Arachnophobia anyone?

[Tonya]

For the spiderphobic people, tell all about your encounters with spiders. And yes, the thread is even for the spider lovers as well.

Now, little spiders don't freak me out, but the REALLY BIG ones!.....:wiltshock:
I remember one time there was a huge spider in the house that covered the hinge of the door, which covered nearly 5 inches!

[Medikor]

I'm not afraid of spiders but the BIG ones unnerve me.;) My dad has started to grow a fear of spiders in his old age. I remember a few summers ago whene I was helping to paint the house, there was this spider looking right at my dad and my dad yelled "How many people did you eat?!". He had to have me clear away all the spiders just so we could get close to the house.8D

[pitbulllady]

I am, of course, absolutely UNafraid of spiders; in fact, I love the darn things, the bigger and hairier, the better! So many tarantulas out there, and so little money in my bank account!

I used to be one of those silly people who was afraid of spiders, not really phobic, but they used to give me the heebie-jeebies. Then, I grew some additional brain cells and realized how hypocritical it was of me to fear spiders out of the same reason so many people fear snakes, ignorance, when I had spent much of my life, as a child and an adult, trying to educate people that snakes were not the slimy, nasty, evil, mean, and by-default deadly creatures that most people believed them to be. I began to educate myself about spiders and to dispel my own needless fears. When a kindergarten teacher offered to give me her son's Chilean Rosehaired tarantula, which he'd left at home with his none-too-happy mom when he got married, I accepted it, as a way of defeating my fear face-to-fang, so to speak. That one spider turned out to be something of a "gateway drug", since I have now expanded my tarantula collection(and this does not include "true" spiders that I keep, as well)has grown to close to 50 animals! Since taking up the additional hobby of macro digital photography, my interest in spiders has really picked up, since being able to photograph them and see them in details not visable with the naked eye has really shown me how fascinating they are. Their colors and patterns never cease to amaze me, and their behavior can be just as remarkable as that of "complex" animals. Quite honestly, right now, I'd happily trade every single dog I have(well, maybe not two of them)for additional tarantula species, since the spiders are so much less trouble to care for.

pitbulllady

[Medikor]

Just watch out for contaminated foodstuffs that you give you're spiders, Pitbullady or Eight Legged Freaks could start all over again.8D

[Sparky]

I have no negative experiences/encounters with spiders - well I mean, none involving me being afraid or whatever. I have experiences witnessing people who horribly tortured/killed spiders for no good reason, or even asked ME to do it FOR them! Those are negative, but too sad to tell I think. I guess I have nothing for this thread.

[duck2k]

I live in AZ - "Black Widows, Brown Widows, Scorpions, and Recluse - OH MY!":o

[pitbulllady]

I would absolutely LOVE to go to Arizona to collect spiders and scorpions, especially since you have some really nice tarantula species there, including one of my favorites, the "Flagstaff Orange", Aphonopelma chalcodes.

pitbulllady

[Sparky]

I would absolutely LOVE to go to Arizona to collect spiders and scorpions, especially since you have some really nice tarantula species there, including one of my favorites, the "Flagstaff Orange", Aphonopelma chalcodes.

pitbulllady

Even though I'm not at this time planning to get another T, if I found a female Flagstaff Orange I'd snatch it up! COOLEST LEGS EVER.

[lucyrocks73]

I'm not afraid of spiders...

Really, I'm not...

I mean, I don't have any pet spiders, but that doesn't mean I hate them.

I'm indifferent to them... I think they are cool. I'm not obsessed; I just think they are cool.

Snakes can freak me out occasionally, only when I know it's a species that could potentially hurt me...

I have no issue with mice, either...

Stuff like that doesn't freak me out.

There are so many girls at school who go wild if they see so much as a fire ant near them, and that bugs me (no pun intended). Hey, they don't hurt me.

Which is why I always take the spider outside instead of squishing it when I find one in the house. It just wanted to explore a bit; no reason to end an innocent life.

I feel like a total nerd... In a good way.
-Marty :goo:

[One Radical Dude]

I think they're great to look at, though I'm not very fond of the ones that carry the venom. Had a friend over the summer that got bitten by a black widow. When he went to the hospital, they said he didn't need any medication, and the he wasn't going to die. I guess he had a dry bite or something, but he did swell up pretty big.

[pitbulllady]

I think they're great to look at, though I'm not very fond of the ones that carry the venom. Had a friend over the summer that got bitten by a black widow. When he went to the hospital, they said he didn't need any medication, and the he wasn't going to die. I guess he had a dry bite or something, but he did swell up pretty big.

Is he absolutely certain that it was a Black Widow? Black Widows have neurotoxic venom, like a Cobra's, which attacks the central nervous system but generally does not cause tissue damage and swelling. Black Widow venom molecules bind to pain receptors in the brain, while overactivating the nerves that control muscles, causing virtually every muscle in the body to cramp violently, while at the same time magnifying the sensation of pain THAT causes. Eventually, the heart muscle goes into spasm, along with the breathing muscles, which can result in death.

pitbulllady

[One Radical Dude]

Well, I wasn't there, when it happened. This was before seeing my friends in CA. It may not have been a Black Widow, but then again, I wasn't around for that.

