere that the average person eats around 8 spiders in their lifetime when they are sleeping . Hope that helps .

Oops... hit quote instead of edit.

 

[The_Professional]

When I was younger, my friends and I used to catch spiders and have them fight against each other on a stick. It was entertaining.

 

[cragwolf]

Originally posted by holly
Hon, you know what psychiatrists say about the fear of spiders!

Freudians, not psychiatrists.

I like small spiders, say no bigger than the nail on my little pinky. But where I live, we also get big spiders ... huntsman spiders that look like they could carry off your first-born, and we also have dangerous spiders ... funnel web spiders and red back spiders, which can and have killed humans.

I remember once I encountered a red back spider in my backyard, and let me tell you, if the Americans couldn't find any WMD's in Iraq, they only had to visit my backyard later that afternoon, because I unleashed grand scale chemical warfare on that little beast.

 

[jimmy p]

i hate big spiders, and ones with gangly legs, or big bodies, but when the call of duty arrives, i will fight them. Actually what is really scary is that the common garden spider is one of the most venomous, but its fangs arent long enough to penetrate our skin!

 

[Monique]

Originally posted by Evo
I actually like the little hairy black ones with the red dots on their backs, they don't spin webs and they can really jump. They keep insects off my plants.

..I was once performing an intelligence test on a spider walking across my desk

..it was quite fun..

..until it turned around and jumped at me! I stumbled backward and together with my chair fell to the floor, scrabled back up and fleed out of the door When I finally got back the courage to enter my room, I found it in one of my house shoes.. which thereafter spent about a week in the backyard..

No, I don't like them..

 

[holly]

Freudians, psychiatrists, I don't care to keep 'em straight.

We must remember that there are haflings and hobbits among us! And spare their tender ears...

Anyway, these yahoos say that those who have a fear of spiders, have a fear of ladies, do you catch my drift? I'm merely repeating something and was just being silly! I don't exactly follow it myself. I think if someone is scared of spiders, it means someone is just plain scared of spiders. Maybe they haven't had too much to do with natural living. But folks should try to keep the size differential between most spiders and themselves in mind! I once saw someone twist their ankle badly -- running in panic from a horsefly! Imagine! Okay, it was me, but really, how silly. Just try to leave the spiders alone! And don't go trying to pet wild animals, no matter how cute! They do bite.

 

[LURCH]

Originally posted by Monique
..I was once performing an intelligence test on a spider walking across my desk

..it was quite fun..

..until it turned around and jumped at me! I stumbled backward and together with my chair fell to the floor, scrabled back up and fleed out of the door When I finally got back the courage to enter my room, I found it in one of my house shoes.. which thereafter spent about a week in the backyard..

No, I don't like them..

Not even when they kill those big, scary crickets?

 

[Monique]

Originally posted by LURCH
Not even when they kill those big, scary crickets?

I know.. I have the tendency to stuble over chairs and frantically run out of doors

 

[holly]

I can well imagine even a sensible person running from a Dutch spider! The clatter from eight tiny Klompen must be unnerving!

And the worst thing about those Australian spiders is the hat and the accent...

And those garden spiders! Helping themselves to Miracle Gro and hiding behind the potting shed! Eeek!

 

[Hurkyl]

I wonder what Monique would do if she came home one day and saw a 3 inch long sickly yellow thing with legs all around just sitting above eye level on her bedroom wall...

(yes, I have had this experience, why do you ask?)

 

[motai]

Originally posted by Hurkyl
I wonder what Monique would do if she came home one day and saw a 3 inch long sickly yellow thing with legs all around just sitting above eye level on her bedroom wall...

(yes, I have had this experience, why do you ask?)

That sounds like a miniature version of Starship Troopers. When big yellow exoskeleton-like organisms start running at you, grab a gun and run!

 

[Monique]

Well, I've had things on my bedroom wall before (in the US that was).. when I recovered from my nerve breakdown and the hyperventilation subsided :P I sprayed them all with bleach (by lack of an insect repellent).

The 3 inch yellow thing with legs.. I'm good with insects if they don't jump or run at me.. first I'd run to get my camera, get a close-up, probably with my thumb in the frame as a size measure. Then the thing will lunge at me with big teeth and the rest of the story you can probably imagine..

 

[Hurkyl]

Fortunately, my yellow critter didn't do any moving at all; I poked at it with a long stick (just to make sure I was out of jumping range!) and it just dropped to the floor. Had no trouble scooping it up in something and disposing of it. (can't remember if it went outside or down the toilet)

 

[rathma]

?Arachnaphobia?

Don't worry, timejim.
You obviously suffer from arachnaphobia, fear of arachnids (like spiders) Like I said, don't worry; arachnaphobia is one of the most common phobias in the world (second only to fear of snakes and fear of heights) I say that one of the best ways to rid yourself of fear is to face it. Like on Fear Factor, when they put you in a tub full of repulsive animals. Enjoy!

 

[Jaramide]

Yeah that will cure you of your phobia...Or have you end up in an asylum.

Im horribly afraid of spiders myself. Spiders and jellyfish to do the whole list. However, i find snakes totally adorable