What's your problem with spiders?

badabing106 · 13-11-2018 5:35pm #1

I witnessed an uncouth barbarian maim and kill a spider today. I reflected on that irrational desire to kill the spider, because they do not look as friendly as ladybird. My thoughts quickly came rushing in so quickly and how easy it is, as a human, to exercise destruction over nature. As I breathed into all of this so many images came to me- the destruction of the trees and habitats, the tearing up of the earth for building and burning stuff… I took pause just to let myself feel all of this sadness. Unless it was for food purposes, What other being in nature would kill a harmless, stoic, mindfull, artistic, and vitally important creature like the spider without a whim. What quivering ambivalent destroyers of nature we are .The world was not created for humans alone. If you have a problem with a spider, eat it or leave it be. Thanks

FunLover18 · 13-11-2018 5:42pm

Not one of the bastards has given me superpowers yet!!

murpho999 · 13-11-2018 5:43pm

Don't get the fear of spiders.

Completely harmless creatures that stay out of your way and eat annoying house flies.

Think people don't like how they walk.

Kevin Finnerty · 13-11-2018 5:49pm

My OH has an irrational fear of them and I mean stupidly so. A part of me dies every time I throw one out the door. Fascinating critters.

Feisar · 13-11-2018 5:51pm

I tell herself I give them gate but I operate a catch and release scheme.

Had a MASSIVE one take over our dining room window on the outside over the autunm. She wanted rid. I was like he/she is outside, guess what's inside that we don't like, flies!

The Princess Bride · 13-11-2018 5:51pm

I love them very much.
Beautiful and so skilled at making webs and catching ugly flies.

I'd have a pet spider only they don't like petting or cuddling.
Plus I'd have to feed them live critters which wouldn't appeal to me.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 13-11-2018 5:52pm

There was a long lived spider who webbed outside my door once. On the left as you exited.

From the lamp to the wall. The lamp was a fake gas light type thing. Looked pretty cool around Halloween I can tell you. Saved money too on decorations.

13-11-2018 5:55pm

I read somewhere that early man would often sit around a fire for warmth and in much the same way, snakes would also arrive. As we were not the brightest species back then, to see our fellow man convulse and die in pain from a snake bite, was bizarre. It's the same for spiders, to see this little thing scuttle from the scene having killed a human, was unfathomable to early man. You could understand the danger of a lion, or bear etc, so apparently we evolved with this irrational fear of them which permeates through to generations of this day!

It makes sense now considering visually the pose no threat.

apparently a funnel web and a brown mamba have been known to chase humans!!:D the latter can really move across land and water too, mister funnel web, not so much. Only native to Sydney though I think, you'd see them near pools and in houses etc, I wouldn't fancy a bite off one.

valoren · 13-11-2018 5:58pm

Had one in the kitchen last week I had to take out. Big hairy fella.
We went to the local and had a few drinks. Sound spider, he's a web designer.

pxdf9i5cmoavkz · 13-11-2018 6:01pm

I'm not afraid of spiders when my wife is around. :pac:

The problem with spiders isn't the spider itself or the way it walks. Not really. The lizard part of our brains does not like it when spiders crawl over us. Real or imagined. That OMG PANIC feeling you get is your lizard brain warning you that something potentially dangerous is crawling over you.

Also, spider webs give the impression of an unkempt domicile which may not be true but that's the impression they give. Spiders tend to setup in places that go undisturbed for extended periods of time.

TheValeyard · 13-11-2018 6:03pm

The Pheasant2 · 13-11-2018 6:05pm

No problem with spiders - they are vital allies in my life long struggle against my mortal enemy, flies.

13-11-2018 6:05pm

The problem I have with spiders is that the amygdala in my brain has them clocked as erratic and unpredictable fast movers before I even realize it's a spider I'm looking at, and sends shivers of alert through my brain and I release all kinds of stress hormones that make me anxious and panicky and I react in a seemingly irrational way as I process a minor threat to be a major problem.

That and they're hairy.

TheValeyard · 13-11-2018 6:08pm

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

No problem with spiders - they are vital allies in my life long struggle against my mortal enemy, flies.