[Bloofanatic]

I don't mind the small ones but the big ones......*shudders*

[duck2k]

I would absolutely LOVE to go to Arizona to collect spiders and scorpions, especially since you have some really nice tarantula species there, including one of my favorites, the "Flagstaff Orange", Aphonopelma chalcodes.

pitbulllady

Come on down! There are 3 types of scorpion, and all the orange T's you want! Just watch out for the T hawk - it's sting is so unbearable, that the only thing you can do is scream!:wiltshock:

[pitbulllady]

Come on down! There are 3 types of scorpion, and all the orange T's you want! Just watch out for the T hawk - it's sting is so unbearable, that the only thing you can do is scream!:wiltshock:


Yep, we have those colorful Pepsis wasps here, too, only they have to settle for big Wolf spiders and the occasional Kukulcania. I've never been stung by one personally, though I've had one give me a good "telling-off" for getting too close to her burrow, and she was about two inches long, which is HUGE for a wasp, so I took her advice and backed off! I've seen dogs that had made the mistake of trying to eat one of these, and their faces looked almost as bad as if they'd been bitten by a small rattler!

If you know anyone who doesn't mind capturing tarantulas, and can round me up a few females(though I could use a male, which are the ones found out wandering around, since I've got a couple of lonely girls over here), and follow directions on shipping, I would really love to have a couple more, and Sparky probably wouldn't turn down another A. chalcodes, either. They're such nice animals, pretty to look at and to touch, like eight-legged Golden Retrievers! YOu might better hang onto the scorpions, unless you know for sure that you haven't found an Arizona Bark ScorpionCentroides exilicauda, since those can actually kill people, and in tests on their venom, have been shown to be even more potent, drop-for-drop, than the infamous Israeli Death Stalker Scorpion, long thought to be the deadliest invertebrate on land. You've probably got lots of big Desert Hairy Scorpions and Dune Scorpions, though, which aren't too bad.

pitbulllady

[duck2k]

Yep, we have those colorful Pepsis wasps here, too, only they have to settle for big Wolf spiders and the occasional Kukulcania. I've never been stung by one personally, though I've had one give me a good "telling-off" for getting too close to her burrow, and she was about two inches long, which is HUGE for a wasp, so I took her advice and backed off! I've seen dogs that had made the mistake of trying to eat one of these, and their faces looked almost as bad as if they'd been bitten by a small rattler!

If you know anyone who doesn't mind capturing tarantulas, and can round me up a few females(though I could use a male, which are the ones found out wandering around, since I've got a couple of lonely girls over here), and follow directions on shipping, I would really love to have a couple more, and Sparky probably wouldn't turn down another A. chalcodes, either. They're such nice animals, pretty to look at and to touch, like eight-legged Golden Retrievers! YOu might better hang onto the scorpions, unless you know for sure that you haven't found an Arizona Bark ScorpionCentroides exilicauda, since those can actually kill people, and in tests on their venom, have been shown to be even more potent, drop-for-drop, than the infamous Israeli Death Stalker Scorpion, long thought to be the deadliest invertebrate on land. You've probably got lots of big Desert Hairy Scorpions and Dune Scorpions, though, which aren't too bad.

pitbulllady

I'll see what I can do. I have friend who owns and breeds African Emperor (Empress) scorpions; I am sure she can point me in the right direction on who to talk to.:frankiesmile:

[GrimTheLost]

I got bit by some random spider on my hand when I was little. It looked like a balloon. Spiders creep me out.

[Verity]

I'm afraid of spiders and I've always been. Tiny spiders aren't that bad, but I don't want them near me. One thing about spiders is that to me, they (like many other arthropods) appear to be faceless. I know they're not, but that's how I feel. Some of them are like a body with long, scary legs. I'm looking at picures of spiders right now, I shudder, and it feels like somethings crawling on me :macwor:

Snakes have never really bothered me. I touched one earlier this year at Skansen (a Swedish open air museum and zoo, in case you don't know) and it was rather nice!

[Partymember]

oh yeah, we have the Brown Recluse all over up here. Scary.

[pitbulllady]

oh yeah, we have the Brown Recluse all over up here. Scary.

Where ARE you, by the way? A lot of people claim to have Brown Recluse where they live, when they live far outside its range. I've seen countless pics on DA of "Brown Recluse" that were actually Wolf Spiders, Cellar Spiders, Tegenarias, and even a Jumping Spider once! I'm not saying you DON'T have 'em, but knowing where you live could at least let me give you some peace of mind that maybe things aren't as bad as they seem as far as having these venomous little buggers around. A lot of people also assume that the Brown Recluse must be a big, scary spider(hense the Wolfies getting stuck with that misidentification)in order to do so much harm when it bites, but they're actually rather small and plain-looking. Even still, in areas where they are very, very common, actual confirmed bites are extremely rare.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

upstate NY. They could be Wolfs in retrospect.

[pitbulllady]

upstate NY. They could be Wolfs in retrospect.


They DEFINATELY are not Brown Recluses, since that is WAAAY out of their range! They most likely are indeed a species of Wolf spider or Tegenaria and quite harmless.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

oh good! They still scare the shizzle out of me, though. Massive creepy scurrying things. I love snakes, though, is it illegal to own an anaconda? I want a gavail, too.

[pitbulllady]

oh good! They still scare the shizzle out of me, though. Massive creepy scurrying things. I love snakes, though, is it illegal to own an anaconda? I want a gavail, too.

In New York State, unfortunately, it's pretty much illegal to own ANY animal, other than a run-of-the-mill cat or dog or livestock. All large boids are banned, along with every species that's native to the state, and Gavials are prohibited under INTERNATIONAL law(CITES), as these are highly-endangered. Yes, NY bans all crocodilians, too. In the city of NY, it's even worse; tarantulas are banned as "dangerous", along with ferrets(under the totally incorrect assumption that they are wild animals), iguanas, all constricting snakes(such as Ball Pythons and Corn Snakes), Bengal cats(a domesticated breed), Emperor scorpions and Hermit crabs-all under the premise that they are "dangerous".

