Why are we scared of spiders?

On, the contrary, they're my favorite type of bug.

=)

There are about 3 types of dangerous spiders in my area. The Black Widow, the Hobo and the Brown recluse.

The Black Widow is easy to ID, the other two not so much. And they look like house spiders. If it's a benign jumping spider I'll leave them be and hope they catch flies. The others I catch and release or have someone kill them while I'm in another room going "EW GROSS EW EW EW!" I hate the crunching sound and yucky sticky remains.

I'll pick up a snake that isn't rattling at me, I'll catch and release bees, wasps, praying mantii etc.

But Spiders? Not my fav. At all.

reply to post by MadameGuillotine


I suggest that anyone with Arachnophobia that wants to dismiss it; buy yourself a pet Bird-eating spider.
They are a less venomous ancestor of the Funnel-web, are big, ugly and hairy. You can creep-yourself out whilst learning to care for and nurture it.
They are on sale in selected pet stores in Australia.
Our friends in the U.S may want to try a Tarantula?

Realize they are Gods creatures also (whichever God you prefer!). THEY NEED LOVE TOO
But seriously they are interesting.
I've always wanted a pet one. My wife goes spare though, if I mention it!

reply to post by fritz


Haha

That was hilarious mate but so very true!!!

I can't stand spiders, never have done and don't think I ever will.

I don't know where my fear for them comes from, I've never been bit by one either.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
Whose we?

Spiders are awesome, well except for camel spiders, which arn't real spiders but arachnids related to scorpions and spiders.

Some of the coolest come from Africa, like this Orange Baboon Spider

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a0ed24507ac3.jpg[/atsimg]

I once had one of these guys as a pet and his name was Bob.

I still have an affinity for the little guys and help them out when they need it. My experience with them is they seem to sense if a person is threatening or not. One example, I rescued a rather large fishing spider from a sticky pad to catch mice. It was a very delicate ordeal in order get her off the pad without hurting her or stuck even worse. In the end I was able to get the spider off the pad without hurting it and she was able to walk out the backdoor into the yard.

Theyre just poorly misunderstood.

Now if any creature on earth should inspire terror and horror, there is only one monster capable of that. To find one all a person has to do is look into a mirror.

Usambara Baboon. You know I have a story about an Usambara actually.

My friend, whom I lived with at the time had 5 pet spiders (one of them is now mine.). He had 3 Chilean rose hairs, a Chilean copper and an usambara baboon (aka that red spider).

Before I go on let me tell you a few things about the usambara baboon. They are psycho, and I mean that in the most serious way. They will go out of their way to kill you. Don't believe me? I once saw this same usamabara play dead for 2 full months just waiting for one of us to stick our hand in there. And when my friend finally grew the balls to do it, that sucker came alive! Luckily no one was hurt. They are extremely fast, and will run you down if they have the chance. Plus their bite could be described as the most painful experience (so i've heard) that anyone could ever go through.

With that said on with my story. Anyway my friend came home really drunk one night and went on a rampage. Well during this fiasco he swung his bedroom door open so hard that the door knob broke the front of the usambara cage. Now I don't have to tell you that at this point we had a serious problem on our hands. Sure enough it made a mad dash for the opening and started chasing me! ME! Not him! ME! For like 15 mins! This whole time while I was being run down by Satan's tarantula I was trying to catch the damn thing. It was trying to catch me too.......

I eventually caught it and it died the next day. The cause of death was most likely the trauma from the 3 1/2 foot drop to the floor.

The spider that I currently have as a pet is a very gentle creature and very old. She has cured several people of arachnophobia and they now hold her frequently. Not all spiders are aggressive death machines.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone commented about jumping spiders. Sure they have good eyes and can see you, but it's highly unlikely that they will bite you. Plus they are fun to play with.

