# spiders



## nereyda_333 (Apr 12, 2006)

Hello all. I need to know everything about spiders and all kind of opinions, especially of those who like them, or even have them as pets. 
What do you all think about these creatures?


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## woodcut.evolution (Apr 13, 2006)

Kind of a vauge question...

This should tell you plenty about some of the general characterisitcs of spiders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiders

If you have more specific questions go ahead and ask them.  And what exactly do you mean by opinons?  Like do people like them, or are they affraid of them, or what?


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## nereyda_333 (Apr 13, 2006)

One of the characters of the book that I´m writing hates them, and I can relate to that, but other character loves them, and I need to know what would make someone like spiders. So, I´m interested in all the points of view, from those who suffer arachnophobia to those who love them. I don´t really need information about spiders, though I thank you for that link, I hadn´t read it before and it´s very complete. What I want to know is what people think of them, and what is like to have spiders for pets.


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## woodcut.evolution (Apr 13, 2006)

Being rather indifferent about spiders I can't say for sure.  I think, however, that people are interested in spiders for different reasons.  Some people like things that other people see as creepy or scary.  Other, and I would assume the majority, probably find them fascinating.  If you read at all about spiders we will see what interesting and amazing animals they are, I can easily see how someone could be into them.


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## Vanest (Mar 21, 2007)

Hi Nereyda,

I realize you asked this question over a year ago and have probably finished your novel by now anyway... but I had to answer, because I have VERY SERIOUS ARACHNOPHOBIA!!!

I have many spider stories to tell, but the one that would probably interest you the most is this one, it's an excerpt from a description I wrote about my 'house of nightmares':

I’ve always suffered from arachnophobia but living in my house of nightmares made it ten times worse. I don’t like any kind of spider, no matter how small. In Tumbaco there was every kind of imaginable spider: jumping spiders, black widows, wolf spiders, red spiders, tarantulas etc. I don’t think there was a single day when I didn’t encounter a spider of some sort. I learned to tolerate the jumping spiders (they are only about the size of a fly anyway) but none of the rest. I especially hated the tarantulas. 

Most of the spiders were pretty big, yet they weren’t that alarming, however, on three occasions, a humongous black, hairy, creepy disgusting tarantula crawled out of who knows where and just walked across my floor as if it belonged there. Needless to say, I’m sure I punctured my neighbor’s ear drums with my screams. 

My poor husband, Sebastian, who doesn’t like spiders either, had to come to the rescue. He was against killing them so this meant trapping the spider in a jar and then taking it very, very far away. This was necessary because one time he just let it loose in the garden and we found it in the house again the very next day. We knew it was the same one because during ‘Operation: Jar’ it had ‘tragically’ lost a leg and how many seven legged spiders can there be out there?       

On another occasion, Sebastian was fascinated by the foulness of one gigantic tarantula and he decided to keep it as a ‘pet’. I was obviously against this, but he said he had learned once in a psychology class about something called systematic desensitization that could help cure phobias. He put it in an aquarium (outside the house, of course) and arranged a ‘setting’ for it with dirt, rocks and twigs. I had to face the beast every time I came to and left the house. He fed it ants, flies, Rolly Polly bugs, beetles and yes, even other captured spiders. He asked me who the person I hated the most in the world was. That was easy, my ex-boss. Therefore, the spider was named Kathy.    

Kathy grew to even bigger proportions due to her very nutritious diet. Eventually, Sebastian became careless of his role as pet keeper, though… We had gone on a one week trip and he had forgotten to provide for ‘poor’ Kathy. When we returned, the spider was dead. I was overjoyed. Systematic desensitization had not worked in my case. In fact, I took it as a good omen: everything that had been going wrong in our lives had died along with Kathy.


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## riversource (Mar 21, 2007)

Spiders make me want to cry! :-( 

A couple of weeks ago i was minding my own business in my room when a HUGE house spider (scariest thing we have in England, thank god) ran at me from nowhere. Naturally i screamed. Won't bore you with the details but half an hour later myself and the two housemates i got out of bed to help had hoovered it up and wrapped the end of the vacuum cleaner in carrier bags in the cupboard to stop it crawling back out. No sleep for me that night.

