Arachnophobia anyone?

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Lynnie

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.

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]

Originally Posted by Bloonan

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

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]

Originally Posted by idril

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.