Do you think spiders are disgusting or scary?

Question

Hm, I know spiders aren't dangerous (not the ones that live here anyway), I can't give a good reason why so many people are scared of them or disgusted.

Answer 1

I find spiders fascinating and wonderful. I have in my collection of arachnids: (1) Goliath bird eating spider, (2) rose haired tarantula, (1) female lycodoptera sp. a number of scorpion sp. and a few other odd balls. I have one particular scorpion which is an emporer which stays on my neck most of the evening.
One you realise the important role arachnids play in nature, they become less scary.
I think that people are scared of arachnids because they are given a bad rap from sources such as the movie industry (Arachnophobia is one of the best examples). And of course they have more than (4) apendages and are generally quite odd looking which people don't understand and find strange and therefore fear more.

My Lycodoptera (Wolf spider) came to me in a strange way.
A few years ago when I was a produce clerk, I was putting out bananas when she jumped out onto my hand and boy did I jump and scream! As embarassing as that was and after she went sailing through the air onto the otherside of the produce department, I was able to capture her. She was about the size of the palm of my hand with a brown, hairy body with a bright red face and gigantic fangs. She ate 10 pinky mice in the first week.
The bottom line is that even one of my favourite class of animals can even give me a start once in awhile, so I can see where people can be scared of them all the time.

Answer 2

It is the same thing as with snakes: a small inkling of danger combined with ignorance. In other words, there are a few spiders/snakes that are actually a danger to human beings under the right circumstances. A black widow or brown recluse can cause you a lot of pain and suffering if one happens to bite. That is a fact. Of course, most spiders are harmless and all spiders are necessary for our ecosystem by eating insects. We would be overrun by mosquitoes, flies, and locusts without spiders and bats and even some snakes. All these are seen as creepy-crawlies, but they really are a necessary part of our environment. That said, most people deep down inside know this, but they are ignorant. They don't know the difference between a daddy long legs and a black widow. They don't know the difference between a garter snake and a copperhead. To them, all spiders and all snakes are the same. Better safe than sorry, I guess, and psychology takes over from there. Next think you know, people think that spiders are disgusting or scary. Me? I think they are beautiful.

Answer 3

Being an English lass myself (I'd think differently were I an Aussie!) I think they are neither.

They are stunning pieces of natural engineering and design - their silk is softer than any other natural fibres, yet prepared right, can stop a bullet. It will hold hundreds of times its own weight, can be produced in varying thicknesses, good solid guy lines for making the first strand, then the delicate sticky ones for catching the flies (orb web spiders anyway). They have two types of eyes, one for seeing like we do, another set for detecting light and shadows.

They're fast and intelligent (wolf spiders).

They are cunning (the crab spider which hides in roses).

Flamboyant (the lime-green and lemon yellow cucumber spider that hangs upside down like a green raindrop).

Maternal (one type of spider will make a nest for her babies eggs and leave herself as their first meal - what greater sacrifice...).

Funny (some smaller house spiders will stand on their back four legs and wave their front legs at you like miniature boxers if you scare them)

Adaptable (they live everywhere but the frozen wastes - they've altered their lives to suit the desert, the jungle, the mountains, our homes, and even underwater by making a silk diving bell)

With the caveat that all the spiders I know and love are harmless to humans, I think they're amazing: beautiful, acrobats, engineers, mothers and hunters.

Can you tell they're my favourite creature...?!
:o.

Answer 4

I think that they are both. My dad was bitten by a spider that didn't want to turn lose of him. His hand started swelling and he ended up in the emergency room. My brother was bitten by a brown recluse spider and he had a terrible time trying to get it to heal. Every time he thought it was about well, a big chunk of flesh would fall out of his arm where he was bitten. With all the pesticides that are used today, I think that they are more poisonous than they used to be so we end up with worse reactions from their bites. We bought some hardwood floors to have installed and shortly thereafter, I found a black widow on the ceiling of my laundry room. After that I was constantly looking around to make sure there were no others. It took me awhile to get over it. So I think that I have a good reason to say I hate spiders!

Answer 5

I felt the same way (from your comment) until I got bit by a brown recluse. I was in the shower one morning and I saw one hanging from the ceiling and I wanted to kill it. So I flicked at it with a wet cloth and I thought the wind from the cloth knocked it done. Well the d*** spider stayed on the cloth until I got ready to rinse the shaving cream off my legs and the b*tch bit me on my upper thigh. I didn't even feel it. 2 or 3 weeks later I had a bump come up. I thought it may have been an ingrown hair because it felt weird. I dug at it and nothing came out. The spot kept getting bigger and bigger. Ended up going to the ER 3 times that weekend to get it looked at. It took from Memorial Day to Labor Day for it to heal. I'm not scared or disgusted by them but I'm alot more careful now. If they are in my house they die!

Answer 6

I consider all arthropods to be the most awesome creatures around, and are all beautiful.

I would in fact love to have spider the size of a dog as a pet. Of course, with modern oxygen concentrations and the inherent size restrictions of the arthropod body plan, plus the lack of any suitable species makes this yet another of my unrealisable fantasies. Dammit.

Answer 7

AAaaaaarrggggg. Yuck. I think they are disgusting, grotesque, creepy, revolting, sinister, scary creatures. If I had magic powers I would obliterate them from the planet. They make me feel physically sick and I break out into a cold clammy sweat if I see one. Not to mention the screaming.

How stupid am I? Very, I know, but I cannot help it, I am phobic. xx

Answer 8

Having been bitten by a brown recluse (not a pleasant thing) and having killed a black widow this morning in my yard, I regard them as a very annoying and dangerous nuisance. I do admit that much of my fear of spiders is unwarranted.

Answer 9

Why do so many assume it is our place to judge? They are a creature well adapted to a particular purpose, with bodies, abilities, and habits suited to their own lives. What's there to find disgusting or scary??

Answer 10

When I'm surprised to see one it gives me a bit of a start, but they're basically harmless. You're a lot more likely to get attacked by your pet cat than by a spider in your house, unless you do something stupid.