Spiders were put on this earth to remind us how to be hysterical gibbering wrecks.


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## Evelyn (Mar 21, 2007)

I like spiders.

They're not bugs or insects: they eat bugs and insects. As such, they are very important to organic gardening and pest management. 

Some cultures consider spiders good luck, and I always like to see them. (Unless they startle me, of course; but that goes for for cats, people, and any or sorts of creatures that might startle me.)


My best spider story:

Some years ago, I went through a period of unemployment, relocation, and general awfulness. Just when I thought things were already really horrible, my cat got hit by a car and killed: it was not a good time.

Then I finally got a terrific new job, and was able to rent a nice apartment for myself.


Now, everybody has their own special creature. My sister is terrified of snakes, my BF *hates* rats, lots of people fear and dislike spiders. For me, it's cockroaches. I fear, loathe, hate, and detest cockroaches. If the Earth's eco-system were ever somehow completely destroyed, leaving only a fuming waste-heap of a slag-planet, I would think it was (almost) worthwhile if I could know that all the cockroaches were dead. I *really hate* cockroaches.


One day, I opened the very handy dishwasher in my nice new apartment - and there was something small and brownish scuttling around on the floor of it:

_*WAS THAT A COCKROACH???!!!! *_*

KILL, KILL, KILL!!!!*

I leaned in, arm cocked, my Folded Paper Towel Of Death ready in my hand - 
...but it wasn't a cockroach, it was a nice grey-brown Wolf Spider. I was so grateful to her for not being a cockroach that I carefully shooed her out of the soon-to-be-used dishwasher, and then danced a jig - at the other end of the kitchen so as not to risk stepping on her.

Wolf Spiders are called that because they look ferocious up close, but they are perfectly harmless (and, in fact, eat lots of insects that I wouldn't want to have to eat myself). An adult female could fit neatly on a US dime, but might feel less crowded with a nickel's worth of space to stand on.

After I saw this one (or one of her many identical twin sisters) around the kitchen a couple more times, I started joking to myself about considering her a pet, even going so far as to name her "Fang" (because she was a Wolf Spider, see?). 

But I'm not really completely loony, and after a week or so I began to suspect that what I really wanted was another cat (spiders don't purr very well, you know). Pretty soon I was down at the Animal Shelter, and then I was back home with my new cat.

I didn't see Fang much after that: I have a sneaking suspicion that the cat may have eaten her. But I'm still very grateful to her for not being a cockroach.


- Evelyn


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## missmoopants (Mar 21, 2007)

I used to get my dad to kill them with his thong (flipflop, not undies) when I was a kid...mainly because they can be a bit scary in Australia, but now that I live in a country that has less offensive spiders, I tend to collect them and chuck them far enough away for them to hopefully not come back in!

Somewhere in between, I woke up one night and saw a big, brown huntsman spider on my wall. It was about 4am so I was too tired to figure out what to do. Instead, I dozed on and off and watched it move along the wall for a bit, but it was pretty sleepy too I guess. By morning, it felt like the spider had its own friendly personality and it was much harder for me to hassle my dad to remove it from my room, knowing he would kill it. It was just so big that I couldn't get close enough to do anything about it myself. Still not sure if I could even though I'm well and truly grown up now.

I don't care that spiders kill flies: I'd still prefer a spider-free world if it came down to it.


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## Banzai (Mar 21, 2007)

I'm not the worlds biggest fan of spiders, but for a month or so last year I lived in a place which was infested with the bloody things. It was a flat, but the entire building was plagued with them, and the entrance was kind of their domain. They lived on the ceiling, and there were thousands of them, so you kind of had to just run threw with your hands over your head. I was always terrified they would fall on me. Bloody spiders. Anyway, that's one chapter of my life which I'm glad is over.


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## skitz (Mar 21, 2007)

I had an experience when I was around 8 or 9 that will haunt me forever. As I was looking at my grandmothers plants hanging all around the outside of her house with my mouth wide open, as children always have, a big brown spider dropped in the gaping hole and scurried down my throat. I ran inside as I could feel it trying to come back up. I grabbed many liquids to wash it down and it took forever. Every time I see one now I get the same sensation of that spider crawling around in my throat. I don't know how I would feel about them if that scenario wouldn't have happened. As you may have guessed I'm not fond of the creatures.


