Arachnophobia?

[NutsNGum]

Had a spider make its merry way across my face whilst I was sleeping a few nights ago. I jerked awake like a big girl and threw it across the room, it was bizarre, like a reflex rather than a conscious decision.

We get some pretty big ones in our flat because we're on the ground floor. I've become somewhat desensitised to smaller ones. I had one of these in our bathroom recently though

 

[chordate68]

LINK

Napkins ftw. I can't bring myself to kill spiderbro.

 

[iBlue]

Considering my GF just took this photo of me, I think you have you answer

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Napkins ftw. I can't bring myself to kill spiderbro.

I don't think it's very nice to post inline images in a thread about Arachnophobia, especially when it specifically asks no one do that.


I have no reaction to photos of spiders but I do jump when I see one running around in my home. Britain doesn't really have any spiders that can genuinely mess you up but I lived in the US and dealt with some right scary bastards, including black widows and the hobo spider. (don't google what the bites can do to you.) Because of that I learned to fear spiders and I can't quite lose the knee-jerk anxious reaction when I'm surprised by one in my home. It's nothing close to Arachnophobia but I'm not a fan.

 

[FrancoisC]

Oops.

I read this thread on my phone and missed that

Photo deleted, sorry to the OP about that!

 

[iBlue]

Oops.

I read this thread on my phone and missed that

Photo deleted, sorry to the OP about that!

Your post/image didn't seem malicious. I just imagine that anyone who is really freaked out by spiders would prefer a link instead of the unavoidable pic. It's preserved as a link in my post.

 

[Tsuchiya]

What?! But how can you hate spiderbro?!?

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LOL

But yeah, I'm a pansy, spiders send me running. Even though in London we usually only get spindly things that look too fragile to cause any real damage.

I do think it's a learned behaviour though, my mum is absolutely terrified of spiders and we probably picked it up that way. I saw it with my younger sisters, at first they weren't afraid but after seeing my mum react a few times, they too started fearing them.

Considering going on this: http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo//news/scared-of-spiders,20,NS.html

 

[Mousse]

"Not a fan, but don't mind them".

Is this the 'best' option you could come up with?

Maybe that should be changed to "I eat spiders for breakfast"

Tastes like chicken.

 

[BreakGuy]

I was bitten by a spider when I was younger and my arm went purple and swelled up. Since then, it's always in the back of my mind and I tend to avoid as many spiders as I can, especially ones larger than a couple of centimeters and ESPECIALLY whitetails (of which I've ordered myself to kill upon sight), as that's what bit me.

So yes, I do have arachnophobia.

 

[dXTC]

I don't have much of a problem with them, but my wife and child do. I've even petted a de-fanged tarantula before.

Speaking of spider pictures, here's a link to "Clocky", a Huntsman spider as seen on several websites over the years. WARNING: Arachnophobes should avoid clicking that link.

 

[Fazzy]

Oops.

I read this thread on my phone and missed that

Photo deleted, sorry to the OP about that!

haha dont worry about it, it was kind of a hyperbole

 

[snberk103]

Well what do you expect, when you get all up in their face???

Give them a chance to flee, just like you would a rattlesnake.

Not Hobos. Hobos are territorial, and will charge at you to protect their territory. Several years ago we had a bit of a spider infestation in the house, and I was convinced that they were Hobos. They were big enough that on quiet night, I could hear them scuttling across our wood floor. For some reason they were attracted by the TV screen, which meant scuttling right by my feet as the beastie charged at the TV.

When I did my research - and realized that you do not want to be bit by a Hobo - I discovered that 1) Hobos are introduced species (from Europe) to my part of the world. 2) That in Europe, they tend to be found outside - not in homes - and so very very few people get bit by a Hobo. 3) That considering how limited their range is here, it is surprising how many people here get bit by them. 4) That in Europe, they have House Spiders, that are also big and territorial.... they don't bite people, but they do keep the Hobos outside.

So my conclusion was that in order to rid the house of Hobos, spiders big enough I could hear them walking across the floor, that I needed to import another really big spider and establish a population in our house.

Luckily our cat liked hunting and eating them, and I just made sure to keep a spare spatula nearby (fly swatters were too flexible on the end to do any lasting harm)..... yuck...

....
Here, most of them can kill you ...

I am sure Australia must be a nice place. I have several Australian friends who are the nicest people..... but I read things like this, and the snakes, and the floods, and the droughts, and the fires, all of the other poisonous animals.... and I wonder - why are you still there?

