When I was much younger I had a dark room in my parents garage. One day I spent several hours working inside it. Afterwards when I turned the light on I noticed there was a black widow spider hanging from the (very low) ceiling. It had been within a couple feet from my head the entire time. I didn’t shriek, but I did get the vacuum cleaner and get rid of it.
I hate the 8+ legs insects. My reaction is conditioned by their size. Smaller than a dollar coin body size, I demonstrate my Olympic level smashing skills. Bigger than that, I demonstrate my vocal capacities (think vuvuzela with the power of a ship fog horn) and my bounding away powers putting to shame an impala. My husband constantly refuses my very reasonable demand for a flame thrower.
As a kid the only spider that was frightening were redbacks, always checked the toilet seat. Never knew there were funnel web spiders where I grew up, how we survived is a miracle as we carried the plants they lived in for miles on our shoulders without even a shirt on.
As a young kid in Africa, I had a top bunk bed. One evening I climbed into bed, lay down and looked up at the ceiling just inches away from my face. There was a large colourful spider right above my face. I refused to sleep in any top bunk for many years after that!
When I worked in Germany back in the ‘60s, one of the apartments I rented was in a cellar. Northern Germany gets a lot of rain, and wallpaper doesn’t adhere to damp concrete very well, so it was always a bit loose, just adhering in enough places to keep it from falling off.
One night just after I moved in I heard a quiet clicking, not very regular and often stopping for minutes, on the other side of the bedroom. I couldn’t imagine what it could be, and it would stop when I switched on the light.
One night it didn’t stop when I switched on, and I saw this enormous wolf spider making its way slowly across the wall, the clicking being the sound of its feet on the loose wallpaper. The creature’s slow, tentative, and irregular progress, and the fact that it would often fall off onto the floor and have to make its way back up to its preferred traveling level, made me think it might be very old.
Apparently it lived somewhere in my apartment and went out to the garden at night to hunt. It never bothered me, never varied its route, and was still going out every night when I moved away 3 years later.
Growing up in FL, we had what we called garden spiders, very large and intimidating, but totally harmless. They spun really large webs in open spaces and we invariably walked into them.
There are only three of types of spiders that I give wide berth to, – a brown recluse, a black widow or a Brazilian wandering spider. The rest, including tarantulas, don’t particularly bother me.
Arachnids are very good at eradicating lots of bothersome bugs, so I generally try never to kill or injure them.
We had a tarantula who had a den in the planter in front of our house, in Arizona. At night, it was fascinating to watch it snag moths that congregated around the front door light.
There was a TV show episode where a man with arachniphobia finds a spider and kills it. And then finds a larger spider, kills that one, and finds yet a larger one. And so on. And so on…
Dtroutma over 6 years ago
Be the word!
GreasyOldTam over 6 years ago
When I was much younger I had a dark room in my parents garage. One day I spent several hours working inside it. Afterwards when I turned the light on I noticed there was a black widow spider hanging from the (very low) ceiling. It had been within a couple feet from my head the entire time. I didn’t shriek, but I did get the vacuum cleaner and get rid of it.
cabalonrye over 6 years ago
I hate the 8+ legs insects. My reaction is conditioned by their size. Smaller than a dollar coin body size, I demonstrate my Olympic level smashing skills. Bigger than that, I demonstrate my vocal capacities (think vuvuzela with the power of a ship fog horn) and my bounding away powers putting to shame an impala. My husband constantly refuses my very reasonable demand for a flame thrower.
Its just me over 6 years ago
As a kid the only spider that was frightening were redbacks, always checked the toilet seat. Never knew there were funnel web spiders where I grew up, how we survived is a miracle as we carried the plants they lived in for miles on our shoulders without even a shirt on.
paddy over 6 years ago
As a young kid in Africa, I had a top bunk bed. One evening I climbed into bed, lay down and looked up at the ceiling just inches away from my face. There was a large colourful spider right above my face. I refused to sleep in any top bunk for many years after that!
Varnes over 6 years ago
….Boris the Spider…. creepy….. crawly…..creepy……crawly…….creepy creepy crawly crawly, creepy creepy, crawly crawly…Boris the Spider….
uniquename over 6 years ago
This is my daughter, who ironically, loves horses and spends hours and hours in barns.
Màiri over 6 years ago
When I worked in Germany back in the ‘60s, one of the apartments I rented was in a cellar. Northern Germany gets a lot of rain, and wallpaper doesn’t adhere to damp concrete very well, so it was always a bit loose, just adhering in enough places to keep it from falling off.
One night just after I moved in I heard a quiet clicking, not very regular and often stopping for minutes, on the other side of the bedroom. I couldn’t imagine what it could be, and it would stop when I switched on the light.
One night it didn’t stop when I switched on, and I saw this enormous wolf spider making its way slowly across the wall, the clicking being the sound of its feet on the loose wallpaper. The creature’s slow, tentative, and irregular progress, and the fact that it would often fall off onto the floor and have to make its way back up to its preferred traveling level, made me think it might be very old.
Apparently it lived somewhere in my apartment and went out to the garden at night to hunt. It never bothered me, never varied its route, and was still going out every night when I moved away 3 years later.
the lost wizard over 6 years ago
The thing that bugs me is…
Packratjohn Premium Member over 6 years ago
Growing up in FL, we had what we called garden spiders, very large and intimidating, but totally harmless. They spun really large webs in open spaces and we invariably walked into them.
Linguist over 6 years ago
There are only three of types of spiders that I give wide berth to, – a brown recluse, a black widow or a Brazilian wandering spider. The rest, including tarantulas, don’t particularly bother me.
Arachnids are very good at eradicating lots of bothersome bugs, so I generally try never to kill or injure them.
We had a tarantula who had a den in the planter in front of our house, in Arizona. At night, it was fascinating to watch it snag moths that congregated around the front door light.
Display over 6 years ago
There was a TV show episode where a man with arachniphobia finds a spider and kills it. And then finds a larger spider, kills that one, and finds yet a larger one. And so on. And so on…