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Isn't Arachnophobia irrational?

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thomas81
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12 Nov 2012, 12:26 pm

mds_02 wrote:
thomas81 wrote:
Venger wrote:
I think a lot of the fear of spiders is them being considered "creepy looking" by most people. Also, you usually aren't sure which ones are poisonous and which ones aren't. Larger ones are quite scary looking in my opinion too.


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?


Depends where you live. If you're in a country like here in Ireland, where there are no spiders that can bite you let alone cause any damage, then I would say it is irrational yes.

Comes back to my point though about being afraid of cats because lions can kill you. It rational to be afraid of lions, its not rational to be afraid of British house spiders.


Even if that black widow had bitten you, i don't think you would have died. It would have been mildly distressing and a trip to the hospital, at worst. Funnelweb and Wandering spider bites are the only ones you need to REALLY worry about.



CyborgUprising
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12 Nov 2012, 12:43 pm

Not when getting bit by some of them results in an annoyingly itchy welt the size of a golfball. Normally in these parts, the only species that constitute a health risk is the occasional Widow, but due to some ignoramus releasing a fish tank full of Brown Recluses nearby while in a drunken rage about his girlfriend leaving him, we now have to deal with them. Hopefully the winter will kill most of them off. For now, I have my hedge apples, which work surprisingly well.



thomas81
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12 Nov 2012, 5:27 pm

CyborgUprising wrote:
Not when getting bit by some of them results in an annoyingly itchy welt the size of a golfball. Normally in these parts, the only species that constitute a health risk is the occasional Widow, but due to some ignoramus releasing a fish tank full of Brown Recluses nearby while in a drunken rage about his girlfriend leaving him, we now have to deal with them. Hopefully the winter will kill most of them off. For now, I have my hedge apples, which work surprisingly well.


4 words-

cigarette lighter... aerosol can

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CockneyRebel
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12 Nov 2012, 6:38 pm

Fears aren't irrational to the people who have them.


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Misslizard
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13 Nov 2012, 9:34 am

Cedar oil that you can buy at health food stores is a natural spider repellant,put a few drops on a feather duster and go around the edges of ceiling and baseboards,plus it smells nice
And CyborgUprising mentioned hedge apples or Osage Oranges they work also and look decorative.



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13 Nov 2012, 9:36 am

It is. We are more likely to die to a cork hitting us than a spider; and they're so cool, trapdoor spiders particularly.


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AProudHillbilly
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13 Nov 2012, 9:45 am

I wish I could think of spiders as "cool".


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13 Nov 2012, 6:02 pm

In the summer I let my Leopard Gecko loose in my small bedroom and she really likes to eat the Brown Recluses,I let her loose an hour or two before bed.
This is only a good idea if the Gecko can't get in a hole and it's warm enough for her.This is the time of year when the recluses are most active,breeding season,July and August.
But I love all the spiders in my garden,they eat lots of nasty pests.Extra awesome webs with dew on them also!!