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.