I am SOOO glad that I live in South Carolina!

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

hermit crabs LOL!

[Sparky]

Don't forget the incredibly rare "Canine Hyena," pbl. 8D

[pitbulllady]

Don't forget the incredibly rare "Canine Hyena," pbl. 8D

Ooops...how could I forget THAT critter! I take it you've been following the thread on Arachnoboards then. It never ceases to astound me how many people on that board-a forum devoted to keeping EXOTIC and to some, controversial wild animals-are actually strongly in favor of banning many kinds of animals, if not ALL of them. Many fail to see any connection between banning the animals THEY keep, and banning everything else, though. They cannot comprehend that the same folks who are behind the push to ban Pit Bulls and ferrets are also behind the move to ban their scorpions and tarantulas, and that these are also the very same groups who want to see every last dog and cat in this country sterilized and no more puppies and kittens being born, EVER.

But then, if the "hyena dogs" were legal in New York, wouldn't they eat all the tarantulas and other "dangerous" spiders running around up there? I'm pretty sure they'd devour all the child-eating Pit Bulls, but then, the dope fiends and gang-bangers(and according to the media, those are the ONLY people who would want a Pit Bull in the first place)would all start wanting hyena dogs, so I can see how that would be a problem.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

they found an alligator in a drug house, guarding the place. It was a few years back. We have coydogs up here, thats a feral dog/coyote mix. I think they would own any heyenas. They are incredibly wily, i've been out several times and can't get a single one.

My uncle in Michigan had a wolf, he had it taxidermied when it died. Seeing a wolf standing on a rock in the living room scared the heck out of me when i was 5.

[pitbulllady]

they found an alligator in a drug house, guarding the place. It was a few years back. We have coydogs up here, thats a feral dog/coyote mix. I think they would own any heyenas. They are incredibly wily, i've been out several times and can't get a single one.

My uncle in Michigan had a wolf, he had it taxidermied when it died. Seeing a wolf standing on a rock in the living room scared the heck out of me when i was 5.

I take it that you've not been around many hyenas, have you? A Spotted hyena is the same size as an English Mastiff, and has the most powerful jaws of any land animal. I've seen coydogs-we have those here in South Carolina, too. I've also been around live hyenas and seen what those jaws can do. One of my Pit Bulls might last....oh, three seconds in a fight with a hyena, and then it would be lunch, and hyenas LOVE to eat dogs! A friend of mine who had an exotic animal rescue outfit had a hyena named "Jake" who was his house "dog"(they are not canines, by the way, not even related). For some reason, Jake hated me with a passion. After he exploded through a locked storm door(he lived in the house, all 180 pounds of him)and bit through my steel-belted radial tire down to the rim without so much as seeming to strain his jaw muscles, I got the point that Jake wanted to kill me, and decided that dropping in unannounced would not be a good idea. There is a heckuva big difference between that and someone having a tarantula for a pet, let me tell ya! That can really put something like a little spider into perspective, when it comes to really being confronted by a large flesh-eating animal like that.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

it depends on the intelligence factor, are they smart? The coydogs up here are more wolf than coyote, they hunt in packs. Large packs. I really really have been trying to get one, but they are wiley animals. They only show up when they want to, and no amount of scent block and wounded rabbit calls can bring them out. I think if the hyena is as smart as a coydog, which are smart animals, then they could take them. Of coursem, the coydogs might not last long now that the wolves are coming back up here.

How big are your coydogs? Ours are wolf-size.

[pitbulllady]

it depends on the intelligence factor, are they smart? The coydogs up here are more wolf than coyote, they hunt in packs. Large packs. I really really have been trying to get one, but they are wiley animals. They only show up when they want to, and no amount of scent block and wounded rabbit calls can bring them out. I think if the hyena is as smart as a coydog, which are smart animals, then they could take them. Of coursem, the coydogs might not last long now that the wolves are coming back up here.

How big are your coydogs? Ours are wolf-size.

Coydogs here tend to be roughly Pointer-sized, around 40-50 lbs. Many of the specimens from northern states are very likely carrying a high percentage of Timber Wolf genes, which is why they are so large, and this is going to become even more of a factor now that wolves are re-entering their old stomping grounds once more. We do not have wild wolves here in South Carolina-Dingoes, yes, but no wolves. But, yes, hyenas are intelligent, and are also pack animals. I think that the one factor which would prevent them from surviving up where you are would be the winter weather, which is very different from sub-Sahara Africa! Still, the NY law is not so much to prevent non-native species from establishing there, as to protect humans from ourselves-Big Brother in all his glory. It's based on the assumption that if something has even the remotest chance it could hurt someone, ban it, for our sakes, without of course bothering to find out if something is a legitimate threat or not. A bite from a native Wolf spider, while not life-threatening, has a longer-lasting and more painful effect than a bite from Rosehaired tarantula, and is MUCH worse than a sting from an Emperor Scorpion, but the latter two are banned as being "dangerous". Ditto for a critter called a Solfugid(the infamous "Camel spider" of Urban Legend), which has NO venom at all; I guess it was banned based on its looks alone-"if it LOOKS scary, ban it!" All laws like this serve to do is to promote the often-erronous beliefs that things like spiders are inherently evil and horrible and always deadly, which counteracts any attempts by people like the late Steve Irwin to try to educate the public.

