Isn't Arachnophobia irrational?
Jumpers are great to have around.
Anyway, I'm weird. I don't particularly LIKE spiders, but they scare me less than insects for some reason. I don't know why. But if I see a spider in the house I'll be like, "Oh, OK" after the initial shock but if I see a roach or a beetle I'll freak out. Which is sorta more logical of an illogical fear, but yeah. For some reason spiders scare me slightly less than insects. My sister and her boyfriend once all got pissed at me for not killing some jumping spiders in the house, as I wanted to keep them in the house to kill other bugs.
I'm not as crazy as my friend. My friend has a messier house than mine, but no bugs. What he does is he purposely introduces spiders or other predatory bugs (like house centipedes) into his house to kill insects. He one time even crossbred the outdoor and indoor varieties of Wolf Spiders to make like, a super spider. Yep.
thomas81
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It takes at least an hour, for the most venomous spider, the wandering spider, to kill.
The other species are incrementally less dangerous.
AFAIK this spider is found no where outside Brazil and specialist owners.
I wonder if it's even possible for venom to be as incredibly potent as the fictional-spiders in that Arachnophobia movie.
Unlikely. The common denominator in all lethal spider bites seems to be the onset of certain symptoms - nausea, sweating, chest pains, panic attacks, tachycardia etc. In order to kill the venom has to gradually work on the organs and/or nervous system, it has to circulate through the bloodstream so cant go from bite to instant death.
Its said by medical authorities if you are a victim of a spider bite you ought to capture the spider that bit you to bring to the hospital in order that a suitable antivenom can be found. Although if i was in that situation I doubt it would be high up my priority list.
thomas81
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I dislike flies and roaches more than spiders, but that is purely because flies and roaches are filthy harbingers of disease.
angelofdarkness
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Completely irrational and I'd love to be rid of it, but it just isn't in the cards. Spiders have almost always scared the crap out of me, and it's only getting worse as time goes by.
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I can let a small spider walk on my hand and watch it curiously, but I feel extremely uneasy in the presence of those that are called daddy-long-legs in some countries. They look like they'll break into pieces any moment. The same goes for grasshoppers; I'm not afraid of them, I just fear they explode. And this is irrational.
No way! I wasn't going to say it because I thought it was too weird. But my main phobia is of grasshoppers and crickets, because they are so fast-moving and fragile. A cricket flew into my face once. It was horrible.
Yes, it is this fragility that terrifies me, too. For this reason the belly side of beetles is too horrible to look at. Their legs don't seem to be attached to anything, they just wiggle in the air. And the moment when a beetle is taking off to flying and opens its forewings!
I'm afraid of spiders, poisonous or not. It's not the poisonous fact that frightens me, it's just the look of them and the way they run so fast. I can't even go near them. I'm less afraid of them outside, but I still wouldn't touch one, ever. I just look upon them as creepy-crawlies, and they give me the heebie-jeebies. I don't like beetles either, especially with the hard shell on the back, but I wouldn't be afraid to go near one to put it in a jug and chuck it outside, because I know they won't suddenly skuttle towards me.
I don't have a fear of wasps and hornets, et cetera. I just don't like them near me because they sting. If I knew they DIDN'T sting, I wouldn't be afraid of them at all.
I'm not fearful of any insects, except spiders. The garden spiders aren't so scary because they live outside, in cobwebs, where they belong. But those big, black house spiders with the big wirey legs.....no wayyy!! !! !! !! !! !! !
But I think it's just one of those things people look at and want to run. It's a bit like if you saw a dead body hanging from a rope in the middle of the woods, the dead person who hung themselves obviously can't get you, but it's still a disturbing thing to see, and that most people would be freaked out.
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Are not all spiders venomous? Only a few of them can give problems to humans, but I think every species of spider is capable of poisoning their prey.
It is not a completely irrational fear; even if few spiders can kill people, most of them have painful bites and can hide in the places you would not expect them to be. Seems to me like a perfectly appropriate defense mechanism.
Anyway, I do not fear spiders. in fact, I usually let them crawl over me when I see them. I really like to creep other people out. In fact, a few weeks ago I let a spider rest on my leg while I was on my break and I went up to the office with it crawling over my body. My coworkers were very creeped out by it.
Unfortunately, they killed it after it dropped from me.
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I'm very afraid of spiders, and my fear is HIGHLY irrational. Knowing logically that the spider's babies aren't going to come crawling out of the abdomen after I squish the spider isn't going to help me kill a spider. I can hold the big tarantulas no problem, but those inch-big spiders er so are terrifying!
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I accept PMs from females only. Sorry. Personal convictions.
The larger ones tend to be the least venomous, ironically.
Dangerous spiders are-
1) The wandering spider or 'banana spider' from Brazil
2) Australian Funnelweb
3)Black Widow Spider (dont think there have been any black widow fatalities for last 20 years)
4)Japanese Red Back ( a close cousin of black widow)
5) Huntsman spider -a small brown spider with a large abdomen native to USA. Bites are non fatal but cause ganggrene.
So, how about if my mom's been bitten by #5 (her toe nearly rotted off, would have been her entire foot if she'd waited any longer than she did to see a doctor) and I've found #3 in my bed on multiple occasions, is my fear of them irrational?
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I like spiders,there's an old rhyme,
"If you wish to live and thrive
Than let the spider run alive".
Once people had no window screens,they were more in touch with their environment,I'm sure they noticed flies,gnats and mosquitoes caught in the webs,they would have been thought of as a blessing.In Huck Finn he gets upset because he accidentally kills a spider,the worst kind of bad luck.
To avoid bites don't set your shoes under the light on a porch,if the light is on it attracts moths,then spiders come for the moths,some may get in your shoes,bad for the spider,maybe bad for you.
If you are calling Brown Recluse spiders Huntsmen.they are all over the South,not everyone rots from the bite.Some people just get a small sunken black scab that's painless,I've been bit and so has my family,my house is full of them,they have a small violin on their back.But a few people have awful wounds that won't heal.
And Black Widows are really only dangerous to the very young,very old and people with high blood pressure.I'm allergic to yellow jackets,hornets amd Red wasps I'm not afraid of them,just the sting.I never kill them,I stay aware of them amd show them lots of respect.Plus I have a Epi-pen.
I got nailed by a Widow that was in my shoe,and it wasn't half as bad as when a yellow jacket stung me on my lip,it was in my drink.Now in Yellow Jacket season I use a sipper cup and I look before I stick my mouth on it.
And spiders are your best defense against bed bugs!!
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