Try this.. Place a jumping spider on your screen with a blank desktop and watch it chase the mouse pointer around. Hours of fun for the whole family. Laser pointers work too. Its really funny.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by DaMod]

I was proud of myself to get close enough to get this pic today.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2a55f67937fd.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 3-9-2009 by MadameGuillotine]

[edit on 3-9-2009 by MadameGuillotine]

i am officially scarred for life...i will no have nightly recurring nightmares of the above spider...ty for that lol

I love spiders so much I would love to buy one as I find them fascinating to watch. However running this idea of buying a tarantula past my wife was not a good idea last time I tried as she has a phobia about anything with more than four legs.

For me spiders are a perfection of biology that can have me entranced for ages. I won't kill a spider when called into a room with a female squeal. I always pick it up (or place it in a container depending on size) to release it down at the bottom of the garden near the the summer house, well out of reach of death by wife or horrified daughter.

Spiders rock

reply to post by SmokeJaguar67


i really wish i wasnt scared of them, i mean i can sit with ants? but yet a spider near me gives me the jitters...any non disgusting ways i can try to overcome this gigantuous fear ive had my whole life?

reply to post by smitts_lgp


I can only suggest that you sit with a big one and watch it go about it's business until you get used to it. They are incredible things to study. Don't feel bad about your phobia though.

I have a phobia about shirt buttons (shudders and rushes off to scrub skin with a nailbrush and soap).

reply to post by Yossarian


only one thing on this planet gives me those hibbie gibbies. the times
i've actually felt the most fear. not just any spider will ruin my whole day
if i see one, like the black widow. just having to look at one. to lift
something up and see one, strikes me w/ a terror i don't get any
where else. it will literaly ruin my whole day. one of the first dreams
i can remember,this giant black widow 4=5 inches in diameter. i was looking through the bars of my crib and there on the hardwood floor she
was .and when i saw her she bolted straight for my crib. i'm sure you can imagine the scene as i woke. three or four times a year ever since
i have to have one of those dreams. no more giants but they seem to haunt me since then.
i know quite a bit about them too. have been bit a bunch of times. i
will lance the bite n soak in salt water.the stuff that is slowly pulled out of the wound by the salt.it comes out in long brown strings of dead red
blood cells. their venom is a biotoxin. the reason their sack gets bigger the longer they live. they are varacious eaters and they dont poop. their poop
stays in the sack. guess what? when a blackwidow bites you it is actually
excreting it's feces, into your blood stream through its fangs. that's why often the skin
around a bite begins to die and the wound gets bigger.the organisms from the crap multiply and begin feeding off of you. i know people who have
had to have complete blood transfusions. the brown recluse same mechanics but a bit that is far worse . i think because of slightly longer fangs.don't quote me on that though,but the rest oh ya!

According to whitewave, 35% hydrogen peroxide left on for 6 seconds and thoroughly rinsed away after being bitten by a brown recluse will completely neutralize the poison.

well ya that's great if you know you were bitten.99% of the time
you don't. you can't feel it. just another thing that creeps me.

[edit on 3-9-2009 by randyvs]

Originally posted by SmokeJaguar67
reply to post by smitts_lgp

 

I can only suggest that you sit with a big one and watch it go about it's business until you get used to it. They are incredible things to study. Don't feel bad about your phobia though.

I have a phobia about shirt buttons (shudders and rushes off to scrub skin with a nailbrush and soap).

actually its kind of weird, i have no problem watching one if its behind glass or a large enough distance between us...(obv never far enough away )

but if one is in the close vicinity(vacinity? think the 1st ones right...that sounds like some form of medical term?)... ie within a foot from me.

example: yesterday i was changing a light bulb when i looked over and ones hanging right in my face...

i actually get more mad? than scared...its weird..to me anyways

is this some form of being angry at myself for letting one get this close?

or am i just an idiot lolol(rhetorical obv)

i

[edit on 3-9-2009 by smitts_lgp]

I used to have a serious thing about spiders till i move living with my ex. His phobia was serious stuff and he got scared even with the most minimal tiny spider he saw. So i become the official spider hunter of our house!.
Now I just let those little bugs to live, take them with a piece of paper and move them to a place where they can't bite me.

reply to post by smitts_lgp


Try catching them in a jar - just put if over them. Get a piece of card or paper to cover the top of the jar and put the spider far away in the garden.

