# Extreme Arachnophobia



## Moody Glenn (Oct 20, 2014)

Just in time for Halloween. For those of us afraid of spiders - yes, I will man-up and admit it big time - comes this particular beast. This really gives me the willies. :shock: Take a look at this blog entry entitled: The sound of little hooves in the night. And it is not a pony. RUN!!!


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## hmlove1218 (Oct 20, 2014)

No thank you..


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## Obsidian (Oct 20, 2014)

I used to have one of those, very impressive spider!


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## cmzaha (Oct 20, 2014)

No thank you, I am the worst on earth when it comes to spiders. Love lizards, do not dislike snakes, like rats, most bugs do not bother me, oh but Spiders are my nemesis. I have nightmares if I see one on tv and go figure I live in a house in the hills with lots of various spiders. Mom calls my house a tree house because it is so open and at tree level. Oh how I hate those beasties. Although the big black tarantulas do not bother me to much since they look more like some type of animal/rodent than spider


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## IrishLass (Oct 20, 2014)

Eeeeek!


 IrishLass


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## snappyllama (Oct 20, 2014)

Kill it. Kill it with fire. Why did I click on that? Why?  <shudder>

They didn't use to bother me in slightest. I could even pick up wolf spiders. Then my newborn daughter woke me one night screaming. It took me a few minutes to figure out why she was grabbing her wrist... A nest of grass spiders had hatched under her crib. There were tiny spiders crawling all over her long-sleeved pajamas and biting her. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt or allergic. A baking soda rinse and some calamine lotion brought down the tiny red bumps.  Actually, she calmed down much faster than I did.  I was a new-mom-with-hormones-crying-wreck-hysterically-calling-my-mom-in-the-middle-of-the-night.  

Since then, I have a pretty nasty phobia. Any spider anywhere near my house dies.

Let this be a warning to any spiders casually reading the soap making forum... :evil:


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## hmlove1218 (Oct 20, 2014)

snappyllama said:


> Kill it. Kill it with fire. Why did I click on that? Why?  <shudder>
> 
> They didn't use to bother me in slightest. I could even pick up wolf spiders. Then my newborn daughter woke me one night screaming. It took me a few minutes to figure out why she was grabbing her wrist... A nest of grass spiders had hatched under her crib. There were tiny spiders crawling all over her long-sleeved pajamas and biting her. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt or allergic. A baking soda rinse and some calamine lotion brought down the tiny red bumps.  Actually, she calmed down much faster than I did.  I was a new-mom-with-hormones-crying-wreck-hysterically-calling-my-mom-in-the-middle-of-the-night.
> 
> ...



Oh my gosh poor baby!! I'm glad she was alright


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## El_Granado_Loco (Oct 21, 2014)

I was about to say I almost like spiders! I live near a park so I am used to them and I like they eat everything else, they are a big help in that. But then the link worked and I saw... Wow....


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## Hazel (Oct 21, 2014)

I wouldn't want to have one near me but it was interesting to read and see the pics. Oddly, I was reading a book the other day which mentioned another large spider - the huntsman spider. 

Moody Glenn - the first picture in the article will _*really *_get you in the mood for Halloween. It also might possibly result in an involuntary physical reaction and you developing a new phobia called latrinaphobia.

http://rateeveryanimal.com/tag/giant-huntsman-spider/


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## Consuela (Oct 21, 2014)

I used to be terrified of spiders.

Heart stopping. Breath caught in my lungs. Blood pumping-scared-of-spiders.

Then I moved to the Country and had spiders all over my house. 
Then I found WHITE spiders. And that made me not so scared of the black ones because - hey! I can see those!

But in the country - we had these daddy-long-leg looking dudes, I mean like - LOTS. When we moved into our house, there was one in every corner of every room. Not joking. When I asked around, everyone had them. 

I had rules though.

