Arachnophobia anyone?

[Lynnie]

Originally Posted by 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.

Oops. So sorry Fomal. 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.