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Arachnophobia

Krepostnoi said:
Doesn't it? I'm not a medical doctor, so you may be right in strictly clinical terms, but in common parlance it is commonly used in that way. Granted, when the topic is spider bites, we are not necessarily too far from the emergency room. Anyway, what is it that led you to think you may have some kind of immunity?

I'm sorry it landed with you as a correction, that wasn't my intention. I simply enjoyed the apparent correlation between two seemingly otherwise unconnected phenomena. It's also a gentle reminder for us never to take things at face value.
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The reason I feel I may be immune to deadly spider bites is that I survived being bitten 13 times by black widows when I was 10yo. and I have been bitten by black widows and brown recluse since I was 10 and though I had one hell of a painful bite it was gone in 2 to 3 days and no necrosis of the skin. and I didn't get sick.
 
joeosker said:
Our dog Caine had a bit of a tussel with a large tree spider , I separated them and put the now seven legged spider outside out of harms way , only for it to come back the next day for round 2 , gotta respect the spider
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A tree spider?

.
.
Tree spider?

No... don't tell me. I'm not gonna google it. No way. Some things are best left unknown.
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
"Only about 2 in" :spider:

Anything more than 2 millimetres across is too big for me where spiders are concerned.
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I did notice in my local hardware shop, a can of spider repellent spray for sale.

Was thinking of investing in it, as we get absolute whoppers in our house in the Autumn – sometimes right through to December.

Personally I don’t mind them that much, so have no issues in trapping them in a glass, but the wife kids OMG.!!!…..they go berserk at the sight of one

There was one last October, that was literally the size of my hand. I got the missus to film me capturing the damn thing, but accidently deleted it from my phone, which is a shame I could have uploaded on here.

I can’t remember the name of the brand off hand, but does anyone know if these repellent sprays actually work ..?
 
Dick Turpin said:
I did notice in my local hardware shop, a can of spider repellent spray for sale.

Was thinking of investing in it, as we get absolute whoppers in our house in the Autumn – sometimes right through to December.

Personally I don’t mind them that much, so have no issues in trapping them in a glass, but the wife kids OMG.!!!…..they go berserk at the sight of one

There was one last October, that was literally the size of my hand. I got the missus to film me capturing the damn thing, but accidently deleted it from my phone, which is a shame I could have uploaded on here.

I can’t remember the name of the brand off hand, but does anyone know if these repellent sprays actually work ..?
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The size of your hand... *shudder*

Don't know about the effectiveness of repellent sprays, but I have heard of using conkers to deter them? Not sure if that works either - I think we tried it once but either didn't leave them long enough or there wasn't enough change in spider numbers to notice a difference. Think it's supposed to be something to do with an aroma they give off???

Mind you, with one the side of your hand I suppose you could just lob the conker at it...
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
The size of your hand... *shudder*

Don't know about the effectiveness of repellent sprays, but I have heard of using conkers to deter them? Not sure if that works either - I think we tried it once but either didn't leave them long enough or there wasn't enough change in spider numbers to notice a difference. Think it's supposed to be something to do with an aroma they give off???

Mind you, with one the side of your hand I suppose you could just lob the conker at it...
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Seriously Schrodinger the size of my hand it was huge lol - If there was a way of recovering deleted video's from Iphones, I could have shown you.

Ironically they are the ones that creep me out the least, as they tend to move a lot slower than the smaller spiders, so don’t make me jump so much when I spot one scurrying across the living room floor.

In my experience if you can bring yourself to put a glass (a good old fashioned pint glass is best) over a spider and get up close, you’ll get used to them over time and lose your fear.
 
We live in a (apparent) hot spot for larger-than-usual arachnos. Each autumn we have several 8-legged visitors that have to be 'shuffled about' to fit their legs within the circumference of a standard pint glass. The cats love them though - crunch crunch - legs sticking out of their mouths whilst they chew. And these cats have large mouths, huge Maine Coon boys - AKA ABCs in other threads.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Seriously Schrodinger the size of my hand it was huge lol - If there was a way of recovering deleted video's from Iphones, I could have shown you.

Ironically they are the ones that creep me out the least, as they tend to move a lot slower than the smaller spiders, so don’t make me jump so much when I spot one scurrying across the living room floor.