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DEFTLEFTHAND · 13-11-2018 6:09pm

The eyes freak me out more than anything.

score2020 · 13-11-2018 6:09pm

I had a massive freak spider here for weeks, he could cross the 4 meter room in a split second
had to eventually put him outside

4Ad · 13-11-2018 6:14pm

I have a nice big fella taking over the hall lately, one of us has to go..I was going to capture him (as I always do) and let him off outside, but my Brother said he will die..Is that true ? Mr Spider is currently in hiding in the warmth..

ger vallely · 13-11-2018 6:22pm

When I last moved house I was considering bringing the spider from my bathroom. S/he had been with us for years, we lived happily together, doing our thing. My new home has lots of dangly spiders, they keep the flies away so they are more than welcome. In the preschool I work in, lots of children seem to have the stamping reflex when they see one. I always try to explain how amazing spiders are and the important work they do. Wouldn't let one walk over me all the same and I did do a wild, crazy lady screaming dance one day when I picked something off my neck to find it was half of a squished spider, not good with that kind of thing at all.

EdgeCase · 13-11-2018 6:25pm

It seems it's not just humans. A large spider ran past my cat and he literally jumped and yelped!

13-11-2018 6:31pm

There is a boardsie who has a load of them. I remember this from a thread a few months ago.
I was both horrified and amazed.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 13-11-2018 6:46pm

One got in my ear about 4 years ago. Terrified ever since

biko · 13-11-2018 6:54pm

badabing106 wrote: »

I witnessed an uncouth barbarian maim and kill a spider today.

Maim - wound or injure (a person or animal) so that part of the body is permanently damaged.

Did the above actually happen, or did he just step on the spider?

nullzero · 13-11-2018 7:17pm

There was a false widow in a workplace I was in a few years ago and it was a beefy looking yoke.
I've never seen a spider that was so efficient at killing at eating insects,yoyncould see it getting bigger and I think it was doing weights when we weren't there.
That leads me to the problem with spiders, they eat flies and insects by liquifying their insides and drinking them like a smoothie, then they discard the husks.
That false widow was leaving piles of insect husks all over the floor underneath where its web was, the place was destroyed and so the spider had to go.
The notion that spiders are clean creatures is a myth, there's no place in my home for any invertebrates, arachnid or otherwise.

BrokenArrows · 13-11-2018 7:18pm

It's a genetic fear that is built into most of us. Things that crawl and bite were very bad a long time ago.

As a previous poster said, it's their unpredictable quick movements that are the problem. If they walked slower they would be fine.

7 Seconds... · 13-11-2018 7:18pm

I'v had a complete irrational fear of them since I was a child, I've screamed the place down when seeing one, thankfully I'm not as bad now. Although the idea of one crawling on me still fills with the horrors.

wexie · 13-11-2018 7:26pm

that time of year again

hatrickpatrick · 13-11-2018 7:33pm

Can't stand them, but recognise that this is indeed irrational so I usually either tolerate them or chase them outside. Can't bring myself to murder them, like.

murpho999 wrote: »

Think people don't like how they walk.

It's the angular legs when they lower their abdomens. Spiders look less and less intimidating the more stretched out their legs are - it's when their knees are sticking up (so their legs look like /\ on each side) that they freak people out. I did once read that there's a reason those angles scare some humans, but I can't remember the source.

coffee_cake · 13-11-2018 7:34pm

Spiders are our friends

Just don't crawl around my bed please

NickNickleby · 13-11-2018 7:34pm

I'm terrified of the so-and-so's. However, I'm spider-catcher-in-chief , as anyone else here would just stomp on them. I do make an exception if I detect what I suspect to be a False Widow, because they can sting/bite and MIGHT be dangerous. But more especially because I've read that due to their ferocity and longevity they're a threat to our own little Irish spiders. So far I've eliminated one suspect, whilst demolishing a wooden shed.

hatrickpatrick · 14-11-2018 7:04pm

NickNickleby wrote: »

So far I've eliminated one suspect, whilst demolishing a wooden shed.

Fair amount of dedication to the job of catching it

Spleerbun · 14-11-2018 9:17pm

What's the best catching technique ye all have found? The classic glass over it and slip a bit of paper underneath is it??

What's your problem with spiders?

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