My rule was that I would allow 1 daddy-long-leg-looking-spider to live in the bathroom, in the top corner. ONE. I killed all the rest but left one where I could see him and keep an eye on him. He caught all the random flying insects that got into the house - so I was okay with keeping him around. It made me less freaked out to know that he was hanging out in his perch eating insects, where I could see him. 

Rule number two: If you come down the wall to the height at which I can kill you - I will. You stay in your corner and you can live here as long as you like. You can even switch corners when I'm not around, but you must live in the high corners of the wall/ceiling where I won't disturb you and you won't disturb me - and you may eat all the insects you want. 

He lived there all summer. The one day....he came down the wall.

The cat got him. And that was that.


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## Cindy2428 (Oct 21, 2014)

Consuela, I'm with you. I lived in NC for 7 years and one morning I found a black widow spider living in my gardening shed- BIG spider. We had a chat and I told it as long as it stayed outside, I would leave it be. About 6 weeks later it came in the house..... and got eaten by the vacuum cleaner.


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## Consuela (Oct 21, 2014)

Cindy2428 said:


> We had a chat and I told it as long as it stayed outside, I would leave it be. About 6 weeks later it came in the house..... and got eaten by the vacuum cleaner.



Maybe they only have 6 week long-term-memory spans.... I swear, they hear you when you talk to them. They _know_ what you're saying. And for a while we can co-exist peacefully. Then all of a sudden, one day, it's like they forgot the heart to heart.


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## Dahila (Oct 21, 2014)

as long as they are not size of pony, I am ok, I hate and dead afraid of snakes and rats.  I love frogs even toads, and any other animals.


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## Moody Glenn (Oct 21, 2014)

Hazel said:


> I wouldn't want to have one near me but it was interesting to read and see the pics. Oddly, I was reading a book the other day which mentioned another large spider - the huntsman spider.
> 
> Moody Glenn - the first picture in the article will _*really *_get you in the mood for Halloween. It also might possibly result in an involuntary physical reaction and you developing a new phobia called latrinaphobia.
> 
> http://rateeveryanimal.com/tag/giant-huntsman-spider/



Oh Hazel...Hazel...Hazel...what are we to do with you? OMG. Yes, latrinaphobia. :shock:  I usually associate that type of phobia when desperately needing to use some of Ohio's state park facilities. You don't want to look - just 'go'.    :lolno: In fact, I have seen some big wolf spiders in a few of them but not actually on the seat.  Actually, I don't have a full blown case of fear toward spiders. I am fascinated with them but "not up close and personal." I have actually rescued some (small ones) that have gotten in the house. Surprisingly, I happen to admire the jumping spiders. They have this inquisitive look to their face with those two biggest eyes. Something between sinister and a puppy's let's-go-play look. 

Thanks for getting me in the right mood for Halloween!


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## Hazel (Oct 21, 2014)

Moody Glenn said:


> Thanks for getting me in the right mood for Halloween!



Aw shucks, you're welcome. You know me. Always happy to help people (snicker). :twisted:

I used to be afraid of spiders, then gradually realized they're beneficial because of eating insects. Now I tell everyone "spiders are our friends". However, I'm like Consuela - come too close and you're dead. Hmm...I just thought of it but this might explain why my friends don't stop by very often. 

_*@ Consuela*_ - 

That's a wonderful story and well-written, too. You should have a blog. :grin:


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## Consuela (Oct 25, 2014)

Thank you Hazel!  I do love to write, and working on a blog...  . Little bit here and there.


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## Jstar (Oct 29, 2014)

Nothing that big, with that many legs, and the ability to cause me to physically hurt _myself _without even touching me.... deserves to live.

I live in the country, and have all my life..but Jani + spider....nope, somebody gonna die and it ain't gonna be me.

