Poll: Are spiders scary? If so, why?

[k-ossuburb]

Jumping spiders are cute and a fair amount of the larger spiders tend to be less venomous than the smaller ones (they've got size and power on their side, they don't need a strong venom). There are some exceptions to the rule like the bird eating, huntsman and camel spiders (among others) but it's actually the smaller ones you should be wary of. Black widows do have a bad reputation but their bites are rarely fatal unless you're a child, elderly, allergic or have a compromised immune system due to illness, deaths are rare, but can occur in some adults.

I used to have a red-kneed tarantula called Captain Fluffykins. She was great. Admittedly not the cuddliest of creatures, but she was fairly tame when handled as long as you didn't scare her with sudden movements. Actually, most of the time she just sat on my stomach (I think she liked the warmth) it was kind of adorable.

 

[Valksy]

Are they scary? Yes. Very. And I don't have a legitimate answer for why. If I lived in a country where spiders were venomous/dangerous then a degree of trepidation would make sense. But we don't have any of those in the UK. But I still get a racing heart beat and sweating palms and either go rigid like a possum when I see one, or freak out and start throwing things/trying to stamp on it. I know it is "fight or flight" and driven by the most primitive part of my brain and that intellectually it makes no bloody sense at all.

Everything about them is physically repellent and I feel sick just thinking about this question.

Erm. Yeah. I'm phobic. I once had to send an email to a colleague in another part of the building I worked in to come and save me from a spider that had me cornered. Now, in my defence, it was big enough that I could hear the sound of its feet walking across the pile of paper on the floor. But I could not just step over it, I could not reach to pick up the phone. I had to reach behind me (while not taking my eyes off the bloody thing) and scream for help over email.

If anyone ever does that thing where they have/pretend to have a spider and try to show it to me/throw it at me, they WILL get punched. I've done it before, I'll do it again. It's not so funny when I've twatted you in the face, is it? (grrrrrrrrrr....)

They are just wrong to me on a level that I don't understand.

 

[The Gnome Queen]

I am not arachnophobic myself, but I really dislike spiders a lot. At the same time, it fascinates me how different reactions people have to these creatures. So let's explore, why are they so creepy, if you think they are.

I understand they are a "necessary" part of life, as in they eat other nasty insects, however I grew up with black widows and brown recluse - which can kill you with one bite. Talk about efficiency.

So yes, I'm scared of nasty-looking spiders.

 

[Valdus]

It's the bite and the fact that they could be poisonious.

I have a bit of a fear regarding daddy long-legs as well but only enough to make me squirm a little and actively get up to do something if one's in my room. A spider on the other hand could really put some fear into me.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I'm quite fond of spiders. Having said that, I have never actually handled a large, venomous specimen. Terrified of snakes, though.

 

[mysecondlife]

I usually don't mind spiders.

But just recently, I saw a bigger spider eating a smaller spider. so that was disturbing.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I find it odd that people are so quick to fear or kill spiders. They're rarely aggressive towards people when not attacked first, and even then they don't often try to poison you. Live and let live; they'll stay out of your way if you stay out of their's. Hell, the average pet is just as dangerous to you if not more when you push them.

Then again, I live in rural Australia...I have about half a dozen spiders (that I know of) in my room right now, and the occasional huge one that wonders in. Had one bigger than the size of the average person's hand on my leg in the shower a while ago, poor thing couldn't get out of the water without help.

Maybe it's an environmental thing, some people just aren't used to it. It's human nature to fear the unfamiliar, after all. I wouldn't handle one myself and would move out of the way of one running along the floor, but I don't mind being in the same room as them.

Also, watching a spider clean itself or make it's web is hypnotic...does not look natural, and yet it is.

 

[Vet2501]

Nope, spiders don't bother me. Apart from one species:

Spoiler: Orange Baboon Tarantula

Also known as the "Orange Bitey Thing" (the name say it all really).

Hated having to deal with these when I was working at the zoo.

 

[Kakujin]

I find it odd that people are so quick to fear or kill spiders. They're rarely aggressive towards people when not attacked first, and even then they don't often try to poison you. Live and let live; they'll stay out of your way if you stay out of their's. Hell, the average pet is just as dangerous to you if not more when you push them.

Then again, I live in rural Australia...I have about half a dozen spiders (that I know of) in my room right now, and the occasional huge one that wonders in. Had one bigger than the size of the average person's hand on my leg in the shower a while ago, poor thing couldn't get out of the water without help.

Maybe it's an environmental thing, some people just aren't used to it. It's human nature to fear the unfamiliar, after all. I wouldn't handle one myself and would move out of the way of one running along the floor, but I don't mind being in the same room as them.

Also, watching a spider clean itself or make it's web is hypnotic...does not look natural, and yet it is.

Yeah, culture and environment may very well be contributing factors here. We have few spiders where I live, and none of them even close to deadly. Still, we have always had many spiders in my house, and they still disgust me. Not in such a way that I think that they should be eradicated or exterminated. I just treat them as I would any other small thing I don't want in my house; flies, mosquitoes, that sort of thing. I kill it since that is the easiest way to remove it, and make sure it does not get back in.