I've been doing this a lot recently to finally rid the house of dozens of the little horrors and after a few times it got easier. I started to realise that it was me who was in charge of the situation.

That makes the difference. Plus I was getting good at something I even stopped worrying about getting bits of web on my hands.

I admit there is still the odd shriek and a lot of swearing, but I'm the official house spider hunter.

Really, give it a go. It's surprising how quickly the fear / disgust can be overcome once you get that realisation of being the one in charge.

Get over it and leave them be. (like berenike!) Please?
They eat the bad bugs that ruin your garden!

Unless they are poisonus!
Then all bets are off, of course!


[edit on 4-9-2009 by dodadoom]

reply to post by berenike

A very good way indeed!
It is easy to put a jar over them, slip a piece of cardboard under
the jar and transfer them outside where they can eat the real pests!
Thanks for that!

Girls 'born with fear of spiders'

A new study in the US suggests that women have a genetic aversion to dangerous animals, such as spiders.

The research, published in the New Scientist, says women are born with character traits that were ingrained in our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

As child protectors, they have to shun animals that threaten them or their young off-spring, researchers said.

Previous research suggested women were actually up to four times more likely to be afraid of creatures like spiders.

The new research was headed up by developmental psychologist, Dr David Rakison, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 10 baby girls, and 10 baby boys were subjected to a number of pictures of spiders to gauge their reactions.

First the babies were shown a picture of a spider with a fearful human face, followed by images of a spider paired with a happy face - alongside an image of a flower twinned with a fearful face.

Just read this and remembered this thread, read the article in its entirity!

All the best, kiwifoot

Originally posted by kiwifoot

Girls 'born with fear of spiders'

The new research was headed up by developmental psychologist, Dr David Rakison, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 10 baby girls, and 10 baby boys were subjected to a number of pictures of spiders to gauge their reactions.

First the babies were shown a picture of a spider with a fearful human face, followed by images of a spider paired with a happy face - alongside an image of a flower twinned with a fearful face.

What!? Thanks for giving me the biggest laugh I've had for ages

Can they get away with doing that?

Actually, it reminds me of an article I read ages ago about how Japanese mothers weaned their babies when they were fed-up of breast-feeding them. Apparently they painted a fearsome face on their breast to frighten the baby away.

Poor kids...

reply to post by KSPigpen


I've always been told it's bad luck to kill a spider. Maybe thats why i've never been scared of them. There are a lot more rational phobias out there.

Originally posted by berenike
reply to post by smitts_lgp

 

Try catching them in a jar - just put if over them. Get a piece of card or paper to cover the top of the jar and put the spider far away in the garden.

I've been doing this a lot recently to finally rid the house of dozens of the little horrors and after a few times it got easier. I started to realise that it was me who was in charge of the situation.

That makes the difference. Plus I was getting good at something

I even stopped worrying about getting bits of web on my hands.

I admit there is still the odd shriek and a lot of swearing, but I'm the official house spider hunter.

Really, give it a go. It's surprising how quickly the fear / disgust can be overcome once you get that realisation of being the one in charge.

ill give it a shot, but i think id be scared when i lift up the glass the spider would be pushed out the other side

ima 21yr old male, and im absolutely terrified lol, but at the same time fascinated i do agree with a previous post stating that they are quite perfect creatures, the other day i was having dinner at my parents house yummy pizza! lol

anyways, there was a BEAUTIFUL spiderweb(approx 20 inches in diameter) in a pine tree out front

i showed it to my mother(also completely terrefied..maybe where i inherited my fear)...and my father came over and decided to show my son what would happen if he put a small object in the web, and i was amazed at how fast this spider moved...the spider itself was not very big maybe the size of a penny..i believe the spider was a wolfspider

anyways the thing moved about 10inches almost instantly..it then lunged at the object began doing something, not sure what, but then unhooked it and it fell out..and the spider shot back to his original point...this took approx 4 seconds total

i was simply stunned at how fast the spider was able to get to his prey, realise it wasnt a meal, and discarded it, with out destroying his web,,,absolutely amazing


but i still hate the little buggers lol