In my experience if you can bring yourself to put a glass (a good old fashioned pint glass is best) over a spider and get up close, you’ll get used to them over time and lose your fear.
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Ohh, I believe you... would have been interesting to see the video (from a safe distance, and with a funny video queued up afterwards to wipe the memory :D )

I am less 'freaked out' than I used to be... I used to scream whenever I saw one, now I'm slightly calmer and sometimes, I can get close(ish) to them. It's when they start coming at you on the living room carpet that I hate (why do they always do that?). There was one on the hallway wall t'other night when I needed to use the bathroom - only saw it on the way back (I'm usually good with my 'spider radar' but it was dark) and it was about shoulder height. I stayed ensconced in the bedroom until daylight, no way was I going back out again while it was still there.



evanspa said:
We live in a (apparent) hot spot for larger-than-usual arachnos. Each autumn we have several 8-legged visitors that have to be 'shuffled about' to fit their legs within the circumference of a standard pint glass. The cats love them though - crunch crunch - legs sticking out of their mouths whilst they chew. And these cats have large mouths, huge Maine Coon boys - AKA ABCs in other threads.
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That reminds me; one of our former ZebraDogs (now sadly no longer with us) used to eat spiders. She was very good at seeing them on a wall; or, if she hadn't seen one but we had, we just pointed her to it. Either way, as soon as she spotted it - whoomp - spider was no more.

Current ZebraPup, on the other hand, would likely want to play with it. Or bring it to us and drop it on our laps. Probably safest not to let her realise they exist.
 
Dick Turpin said:
In my experience if you can bring yourself to put a glass (a good old fashioned pint glass is best) over a spider and get up close, you’ll get used to them over time and lose your fear.
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Also 'if you name them you love them' as the saying goes. I came across it first of all in relations to stray dogs but tried it for spiders and it does work. "Come along Boris, there's a good Boris I really need to get in the bath and I don't want to hurt you", while manoevering him onto a flannel so you can put the glass over without damaging him/her.

Mind you I didn't get to that stage until after my neighbour had come in one time in a panic as she needed to get the kids meal ready and there was an enormous spider in her kitchen. This friend had done so much to help me and now it seemed it was my turn to help her even though I understood her fear only too well as it was one I shared ..... big time!!! Well a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do and I managed to get it outside while keeping a firm grip on my own reactions for her sake. It was a good feeling ..... after the episode was over ..... and it set me on the road of coping with my own irrational fear

What those two methods have in common was putting myself in a position of strength psychologically to match the physical reality. After all we are enormous compared to them and UK spiders are not known for killer bites!

I don't suppose any of that is of help to Schrodinger's Zebra so I'll offer the final step in the road to overcoming the fear. A parachute jump! Of course if SZ is already a parachutist or into any other adventure sport that's not going to help either is it? Oh well it worked for me as a side effect of facing a different sort of phobia! I noticed it the day after, still high on the adrenaline rush I decided to clean behind the freezer and disturbed a load of spiders running all over the place and I didn't turn a hair! Soon after I touched a snake for the first time and got over another deep dread.

Of course I'm still scared of said creatures when it is rational to be so like if they are big and hungry, I've no intention of getting eaten/poisoned just to prove a point. So as regards the OP I'd not have exited stage left screaming blue murder but retreated while getting a good look and prepared myself for flight. So much gets missed in Fortean type experiences by letting the fear prevent a clear head and seeing what's there. Not always easy to do I know.

Sollywos x
 
Sollywos said:
I don't suppose any of that is of help to Schrodinger's Zebra so I'll offer the final step in the road to overcoming the fear. A parachute jump! Of course if SZ is already a parachutist or into any other adventure sport that's not going to help either is it? Oh well it worked for me as a side effect of facing a different sort of phobia! I noticed it the day after, still high on the adrenaline rush I decided to clean behind the freezer and disturbed a load of spiders running all over the place and I didn't turn a hair! Soon after I touched a snake for the first time and got over another deep dread.
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I don't think parachutes and and me would mix very well I'm afraid. :worry:

To be honest I'm quite happy being the way I am with my spiderphobia, I've lived this long with it so it's all good. :)
 
I presume everyone in this thread lives in Australia?
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
I don't think parachutes and and me would mix very well I'm afraid. :worry:

To be honest I'm quite happy being the way I am with my spiderphobia, I've lived this long with it so it's all good. :)
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There are certainly more inconvenient things to have a phobia over! 'sides you give chance to your rescuers to feel all brave for very little effort! :)

Sollywos x
 
brumben said:
I presume everyone in this thread lives in Australia?
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Not I brumben! I'd have been a lot more cautious going to my friends aid if we were 'Neighbours' (cue the music ;) if we lived there!