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

Camel Spider is a scary-looking bug for sure.

Its the same thing with rifles, believe it or not, if a gun has black plastic stock on it as oppossed to a traditional wooden one it is automatically the target of a would-be ban, regardless of the gun itself.

with the way winter looks now, i don't think environment would be a factor anymore LOL!

Hmmmm...methinks i hijacked the thread. Sorry!

[megaman490]

okay I am not scared of spiders but..... my sister does the most dumbest things because she is scared of spiders it makes me so mad!!:terrence: (belive me you to not want to know know what she does):o

[T-Rexotron]

Most people in my family are afraid of spiders, and even tend to kill them: not fair! They also deserve to live, even though they look a bit nasty.
I'm not afraid of them but I do not fancy to hold one.

[duck2k]

My firend's son got stung by a bark scorpion recently; terrified? Absolutely!

[Fomalhaut]

I'm scared of spiders as well... especially 3 types:
- Long-legged ones, those freak me out, no matter how tiny they are, ewww!!!
- Ones with huge abdomen and small legs.
- Big ones, I mean, larger than 4 cms.
As for tiny little ones that sometimes crawl on me, all I can say is "Awww, how cuteee!!!"

But I got over it somehow. I simply took out my camera and began to photograph cross spiders, and filled my DeviantArt gallery with the results: cross spider in the darkness, cross spider in the light, closeups, profiles, etc...

I'm particularly proud of this one:
http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs12/i/2006/267/0/f/Trapped_by_Fomalhaut48.jpg
Link: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40331600/

[pitbulllady]

Nice pictures! Good ole' Araneus diadematus-believe it or not, we have this species here in the US, too. That girl is sure wrapping up that Assassin Bug!

pitbulllady

[Fomalhaut]

Nice pictures! Good ole' Araneus diadematus-believe it or not, we have this species here in the US, too. That girl is sure wrapping up that Assassin Bug!

pitbulllady


I know you like spiders, check out my DA gallery, there are some more. :D

[Jabberwocky]

I love spiders (from Mars lololol), but scorpions scare the stardust out of me. Stingy stingy.

My mom is horrible, she smushes any bugs she sees and LEAVES THEM ON THE WALL because she thinks it'll scare away other bugs.

This one time though, there was an egg sack in our glass cupboard and I opened it up and there were spiders all over the cups. AAHHHH!

[TrickyDisco]

Ooo creepy crawlies!

Now I love the spiders, people think I'm nuts when I see one and gently take it outside...everybody else usually freaks out!
We even have a bunch of various spideys all over my parents house and they cannot imagine getting rid of them.
Last summer we had quite a few, with some newcomers fighting the regulars over the best spots by the house. I of course got pics of one of the "fights" which were sometimes brutal!
http://www.oneandonemakefive.com/gallery/albums/album01/spider.jpg
The defending spider (the brown one) started getting attacked by that red one, and both they and the web dissapeared. We were getting worried but then the brown one returned a couple of days later and just spun a new web in like, minutes.

I have more pics of that "fight" here (http://www.oneandonemakefive.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=266) if you want to take a look. Photographing Spiders is fun! :D

[pitbulllady]

Ooo creepy crawlies!

Now I love the spiders, people think I'm nuts when I see one and gently take it outside...everybody else usually freaks out!
We even have a bunch of various spideys all over my parents house and they cannot imagine getting rid of them.
Last summer we had quite a few, with some newcomers fighting the regulars over the best spots by the house. I of course got pics of one of the "fights" which were sometimes brutal!
http://www.oneandonemakefive.com/gallery/albums/album01/spider.jpg
The defending spider (the brown one) started getting attacked by that red one, and both they and the web dissapeared. We were getting worried but then the brown one returned a couple of days later and just spun a new web in like, minutes.

I have more pics of that "fight" here (http://www.oneandonemakefive.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=266) if you want to take a look. Photographing Spiders is fun! :D


Uhm, actually, what you photographed there wasn't WAR, but LOVE...well, the spider version of love anyway! That smaller reddish-colored spider is a male Common Orb Weaver(Araneus diadematus), and that big fat brown one is the female! They were MATING, not fighting! Of course, she most likely did wind up eating him after he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do, which is why she returned, and he was a no-show!

pitbulllady

[Partymember]

spidey smut...wonderful

[pitbulllady]

spidey smut...wonderful

Betcha never thought you'd be seeing THAT on a Foster's Home forum, now did you?

pitbulllady

[Cassini90125]

For the spiderphobic people, tell all about your encounters with spiders. And yes, the thread is even for the spider lovers as well.

Spider lovers should love this:

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/070319_sweet_spiders.html

[pitbulllady]

Spider lovers should love this:

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/070319_sweet_spiders.html

I'd never kept Whipscorpions together before(and this article is about Tailless Whipscorpions, which look like something H.R. Geiger would have thought up), but I have observed such interactions among Kukulcania hibernalis, or Black Crevice Spiders, many times. They live in colonies, and I've actually seen several females using what can only be described as "pack' behavior to take down really large insects, including a big Chinese Mantis. Some tarantulas in the genus Pamphoboteus will also do this, and have actually been documented ganging up on and killing half-grown chickens, earning them the local nickname of "Chicken Spiders"! I've seen my own tarantulas pick up an empty water dish in their fangs and strut around with it until they got my attention-and got the water dish re-filled-so there seems to be a bit more to the arachnid brain that most people previously thought!

pitbulllady

[Fomalhaut]