[very much tongue in cheek]

 

[calderone]

They are okay as long as they do their thing and stay hidden...

 

[AdeFowler]

Hate them and the fact that they can move faster than me. Evil bastards

 

[cambookpro]

I hate spiders. Once I had a huge (well huge for the UK at least, about 7cm including legs) in my bath and I didn't notice it while having a shower (was 6am).

When I noticed it I almost freaked out and quickly jumped out of the shower. I then went about pushing it down the plughole.

Poor thing, but it scared the hell out of me. And I'm vegetarian.

 

[chordate68]

I don't think it's very nice to post inline images in a thread about Arachnophobia, especially when it specifically asks no one do that.

My bad. I edited it. I wasn't trying to be spiteful. Seriously though, spiders are good to have around. They keep the lesser insects in check.

 

[BreakGuy]

My bad. I edited it. I wasn't trying to be spiteful. Seriously though, spiders are good to have around. They keep the lesser insects in check.

Sometimes I'd rather deal with the lesser insects than the nasty spiders.

 

[Fazzy]

I hate spiders. Once I had a huge (well huge for the UK at least, about 7cm including legs) in my bath and I didn't notice it while having a shower (was 6am).

When I noticed it I almost freaked out and quickly jumped out of the shower. I then went about pushing it down the plughole.

This happened to me when I was seven

Sometimes I'd rather deal with the lesser insects than the nasty spiders.

Id ALWAYS rather deal with the lesser insects- sometimes the bigger ones too, as long as they dont resemble a spider. Phobias are a strange thing to have, hey?

 

[jsolares]

I grew up near/in the jungle so don't mind them much, but some are really creepy/scary

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I hate spiders. Once I had a huge (well huge for the UK at least, about 7cm including legs) in my bath and I didn't notice it while having a shower (was 6am).

When I noticed it I almost freaked out and quickly jumped out of the shower. I then went about pushing it down the plughole.

Poor thing, but it scared the hell out of me. And I'm vegetarian.

I once put on boots and there was a tarantula inside, i felt something squishy thankfully it didn't bite but scared the crap put of me when it fell out of the boot XD

 

[Jaffa Cake]

They are wicked creatures, and serve no useful purpose that I can discern.

And before anyone says that eating flies is useful, frogs do that as well but they don't hang around your house freaking you out.

Oh.

 

[iBlue]

Not Hobos. Hobos are territorial, and will charge at you to protect their territory. Several years ago we had a bit of a spider infestation in the house, and I was convinced that they were Hobos. They were big enough that on quiet night, I could hear them scuttling across our wood floor. For some reason they were attracted by the TV screen, which meant scuttling right by my feet as the beastie charged at the TV.

When I did my research - and realized that you do not want to be bit by a Hobo - I discovered that 1) Hobos are introduced species (from Europe) to my part of the world. 2) That in Europe, they tend to be found outside - not in homes - and so very very few people get bit by a Hobo. 3) That considering how limited their range is here, it is surprising how many people here get bit by them. 4) That in Europe, they have House Spiders, that are also big and territorial.... they don't bite people, but they do keep the Hobos outside.

So my conclusion was that in order to rid the house of Hobos, spiders big enough I could hear them walking across the floor, that I needed to import another really big spider and establish a population in our house.

Luckily our cat liked hunting and eating them, and I just made sure to keep a spare spatula nearby (fly swatters were too flexible on the end to do any lasting harm)..... yuck...

I can attest to this. Hobos are aggressive little bastards. I lived in the pacific northwest for several years and my house had them. They mostly chilled out in the basement but they'd make their way upstairs to spread the terror.

I had one run across my foot while I was on the toilet. I let out a scream that would shame anything in a horror film and the reverberations may still be heard in space.

 

[dukebound85]

Spiders are scary because they have fangs that can bite, and some of them can actually be very poisonous to humans.

.

 

[Hastings101]

Yep, I'm so afraid of them I struggle to kill them with a shoe or something that comes in contact with it. I actually buy a can of hairspray every year or so that I use to kill them

 

[Designer Dale]

A lot of people, including me, seem to have an ingrained spookiness about spiders. I realize their importance in the balance of Nature but still avoid handling them directly. If I find one inside I'll catch it in a jar or on paper and move it outside. Something like 40,000 species of spiders and only about four are dangerous to most people.

Don't get me going on scorpions, though. And they are related.

Dale