Sollywos x
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
That reminds me; one of our former ZebraDogs (now sadly no longer with us) used to eat spiders. She was very good at seeing them on a wall; or, if she hadn't seen one but we had, we just pointed her to it. Either way, as soon as she spotted it - whoomp - spider was no more.
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I've watched as a dog of ours seemed to hear a spider running along the carpet. A boxer and yes, the spider got eaten.
 
My mum used to get big ones in her house every autumn - more like 8 legged mice than spiders! She got a spray from a catalogue and it really works - smells of peppermint and it's sprayed around areas where spiders might get into the house and in corners etc. Hasn't seen a spider in her house for three years.

Also found a recipe here if anyone wants to make their own
https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/how-to-get-rid-of-spiders/

Although I prefer napalm and nitro-glycerine as a deterrent.
 
Apologies, folks, I just had to share this tidbit from Sunday's comics page:
detail - Bizarro.jpg

(By the brilliant Dan Piraro)
 
Ladyloafer said:
theres currently a huge (by english standards) spider on my bedroom ceiling. one of those ones with big nobbly eyes. i'm not impressed. the spider agreement is; in the house but not in the bedrooms.
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Agreed. In the house, but not on the pillow and definitely no face exploring when I'm asleep. I had a spider scuttering across the bedroom floor some years back that was of sufficient size for it's leg joints to click.
 
Arachnophobes have a new reason to pay attention to the climate change news ...
The Effects of Climate Change Might Make Spiders Angry, According to New Study

A dramatically changing climate is going to have a lot of negative side effects we didn't predict, and scientists have just found a new one: really cranky spiders.

A heating climate may or may not increase the frequency of tropical storms, but it probably will make them more intense. Scientists are also predicting an increase in what are called "black swan" weather events, so named because they are unprecedented in their ferocity.

And it turns out that when it comes to some social spiders, the more aggressive ones are the ones likely to survive tempestuous weather, and therefore pass on their traits to new generations. ...

The particular spider pudding in which this proof can be found is an arachnid called Anelosimus studiosus. They live across North and South America - including the Gulf and East Coasts, which are wracked by tropical cyclones between May and November that come in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Typically, these spiders live in colonies in three-dimensional tangle webs. Up to a few hundred females can live in these webs, overhanging bodies of water such as rivers and lakes.

But they're not all happy little spiders peacefully sharing the same space. The species displays two distinct behavioural phenotypes. Some of the spiders are more tolerant and relatively placid, while others are more aggressive. These can live side-by-side in the same colony; the more aggressive spiders in the colony, the more aggressive overall the colony is.

And this aggression is heritable.

More aggressive spiders are faster to respond to both predators and prey - but they're also more likely to attack their own kind, and cannibalise their own eggs and the males of the species. So they're better at fending for themselves when trouble hits the fan.

"Colony aggressiveness in A. studiosus is transmitted down colony generations from parent to daughter colony, and is a major determinant of spiders' survival and fecundity in habitat- and site-specific manners," the researchers wrote in their paper. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/as-if-climate-breakdown-weren-t-bad-enough-it-might-make-spiders-angry

Published Research Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0951-x
 
Susie Torres thought she had water in her left ear.

When it would not go away, she went to see a doctor and was in for quite a surprise when a medical assistant first checked her out.

“She ran out and said I’m going to get a couple more people,” Torres told 41 Action News. “She then said, ‘I think you have an insect in there.'”

Torres said, while she did not know exactly what was in her ear at that point, she did not panic.

“She came back in and told me it was a spider,” Torres said. “They had a few tools and worked their magic and got it out.”
Doctors later told her it was a highly venomous brown recluse spider.

Brown_Recluse.jpg


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a bite from a brown recluse can cause itching, muscle pain, increased sweating, headaches, nausea and/or a fever. The CDC suggests treatment by a medical professional for any brown recluse bite.

Torres does not know where the spider came from, but said she will now take a few precautions, including before she goes to bed.

“I went and put some cotton balls in my ear last night, because I did not have any ear plugs,” said Torres. “I’m pretty terrified of spiders.”

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/08/23/doctors-find-spider-in-womans-ear/

maximus otter
 
Of course you just HAD to post a picture of one . . . :freak:
 
Four big buggers so far tonight I’ve caught.

I always keep a pint glass and my sons old birthday cards in every room of the house to trap and scoop them up with.

I trapped one monster sized one in the kitchen, went to turn the hallway light on and there was another monster in the hallway.

Should have taken a picture lol and posted it.
 
Why does this page always load with that giant, close-up picture of the spider smack dab in the middle of the screen?
 
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