Uhm, actually, what you photographed there wasn't WAR, but LOVE...well, the spider version of love anyway! That smaller reddish-colored spider is a male Common Orb Weaver(Araneus diadematus), and that big fat brown one is the female! They were MATING, not fighting! Of course, she most likely did wind up eating him after he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do, which is why she returned, and he was a no-show!

pitbulllady

I have seen a similar scene in my grandma's garden, too... the female ended up chasing the male one away, but he kept on going back for like, days... didn't see how it ended, though... anyway I have read so much about how they try to mate, and it was so wonderful to see it live, I mean, how the male one started to pick at the female's web until she noticed! It was great to watch. :)

[Fomalhaut]

Drastic fears call for drastic measures...

http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs37/300W/f/2008/266/3/e/Me_and_the_tarantula_by_Fomalhaut48.jpg

[Lynnie]

Ay ay ay, I don't know if I'd have the courage to do that. Some guts you've got then, Fomal. Good for you! :)

I don't think I'd call myself an arachnophobe as I'm not really scared of them, I just don't like them all that much, and if one startles me I can have a near heart attack.

I remember once when I was 9 or 10, I was in bed and just about to doze off, when I felt something tickle my arm. I opened my eyes to see, in the dim light of my bedroom, a quarter sized spider crawling over my bare arm. Yeah, I nearly had a heart attack. There's few things as unpleasant as being aroused from slumber to not only see but feel a creature you know could have a harmful bite crawling on you. I remember throwing my covers over it, hoping to trap it there long enough for me to run to the restroom and get some tissue. I don't remember if I had plans to kill it or release it out my window, although I have to admit after being frightened to such an extent, I was probably planning on killing it so I wouldn't have to worry about waking up to find it touching me again. When I got back from the bathroom it was gone. :macwor: I then remember not sleeping much that night.

Another memory of spiders was when I was 11 and my family was camping in Colorado. There was a giant spider living in the ladies restroom at the campground. Seriously, I didn't even know such big spiders were in the US, I'm wondering if it was an escaped pet. It must have been 7-8 inches long. And yes, it was real and alive, I saw it walking. I was so creeped out by it I didn't want to go to the restroom after dark, and when I went during the day, I made sure I found where it was before I went about my business- always on the opposite side of the building if I could help it. It liked to hide behind the toilets, in the corner under the sinks and sometimes in the showers. It was light brown, thin and virtually hairless, unlike a tarantula which are stocky and covered in hair. I have no idea what kind it was, but it was big.

And yet another memory took place later that year, after my 12th birthday, when I was on a campout/field trip with my school. My friends and I were gathered around the campfire eating when I saw something move from behind one of my best friends. I looked closer and out from the shadows marched a tarantula. I screamed, and gave everyone else a heart attack. And again, the reason for my scream was merely because it startled me and I didn't like that in the least. It must have been drawn to the fire by the heat because it marched right into the firepit. :o We saw a lot of dead tarantulas while on the outing too, after getting caught by birds or raccoons or something. They were all over the place in that park. I only saw two live ones, though. I didn't scream when I saw the other one because it didn't startle me so bad.

Now, I dislike spiders I suppose, but I respect them, and they can make cool pets. I greatly admire the beautiful webs they weave, and the beautiful colors they can be too. And if a small one crawls on me, I'll let it explore a little before letting it go outside somewhere. It's mostly just the big ones that I don't like, I guess, and I never like them startling me, which they seem to be very good at doing. But I'm not one to heartlessly kill them just because I don't like them. That's just plain mean. :sadbendy: They eat mosquitoes. Mosquitoes carry West Nile and Malaria. So spiders are our friends. :)

Scorpions though, no. Don't ask. I'm terrified to the depths of my soul of those things. No exceptions.

[Fomalhaut]

Thank you (and it's Fomal, without the R, I know I keep on ranting about this...), umm, the caretaker told me it couldn't bite, and it was tame. It was really soft and nice to touch, btw.

...live tarantulas? Giant spiders...? Do I really want to go to the US?

You know what is weird? The kind of spider I am the most afraid of are actually those horrid long-legged *things* we can see in our homes. I don't like those that have either disproportionately long legs, or too large abdomens, measured to the rest of their body. A tarantula or cross-spider at least (most of the time) looks like a spider, not a heap of legs or a huge ball with some little thingies.

[Lynnie]

Thank you (and it's Fomal, without the R, I know I keep on ranting about this...), umm, the caretaker told me it couldn't bite, and it was tame. It was really soft and nice to touch, btw.

...live tarantulas? Giant spiders...? Do I really want to go to the US?

You know what is weird? The kind of spider I am the most afraid of are actually those horrid long-legged *things* we can see in our homes. I don't like those that have either disproportionately long legs, or too large abdomens, measured to the rest of their body. A tarantula or cross-spider at least (most of the time) looks like a spider, not a heap of legs or a huge ball with some little thingies.

Oops. So sorry Fomal. :oops: I fixed it. :)

We certainly have wild tarantulas here in the southern plains and deserts, and scorpions too. *shudders* But that one living in the ladies restroom I'm almost certain was an escaped pet, because I don't think any of our local spiders get that big. And even if by chance there is a species or two that gets up to 8 inches long, I doubt they'd be in the mountains or even high plains of Colorado, where it gets very cold in the winter.

