Having a conversation on fb in a private group, about spiders.

I have to ask, why the fear?

If you're afraid of spiders, can you tell me why? Not "oh they're creepy, and they give me the creeps", but a legitimate reason?

I'd love to know what the reasons are for people to fear them. I've held everything from a common household spider, to a tarantula, to a black widow, and never been bitten. So why the fear? What's the reason? I'd love to know.

If your reason is that they could be poisonous, I'd suggest research. That's a bad reason unless you're living in a hut in the jungle in some remote country. If you're in the US or Canada, that's a non issue.

So why?

As a small child, my husband watched a scary spidery horror movie with his big brother and has hated spiders ever since. One summer we spent a week in his mother's friend's northern Wisconsin cottage that was filled with daddy long legs -- thought my husband would leave early, but he toughed it out somehow.

I used to be fascinated by spiders and their webs (even the black widow in our basement doorway ceiling) and have never minded them.

My older son rescues them from our cats, uses a Mason jar to catch them and release them outside to be wild and free.

Personally I love spiders. My ex boyfriend is an entomologist, still a good friend, and has done a great deal to displace the myth that spiders are dangerous. Sadly many people are still afraid of them, despite all evidence that unless you're living in a jungle where poisonous spiders are prevalent, there's nothing to fear.

Being bitten by a spider is very rare, you have a better chance of being bitten by a teacup poodle. Even if you're bitten, the chances of dying from that bite is very rare, unless you're living in the jungle I mentioned before.

Spiders have a bad rep, and fear of them is learned, taught from one generation to the next.

I've handled everything from a small household spider, to a tarantula, to a black widow. I allow and feed spiders in my home. I've never once had a spider bite me.

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Originally Posted by Alty

If your reason is that they could be poisonous, I'd suggest research.

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ALL spiders have venom. Whether the venom is dangerous enough to be called poisonous depends on the species of biter and bitee.

That being said, spiders are my friends. They catch mosquitoes. Reason #2: they catch insects better than any monitoring device available in my work.

I am not a afraid of them, but when bitten, receive a very nasty sore. They seem to like crawling inside a warm piece of clothing and when that happens, rarely, it just happens to be something I am putting on. They don't like to be trapped or swatted at, so fight back by nipping !

When I was a child our german shepherd was bitten by a black widow. She had to have part of her upper and lower lip area removed, but she survived. I don't like black widows, needless to say. But, I don't scream when I see them. As a teacher, I have to be brave around the Kinders.