Flat full of spiders

[Roadkill]

I like Spiders. Not in a cuddly sense, likes, but because they keep the bugs down. Tbh I don't really understand why people find them scary. There are no dangerous ones in this country and spiders of all sorts are rarely aggressive anyway, so what's to be frightened of?

Not that that's at all helpful to the OP, 'cos phobias aren't rational. Tbh I would look at getting some sort of therapy for it, rather than living in fear of them each autumn.

I'm a fine one to give that piece of advice, though, given how jumpy wasps make me.

 

[girasol]

And I'm totally scared and revolted by slugs

 

[geminisnake]

(I was considering buying those smelly out-door bug deterrent candles )

Don't burn citronella candles indoors, you could make yourself ill. If they're any good it'll be too strong for indoors.
Not sure they would work for spiders anyway tbh, they're designed to keep flying beasties away.

 

[rosa]

This stuff works pretty well. Terrible for your throat and lungs and will kill any other bugs so you'll end up with dead woodlice everywhere,and will probably also kill any pets,but if you're really scared of spiders it's worth it.

 

[Treehugger76]

i'm with Red Rose, spiders are a proper phobia for me, I had a huge one in my room before and it was super fast which freaked me out, had to bash him with my shoe in the end and my heart was pounding like a maniac, I keep looking over my left shoulder in case anymore decide to sneak up on me.....

seriously, it was huge and it didn't look friendly in the slightest *shuddder*

and that spray sounds like a good idea too

 

[tarannau]

seriously, it was huge and it didn't look friendly in the slightest *shuddder*

and that spray sounds like a good idea too

(The Raft Spider)

These are the largest spiders found in Britain with the female gaining a size of 22 mm and the male only 10 - 13 mm. The males are more clearly marked than the females.

Spiders are never large in the UK. Occasionally you get one that's about a whole cm long, with some dangly legs.

 

[DotCommunist]

Murderous fuckers. They're small, harmless creatures, not things to be exterminated.

My old grandfather, the Buddhist bastard, will be shaking his fist in heaven at you.

They have the natural feeding habits of a torturer. imagine if they where giant? And a Giant Spider killed Tom Baker and made him morph into Peter Davidson, thus instigating the era of Turlough and Adric.

Heinous crimes

 

[tarannau]

They're not giant though are they? A couple of incy centimetres at best in this country. About as threatening as a one inch tall Paul Daniels in a fright mask.

I could understand it if we had face-sized giant tarantulas, as in the Amazon. Even I'll shake my shoes out carefully every morning there, but British spiders are pathetically small and harmless. And they take out flies as well, the smart little fuckers.

 

[girasol]

oh, also just remembered something simple while cleaning the house: Get a long duster and wipe all the cobwebs from the ceiling, or anywhere you see them - this should reduce the number of spiders around the house - if you keep the webs in control.

 

[Pingu]

get a kitteh

spider population decimater extrodinair normally

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I've posted this before, but London Zoo do a day long course designed to help people overcome spider phobias, and claim an 80% success rate.

http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo//news/scared-of-spiders,20,NS.html

 

[Pigeon]

. About as threatening as a one inch tall Paul Daniels in a fright mask.

Now that's fucking terrifying!

 

[berniedicters]

They're not going to change

And what you say doesn't sound stupid at all,you have a phobia of something,the thought of being anywhere near spiders and being ok with it is bound to freak you out. But I'm willing to bet it's worth a try,what have you got to loose?

Redrose, xes is right. Just because you manage to overcome your phobia of spiders doesn't mean you HAVE to then hug any spider you encounter.

What it will mean, in practice - speaking as someone who was quite strongly phobic of the little bastards, and who has managed to reduce that phobia quite a bit all by myself - is that you simply won't notice them so much, and will not be as terrified when you do.

Spiders and all kinds of other creatures are a routine part of our world and life. There is no solution to the "spider problem" other than getting your head around that. Sorry to sound so harsh, but I've (sort of) been there and have to find my way past it...

 

[berniedicters]

I really recommend those 'bug hoover' spider catchers. I too am rather multi-leggged-thing phobic, and in my last house I bought a bug hoover. Several times I removed one of our arachnid friends (I would deposit them out the back door - sometimes through the catflap!) and after a while, simply knowing that I could remove them in a trauma-free way lessened the fear considerably, and I was able to just leave them to their business unless they got too close.

I also found (I know it sounds silly) it helped to talk to the spiders in a friendly way, like you would a cat or something, you know 'Hello, look at you, you're a big fella aren't you...?' etc and that also made them less worrying.

^^This.

You're describing a big chunk of how I got past being scared of the things. Learning about them helps (try and use books/web pages without pictures to start with), too. I didn't have a bug hoover - just a glass and a beer mat. And that's still what I use to evict them when one of the girls goes "THERE'S A MASSIVE SPIDER IN THE BATHROOM" and I go in, looking for something the size of a tarantula, and finding something the size of a money spider. I try not to let them hear me talking to the spiders, though. I think it'd worry them.