Are you talking about "Daddy Longlegs"? Yeah, they're kind of creepy. And although I don't dislike them as much as others, after hearing that they have one of the most poisonous bites of any other spider in the world, I'm a little intimidated by them. Even if their mouths are too small to bite a human, I keep thinking there could be some way that little bugger can inject its venom into me. :macwor:

[pitbulllady]

Oops. So sorry Fomal. :oops: I fixed it. :)

We certainly have wild tarantulas here in the southern plains and deserts, and scorpions too. *shudders* But that one living in the ladies restroom I'm almost certain was an escaped pet, because I don't think any of our local spiders get that big. And even if by chance there is a species or two that gets up to 8 inches long, I doubt they'd be in the mountains or even high plains of Colorado, where it gets very cold in the winter.

Are you talking about "Daddy Longlegs"? Yeah, they're kind of creepy. And although I don't dislike them as much as others, after hearing that they have one of the most poisonous bites of any other spider in the world, I'm a little intimidated by them. Even if their mouths are too small to bite a human, I keep thinking there could be some way that little bugger can inject its venom into me. :macwor:



Actually, that rumor about "Daddy Long Legs" having the most-powerful venom, but being unable to bite a human, is a pure Urban Legend. Here in the US, "Daddy Long-Legs" is a common name used to describe Harvestmen, which are arachnids, but are more closely related to mites than to spiders. Harvestmen are vegetarians; they have no fangs, no venom, no silk, and of course, don't bite. In Australia, where this myth originated, the term "Daddy Long Legs" is applied to a true non-native spider, Pholcus phalangiodies, which we call "Cellar Spiders" here in the US. They DO have venom, and probably COULD bite us if they wanted to, since they are closely related to the infamous Brown Recluse, but they just aren't aggressive at all. Dr. Brian Frye, an Australian venom researcher, tested their venom, and found it was far, far from being close to the most-potent. To further illustrate how common names of animals can be misleading, in Europe, "Daddy Long Legs" refers to a Crane Fly!

pitbulllady

[Lynnie]

Ah, so the rumor about Daddy Long Legs only applies in AU, and even then, the venom isn't the most dangerous around. That's good to know. And it's actually not even spider? Interesting. I learn something new every day. Thank you PBL! :)

[pitbulllady]

The "Daddy Long-Legs" here in the US aren't spiders, and the ones in Europe aren't even arachnids, but insects, what WE call a "Mosquito(or "skeeter") Hawk" here in the US, since they look like huge, leggy mosquitoes, and actually hunt the little(or not-so-little)vampires and eat them. The "Daddy Long-Legs" in Australia IS a spider, but a harmless one, and not because it can't bite, either. It can sure kill another much-larger spider, like a Wolf Spider, and its fangs are actually quite impressive, so I'm sure it would have no trouble biting a human IF it wanted to, that is. I've held large specimens cupped in my hand, without being bitten, and if a spider had a good reason to bite, that would probably be it, yet I've never had one bite or even give a threat display.

pitbulllady

[Bloonan]

Ah, yes, the long legs rumors...
They're not true, at least in US.
Mythbusters tested it once, I remember that.

[pitbulllady]

Ah, yes, the long legs rumors...
They're not true, at least in US.
Mythbusters tested it once, I remember that.

I believe you're right! I had almost forgotten that, shame on me! If all else fails, you can always count on good ole' Adam and Jamey! If more of my Science students had cable/satellite, I'd make watching "Mythbusters" a requirement to pass my class! That's my biggest obstacle-getting students to overcome the generational myths and wives' tales that they've grown up with...and their parents, grandparents an great-grandparents grew up with...just long enough to get them to participate in class. They don't want to believe ME; I'm not on television, after all.

pitbulllady

[idril]

I don't like particularly spiders, I'll take them outside and let them free as often as I can if I find them in the house, but I think a lot of fears about spiders are valid. Not saying that it's okay to smash them and rip their legs off and whatnot, I just think it's normal and perfectly acceptable to dislike their presence, JMO of course :)

[pitbulllady]

I don't like particularly spiders, I'll take them outside and let them free as often as I can if I find them in the house, but I think a lot of fears about spiders are valid. Not saying that it's okay to smash them and rip their legs off and whatnot, I just think it's normal and perfectly acceptable to dislike their presence, JMO of course :)

Why would it be "normal" and "perfectly acceptable" to dislike the presence of something that could not hurt you? Would it be normal to dislike the presence of a bunny rabbit, or a butterfly? Bunnies can hurt you worse than most spiders can, take it from me. Out of some 34,000 known species of spider, only 12, worldwide, pose any threat to humans in terms of having venom that is medically significant to us. That's not a lot, not really a justification for disliking them, nor enough to validate fear of spiders in general. Spiders devour 60 times more insects that all other insect-eating animals combined, which is significant considering how many insect species compete with US for food resources, or carry diseases that can sicken and kill us, and that benefit far, far outweighs any threat that a tiny minority of spiders actually pose to humans. Far from disliking their presence, I encourage and enjoy the presence of anything that will eat mosquitoes, flies and Fire Ants, without posing any threat to me at all. I do have to admit, though, that I can better accept people who run screaming like Eduardo from things that scare them, rather than feeling compelled to kill everything that scares them to try to prove they're not scared, and then boast about it later as though they've saved the world, or worse yet, post pics of the dead animal they just bravely vanquished on the internet, as though seeking a reward.

pitbulllady

[idril]