Had to ETA: The small black fly spiders..or maybe what Glenn calls jumping spiders..those I'll let live..they are actually cute as far as spiders go..and they don't bite or sneak up on you...everything else tho..they die


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## Jstar (Oct 29, 2014)

Consuela said:


> Rule number two: If you come down the wall to the height at which I can kill you - I will. You stay in your corner and you can live here as long as you like. You can even switch corners when I'm not around, but you must live in the high corners of the wall/ceiling where I won't disturb you and you won't disturb me - and you may eat all the insects you want.
> 
> He lived there all summer. The one day....he came down the wall.
> 
> The cat got him. And that was that.



LOL!! I almost spit my Dr. Pepper out on that one! Too funny!


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## fuzz-juzz (Oct 29, 2014)

I'm not particularly scared of them unless they are poisonous and they cross the line, come into the house that is. But we have a catch and release policy, at least I do. Husband and kids are scary cats, they leave them to me to deal with. Few years ago we had giant huntsman stuck in the bathroom. They are really big and fast but I managed to catch im in the bucket and release in the backyard. They look scary but they are necessary to ecosystem. They eat roaches and other nasties so I don't mind hanging them around. Our backyard is scattered with red backs, but unless you put your hand were it's not supposed to be they just go about their business.


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## jblaney (Oct 29, 2014)

Tuesday night I had just received a lovely FO sample and as I'm testing it I see something large and black in the bottle... It's a HUGE dead spider!   I screamed so loud my husband thought I had spilled lye on myself.   It was truly massive and I'm terrified of spiders, as is my husband. 

   We have these electric tennis racket things called the Executioner made for killing bugs.  We killed a spider last night with it...sparks literally fly off the little guys.  

I love all animals, but spiders give me nightmares and if they enter my house they die.


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## snappyllama (Oct 29, 2014)

I actually like most bugs, but spiders give them all a bad name...


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## lenarenee (Oct 30, 2014)

Cindy2428 said:


> Consuela, I'm with you. I lived in NC for 7 years and one morning I found a black widow spider living in my gardening shed- BIG spider. We had a chat and I told it as long as it stayed outside, I would leave it be. About 6 weeks later it came in the house..... and got eaten by the vacuum cleaner.



There's tons of black and brown widows in southern California. I go out at night with a flashlight  every couple weeks and hunt them down.....get a half dozen or so every time.

We had a pet green lynx spider for a couple months. Our little girl found it living in a large potted flower on the patio - named it, visited it, sang to it. Never left the flower, made an egg sack and would guard it ferociously! It would dash right over to you and face off! (Just one of the reasons for the "lynx" part of its name. Can also leap 2 feet and take out wasps for dinner!) Dd waited and waited for the babies but one night the wind blew the patio umbrella over and shattered the pot. We searched and searched but never found  the egg sack, the mother survived though.

Dd cried and cried. Two weeks later, playing  outside, she started screaming, grabbed me and pulled me outside because she couldn't talk.  She found teeny tiny baby green lynx spiders on the bush. This  time she cried with joy.

Ahem. Yeah but, any other bug she thinks could invade her space is cause for  screeching, 
"kill it, kill it!", at the top of her lungs. Except ladybugs and flutterbies of course.


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## hmlove1218 (Oct 30, 2014)

After flipping through a few Wikipedia pages, I just discovered that there is an herbivorous spider in South America that was named after Bagheera in the Jungle Book. Who knew you could learn about spiders from a soapmaking forum :what:
 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi


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## lenarenee (Oct 30, 2014)

fuzz-juzz said:


> I'm not particularly scared of them unless they are poisonous and they cross the line, come into the house that is. But we have a catch and release policy, at least I do. Husband and kids are scary cats, they leave them to me to deal with. Few years ago we had giant huntsman stuck in the bathroom. They are really big and fast but I managed to catch im in the bucket and release in the backyard. They look scary but they are necessary to ecosystem. They eat roaches and other nasties so I don't mind hanging them around. Our backyard is scattered with red backs, but unless you put your hand were it's not supposed to be they just go about their business.