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## Umogrim (Mar 21, 2007)

Try living with spiders that can kill(or leave serious wounds) in almost EVERY house here. You'll learn to be like their poisonless predators. <munches on a spider> Mmm tasty.


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## nereyda_333 (Mar 26, 2007)

Thanks everyone, the information´s still welcomed. Especially if anyone has spiders as pets. I´m starting to think about getting one to see what is like... But I prefer being told to be honest, because I´m on the side of those who freak out when they see one.


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## Banzai (Mar 26, 2007)

nereyda_333 said:
			
		

> Thanks everyone, the information´s still welcomed. Especially if anyone has spiders as pets. I´m starting to think about getting one to see what is like... But I prefer being told to be honest, because I´m on the side of those who freak out when they see one.


 
That could be a problem if you get a pet spider.

Have a look here:
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?cat=558&thumb=1
It appears to be a forum for discussion on insects, with a section for spiders. They might be able to help you more than we can. All we've come up with is horror stories *shivers*


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## nereyda_333 (Mar 26, 2007)

Banzai said:
			
		

> That could be a problem if you get a pet spider.
> 
> Have a look here:
> http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?cat=558&thumb=1
> It appears to be a forum for discussion on insects, with a section for spiders. They might be able to help you more than we can. All we've come up with is horror stories *shivers*


 

Thanks for that!


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## Ron (Apr 2, 2007)

Hi,

I like spiders; these are very ancient creatures on the Earth. There are several places in my home where I can find them. When I was a child I often threw flies and other insects into nets. But of course I’m talking about small and harmless spiders that will not creep and bite you when you are sleeping...


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## Ellen-the-great (Apr 4, 2007)

The other day when I woke up, a spider was nest to me. I screamed, cried, and hyperventilated so much I fainted. No joke. But it depends if you character hates spiders, as in she is annoyed by them, or fears them.


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## garylawing (Aug 16, 2010)

I really like the spiders, i know different kinds of spiders. All spiders have eight legs. Most spiders have eight eyes but some have fewer then eight. They don't have ears, they feel the sound vibrations with tiny hairs on their legs. Spider blood is light blue. Blood fills up all the empty space in the spider's body, it helps to keep the legs stiff so the spider can walk. Spiders come in different sizes. Some are fuzzy and others are smooth, and they come in many different colors. Spiders live in many places, water, gardens, houses, and the ground. They live where it is hot, cold, wet and where it is dry. Some spiders are poisonous and others are not. Spiders are ancient animals with a history going back many millions of years. They have always been with us, an ancient source of fear and fascination. They are abundant and widespread and are natural controllers of populations. Wherever you live, you are always close to a spider.


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## PSFoster (Sep 17, 2010)

I don't like spiders, but don't have arachniphobia unless there seems to be a lot of them.  My 40 year old son-in-law and 20 year-old son will both scream like a girl and panic if they see even a small one.  My 5 year old granddaughter says that the Daddy Long Legs spiders stare at her.


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## garza (Sep 17, 2010)

It's interesting that this thread from ages past has surfaced again. 

I had tarantulas in a house I lived in in Belmopan, and the room I'm sitting in now has a nest of scorpions. I've learned not to put my hand into places I can't see. Fortunately the scorpions we have in Belize are not the deadly poisonous kind unless you are allergic to spider venom.

If you don't like living with an interesting variety of wildlife, don't move to the tropics.


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## Olly Buckle (Sep 17, 2010)

Not many things get everywhere, people, birds, spiders and ants basically, the others, like rats, go on the back of people. There was a new island pushed up out of the sea off the coast of Japan by volcanic action, after a few days, when it was cool enough to land on, the people who did so found several species of spiders had beaten them to it. My Dad was a biology teacher and one day a kid brought a spider into class that had crawled out of a bunch of bananas at the greengrocer where he had a Saturday job. I had it walk up my arm and you could feel the separate footfalls, when it died it got maggots. Spiders have been found floating on a strand of silk tens of thousands of feet up.


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