Why would it be "normal" and "perfectly acceptable" to dislike the presence of something that could not hurt you? Would it be normal to dislike the presence of a bunny rabbit, or a butterfly? Bunnies can hurt you worse than most spiders can, take it from me. Out of some 34,000 known species of spider, only 12, worldwide, pose any threat to humans in terms of having venom that is medically significant to us. That's not a lot, not really a justification for disliking them, nor enough to validate fear of spiders in general. Spiders devour 60 times more insects that all other insect-eating animals combined, which is significant considering how many insect species compete with US for food resources, or carry diseases that can sicken and kill us, and that benefit far, far outweighs any threat that a tiny minority of spiders actually pose to humans. Far from disliking their presence, I encourage and enjoy the presence of anything that will eat mosquitoes, flies and Fire Ants, without posing any threat to me at all. I do have to admit, though, that I can better accept people who run screaming like Eduardo from things that scare them, rather than feeling compelled to kill everything that scares them to try to prove they're not scared, and then boast about it later as though they've saved the world, or worse yet, post pics of the dead animal they just bravely vanquished on the internet, as though seeking a reward.

pitbulllady

Well, yeah, spiders could hurt you. Google spider bite (I would advise most of those people in the pictures to go to the doctor sooner buuut whatever). I think it's just normal human instinct to avoid spiders rather than gladly accept their presence, and that normal human instinct should not be mocked. My dogs will get spooked at toads and large beetles. They don't know if they can or can't hurt you, all they know is that they should stay away and they approach very cautiously. Are they just 'stupid dogs' for avoiding something that is pretty much harmless, according to statistics? Course not! Just like I think you mentioned in a post a long time ago, there were people from another country (I'll hazard a guess at Mexico or somewhere thereabouts but I'm not sure) who were afraid of spiders. That instinct and knowledge that spiders can be harmful is what keeps them and their kids safe and I sure as heck wouldn't tell them they're wrong for doing that.

I think it's a little silly to be afraid of something only if it can cause a huge amount of damage or kill you. I'm not only cautious about horses because they can kill you, in fact they hurt people a lot more than they kill. They can still bruise you, break bones, crush you, break the skin...and I don't want that to happen. I also don't know much about horses, just like I don't know much about spiders so I would rather stay away with a little fear rather than learn all about all of them and which ones to fear and which ones are safe. There are a lot more concerns in my life, and I'm sure other peoples lives, than spiders, so a safe alternative would be just to avoid them alltogether. Like I said, I don't think it's right to smash them or torment them or kill them just for being in your house, I'll escort them outside with a handy dandy piece of paper and a cup or magazine, and bid them farewell and good luck finding a home or reuniting with the kids, but I don't think fear of spiders should be seen as an act of stupidity.

Spider bites suck, too. I get nasty reactions to a lot of other bites of the crawly, 6+ legged variety.

ETA: I'm with you with the people posting pictures/videos of stuff like that, it's pretty disgusting and I really don't know what people do it for, such as the person throwing a puppy off of a cliff or videos of people tormenting snakes and using shovels to kill them, etc. :(

[pitbulllady]

Well, yeah, spiders could hurt you. Google spider bite (I would advise most of those people in the pictures to go to the doctor sooner buuut whatever). I think it's just normal human instinct to avoid spiders rather than gladly accept their presence, and that normal human instinct should not be mocked. My dogs will get spooked at toads and large beetles. They don't know if they can or can't hurt you, all they know is that they should stay away and they approach very cautiously. Are they just 'stupid dogs' for avoiding something that is pretty much harmless, according to statistics? Course not! Just like I think you mentioned in a post a long time ago, there were people from another country (I'll hazard a guess at Mexico or somewhere thereabouts but I'm not sure) who were afraid of spiders. That instinct and knowledge that spiders can be harmful is what keeps them and their kids safe and I sure as heck wouldn't tell them they're wrong for doing that.

I think it's a little silly to be afraid of something only if it can cause a huge amount of damage or kill you. I'm not only cautious about horses because they can kill you, in fact they hurt people a lot more than they kill. They can still bruise you, break bones, crush you, break the skin...and I don't want that to happen. I also don't know much about horses, just like I don't know much about spiders so I would rather stay away with a little fear rather than learn all about all of them and which ones to fear and which ones are safe. There are a lot more concerns in my life, and I'm sure other peoples lives, than spiders, so a safe alternative would be just to avoid them alltogether. Like I said, I don't think it's right to smash them or torment them or kill them just for being in your house, I'll escort them outside with a handy dandy piece of paper and a cup or magazine, and bid them farewell and good luck finding a home or reuniting with the kids, but I don't think fear of spiders should be seen as an act of stupidity.

Spider bites suck, too. I get nasty reactions to a lot of other bites of the crawly, 6+ legged variety.

ETA: I'm with you with the people posting pictures/videos of stuff like that, it's pretty disgusting and I really don't know what people do it for, such as the person throwing a puppy off of a cliff or videos of people tormenting snakes and using shovels to kill them, etc. :(