 

[rosa]

Just had a horrible spider incident. Really needed an early night tonight,but as i was getting ready for shower/bed, noticed a massive (well aren't they all?) spider on my bookshelves. Was in too awkward a spot to hit it with a shoe (and while i've got a bug hoover i'm useless at using it,they always fall and run off) so sprayed it with about half a can of the spider killer stuff. Several books damaged and my throat's still burning. But the worst of it was, obviously when i sprayed it,it moved then fell, but i couldn't find it. The more psychotic arachnophobes among you will understand that they're still terrifying even when they're dead, so i had to knock all the books off the bottom shelf with the hoover hose (which is now broken) looking for it,then had to kick through a few books that i thought it might have fallen into. Eventually had to empty the shelves and move them, then endeared myself to the neighbours by hoovering it up at gone midnight.

I hate autumn.

 

[N_igma]

So you're afraid of spiders?

Just imagine what they're feeling when they see some giant monster lurching over them with a machine that shoots fire out of it. Fucking pussys.

 

[rosa]

So you're afraid of spiders?

Just imagine what they're feeling when they see some giant monster lurching over them with a machine that shoots fire out of it. Fucking pussys.

Yes i am familiar with this argument. I still maintain that spiders, being insects, aren't actually capable of the higher mental functions necessary to feel fear.

 

[N_igma]

Yes i am familiar with this argument. I still maintain that spiders, being insects, aren't actually capable of the higher mental functions necessary to feel fear.

Well if they can't feel fear then they can't feel anger so won't jump off the wall, kill you and gobble you up. So why you still scared of them? I know phobias are irrational and all but the vast majority of them are stupid.

 

[gentlegreen]

sprayed it with about half a can of the spider killer stuff.

We humans are in the minority on this planet.

the spiders are doing you a favour eating some of the millions of other insects that you share your home with.

 

[bouncer_the_dog]

I like spiders.. although when I woke up this morning i found dead one where I was sleeping...

 

[dilute micro]

Didn't a study somewhere estimate that in our lifetimes we'll eat 8 spiders in our sleep?

Maybe it's just a myth - http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth/myths/whileyousleep.html

 

[kabbes]

You CAN overcome this fear. The kabbess used to be just like you and I wasn't the best either. Then we moved into the country and faced a permanent invasion of them; particularly the large house spider type that phobics particularly hate. But after 8 years of living here, neither of us are remotely bothered any more. I can even just pick them up with my hand and delicately put them outside, although the kabbess hasn't managed to get that far.

For me, it was a few things. Gardening was a major one -- they are a LOT easier to get used to in their natural habitat and then you don't mind them so much in your habitat. Sheer exposure to numbers. A certain amount of anthromoporphisation: we had a big one that we couldn't get rid of in our bathroom so I called him Benny and made up stories about him like he was a pet. Over time, the phobia did gradually drip away. If you want to be free of the fear, it is possible with a lot of hard work and small, pigeon steps.

It helps if you hate flies too, because then you can keep reminding yourself of the good that they do!

 

[kabbes]

Didn't a study somewhere estimate that in our lifetimes we'll eat 8 spiders in our sleep?

Urban myth.

 

[N_igma]

Apparently if a spider comes near your mouth when you're sleeping the air you breathe out through your nose scares it away or something like that.

 

[nellyphant]

You must have a lot of flies/insects in the place. Spiders are a good way to keep those down....but get yourself a cat as they love spiders!

 

[Y_I_Otter]

Urban myth.

That's so, but you'll probably roll over on several times that many in your sleep over the course of your lifetime. That will explain those two puncture marks in that "bite" you don't remember getting.

Imagine it from the spider's point of view-- you're wandering along, taking care of spider business on this vast expanse of 400 thread count cotton and suddenly, this huge, heavy warm thing lands on you. Your only defense are your mandibles, so you bite, hoping that that huge thing will gtf off you and allow you to escape.

 

[soulman]

I like spiders being around. Maybe I got it wrong but if you have spiders around you haven't got mice or rats. I know which I prefer...

 

[rosa]

I like spiders being around. Maybe I got it wrong but if you have spiders around you haven't got mice or rats. I know which I prefer...

Bloody hell, spiders eat mice and rats?

 

[Cloud]

I hated them untill i realized that they eat flies which eat humans.

 

[Cid]

You CAN overcome this fear. The kabbess used to be just like you and I wasn't the best either. Then we moved into the country and faced a permanent invasion of them; particularly the large house spider type that phobics particularly hate. But after 8 years of living here, neither of us are remotely bothered any more. I can even just pick them up with my hand and delicately put them outside, although the kabbess hasn't managed to get that far.

For me, it was a few things. Gardening was a major one -- they are a LOT easier to get used to in their natural habitat and then you don't mind them so much in your habitat. Sheer exposure to numbers. A certain amount of anthromoporphisation: we had a big one that we couldn't get rid of in our bathroom so I called him Benny and made up stories about him like he was a pet. Over time, the phobia did gradually drip away. If you want to be free of the fear, it is possible with a lot of hard work and small, pigeon steps.

It helps if you hate flies too, because then you can keep reminding yourself of the good that they do!

Yeah... tbh when you've lived in the country a while it really does seem a bit pathetic, very symptomatic of the city-dweller mentality. I also had a pet spider for a while, he was just called spidey though. I did have a moth phobia for quite a while, and a grass-hopper one (which was odd as I used to catch them when I was a kid). In the end I got pissed off and just forced myself to pick grab one (gently) and then look it in the face. Also found brushing up on them helped, quite fantastic creatures really.

In the end you can either spend your life being terrified of something very small and completely harmless, having shit autumns, never visiting anywhere with spiders (most interesting places) and never being able to lie in the grass (one of life's great pleasures) or you can do something about it.