My friend lived in Australia for a while and spoke about huge spiders on the wall - huge as in bigger than her 6'5" husband's  hand. Are those huntsman spiders?


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## Seawolfe (Oct 30, 2014)

For some reason that Goliath spider doesn't bug me, maybe because its so tarantula like, so not very fast, fairly calm - I swear if I had a Goliath spider as a pet I would dress it up!

But if I saw one of those giant huntsman's in the bathroom my proverbial taffeta dress would be up over my head as I ran away screaming.


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## fuzz-juzz (Oct 30, 2014)

lenarenee said:


> My friend lived in Australia for a while and spoke about huge spiders on the wall - huge as in bigger than her 6'5" husband's  hand. Are those huntsman spiders?



Yes, those are huntsman spiders.  One I was chasing was bigger than my hand, and really fast. They are actually not poisonous,  I'm not sure if they bite, but if they do, their bite will do nothing. 
I you remember that there are so many other animals to die from in Australia, spiders don't look that scary at all anymore.


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## Hazel (Oct 30, 2014)

fuzz-juzz said:


> I you remember that there are so many other animals to die from in Australia, spiders don't look that scary at all anymore.



Thanks fuzz-juzz! That's the perfect line to re-post a link to a video Relle shared awhile back. I hope everyone enjoys it!


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E66fySBa0hU[/ame]


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## fuzz-juzz (Oct 31, 2014)

Hahaha! Thanks for the laugh! 
I love how they included Vegemite. 
All the animals shown in the video are probably not even a third of our deadly fauna hehe.


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## CaraBou (Oct 31, 2014)

The world would be a horrible place without spiders -- just think of all the bugs we'd have!  

In honor of Halloween and spiders everywhere, here's a pic of me with a tarantula that was residing among the Mayan ruins at Tikal, Guatemala.


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## Jstar (Oct 31, 2014)

*likes the post, then runs away*


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## fuzz-juzz (Dec 5, 2014)

I got bitten by a red back yesterday, on the shoulder. My garden shed is full of them and one probably fell on me or something. I was looking for my soaping stuff which is stored in there. I remembered this thread today while browsing SMF so I thought I'd report I still like them and I'm not gonna nuke my shed with a bug spray.  
I didn't realised I was bitten until 1h later when I got blurred vision, agitation and started vomiting. I feel a bit better today, apart from my arm being sore and swollen I'm almost OK. I didn't go to local hospital as I probably wouldn't be a candidate for anti venom.


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## Obsidian (Dec 5, 2014)

I like spiders but if any that could make me that sick lived where I have to go often, I would be bombing them.


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## Hazel (Dec 5, 2014)

I'm so sorry to hear you got sick from being bitten. I have to admit if I lived in an area with poisonous spiders, I'd be nuking them. But I'm a bad person.


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## JustBeachy (Dec 5, 2014)

In no way do I advocate the wanton killing of most living creatures. However, spiders, ants and mosquito's don't make it onto that list. They don't scare me, I just hate them with a passion. 

Get well soon, and I recommend one pest control bomb for every 10 square feet. Anything worth doing is worth overkill.


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## cmzaha (Dec 6, 2014)

I have absolutely no problems squashing a spider. Hate them with a huge passion


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## fuzz-juzz (Dec 6, 2014)

Thanks guys, I hope I will.  So many years in Oz and  is my first encounter with something painful. I think I'm lucky it wasn't the worst one, in comparison to some species this one is not so bad.
I actually did go to supermarket today and walked pest control section, but couldn't bring myself to do it. My chemical free veggie patch is only meters away, so that's another thing against it.


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## Saponista (Dec 6, 2014)

I don't know how people live in countries with highly venomous spiders waiting to attack in your home, I'd panic every time I had to go into the garden shed. As our spiders are harmless I catch and put outside again, but I would kill them if they could cause me that much pain and misery!


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