Googling "spider bite" is NOT a very accurate way to determine if spiders in general are or are not harmful. UNLESS you actually SEE and feel a spider bite you, and then experience an obvious reaction at the exact same spot where the bite occurred, it's impossible to make a determination of "spider bite" for a skin lesion/sore. "Spider bite" has become a medical euphemism for "I have no idea what's really wrong with you, what caused that wound, or how to treat it, so I'm going to blame a spider". Doctors are notorious for making that determination, even blaming spider species which aren't found anywhere NEAR where the alleged victim lives, when in fact, many, many different factors, most of them not animal-related, can result in some pretty horrific skin lesions, including MRSA, ingrown hairs, or embedded small foreign objects or even materials like fibers from clothing that the body reacts to. Many of the so-called "spider bite" pics circulating all over the internet are actually bites from venomous snakes, not spiders. Like I said, out of 34,000 known species of spider, only 12 are known to have any medical significance at all, which is a very tiny minority, therefore the chances of encountering one that actually is capable of hurting a person is rather slim, and slimmer still are the chances of actually being bitten. I keep and have caught several Black Widows, which ARE medically-significant, yet I've never been bitten or had one even try to bite. Given the sheer numbers of spiders, and the relative few cases of verifiable human envenomations, the fear of spiders is still far, far out of proportion to the actual risk. Spiders cannot be compared to biting insects since such insects DO intentionally "go after" people to bite them, since such insects feed on blood and see us as part of their food supply, whereas spider bites are 100% defensive and are delivered as a last resort, because the spider's life is in imminent danger.

pitbulllady

[Imaginary Light]

You know, I still haven't been able to totally conquer my fear of spiders, but I held a rose hair tarantula on Tuesday while I was at work (I work at a pet store), and I have to say...I'm totally in love. I had the same rose hair out with me for a while today while I was at work, and she's such a little sweetie! I want to buy her so much! I may just have to get her.:P

[iluvBlooQKazoo]

You actully handle a spider? I'm dead afraid of those, I'll NEVER touch one.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

[Imaginary Light]

Tarantula's really aren't that bad. I'll tell the truth, I was dead afraid to even touch her. But after holding her, she didnt even feel like a spider. More like a fuzzy little...something, I don't know.:P

[jekylljuice]

Oh man - I was going through my kitchen cupboard today and I discovered that a couple of spiders had taken up residence in this packet of curly straws for god knows how long. I think one of them may have been dead - it was kind of hard to decipher whether it was actually moving or just being knocked around my movement of the straws when I picked up the packet. After I'd emptied the spiders outside, I kind of had to get rid of the straws, though this had less to do with the spiders than it did the fact that they appeared to be going mouldy anyway. Something tells me that they hadn't been properly washed in a long time.

[pitbulllady]

You actully handle a spider? I'm dead afraid of those, I'll NEVER touch one.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

I handle both tarantulas and "true" spiders on a regular basis. I've got a greater risk of being mauled by one of my house cats than being seriously injured by one of my spiders. Even Black Widows are not aggressive, and yes, I've got several of those, too. It's when people put the spider in a situation, often unknowingly, where the animal has to bite to avoid being squashed, that people wind up being envenomated, but few spiders are capable of really causing a serious reaction, anyway.

Tarantulas are very soft and furry. They don't feel like any other furry, aka mammalian, animal, though, but more like a stuffed plush toy. Other spiders can feel pretty neat, too; Golden Argiopes feel like velvet.

pitbulllady

[iluvBlooQKazoo]

I'll still never touch a spider of any kind even if you try to pay me, I still won't, but you know thats just me, I'm actully afraid of more then one thing. Like, for instants, the dark, I've no clue what's in it and I don't EVER want to know.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

[Fomalhaut]

Tarantulas are really cute. I loved holding the one I posted a few pages ago; it was like velvet, but it had some weight, too - I'm still afraid of Black Widows and those long-legged thingies, though I have no idea why about the latter.

[iluvBlooQKazoo]

But thats you, you can handle spiders, well tarantulas. I can't I'm scared it'll bite me or something, I won't even handle a snake I'll pet them though but it creeps me out. My older brother has one in a fish tank (a snake).

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

[pitbulllady]

But thats you, you can handle spiders, well tarantulas. I can't I'm scared it'll bite me or something, I won't even handle a snake I'll pet them though but it creeps me out. My older brother has one in a fish tank (a snake).

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo

Spider USED to creep me out, too, but I was determined not to let a fear get the better of me. I could not justify defending snakes against the many wives' tales and myths and outright stupid reasons people were afraid of THEM, when I myself was falling victim to the same sort of idiocy when it came to spiders, nor could I mentally justify trying to convince people that all Pit Bull-type dogs weren't the demonic, savage unpredictable killers so many had been taught they were, if I believed that about a little spider. I met my fears head-on, by accepting a free Rose-haired tarantula that a fellow teacher offered me, several years ago, after her son got married and moved out, leaving his former pet behind. I also got myself a digital camera, and I started taking pictures, not just of that spider, but of spiders outside and inside the house. I started observing them closely, and trying to find out more about them. I got more tarantulas...and more tarantulas...and more. Fear turned into fascination, which turned into some sort of affection, as I realized that 99% of what I'd thought I "knew" about spiders was bull-droppings! I realized that even the ones which WERE capable of seriously injuring or even killing me, which are very, very few and far between, had no desire at all to do so, since they could not EAT me. I knew that having a great fear of something that for the most part cannot harm me at all was pointless and waste of time and emotional energy, and as someone who is getting "up there" in years, I certainly did not want to waste what time I had left being all stressed out and scared of something that could not harm me, not when there are sure plenty of really scary things out there which CAN. I'd strongly recommend anyone do the same, before a fear becomes a true phobia-a mental illness which can severely cripple a person, emotionally and even physically, putting themselves and others around them in far greater danger than the actual subject of the phobia itself ever could.

pitbulllady

[iluvBlooQKazoo]

Yeah, I get what your going at but I can't get over it that easyly though, I don't mind fake ones or ones that are dead its just the way they move that freaks me out. I did kill four of them last night while cleaning my room, but it kinda scared me, I had a bad exsperince when I was younger.

Peace and Love: J.M Manucy aka iluvBlooQKazoo