# I'm done being afraid of spiders. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912 "2014-04-12T02:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/21 "2014-04-13T13:57:26Z")
I’m just as bad with moths, they seem to chase me. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/22 "2014-04-13T14:50:53Z")
I have no use for spiders. I got bit when I was a kid. I was getting a ball that had rolled under a table in the basement and put my hand through a web. I kind of thought it was my fault and no big deal. Then one day I was standing around talking to some friend and a spider came down from a tree, landed on my shoulder and bit me. Another time I picked up a hose and got bit on the tip of my finger by a black widow . I got sick, felt like I had the flu and within three days my arm was purple and swollen almost to my shoulder. I once had a wolf spider in the house and it was jumping into my cats face. I had to beat the damn thing to death to a broomstick, and believe me that broomstick was nowhere near long enough. Big hairy wolf spiders are a whole lot smaller after they are dead. I lived in a house that was infested with spiders. It was all wood inside with cathedral ceilings. Lots of spiders up there in the cracks and crevices of the wood. One day I watched a spider come down in it’s thread and land on my then boyfriends back and bite him. You could see the two little purple fang marks. A brown recluse mad a little nest behind my toilet, I used the vacuum to suck that little sucker out of there and the bag went right outside into the trash. I know spiders have their place in the food chain, but that part of the food chain belongs outside and far away from me. Out there with the sharks and polar bears and anacondas. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/23 "2014-04-13T16:37:27Z")
I’m afraid enough of them that looking at pictures of spiders makes me uncomfortable. Of course, that is ridiculous. But I should start there, I think. Just make myself look at pics of spiders until I don’t react to them anymore. My goal here is not to be comfortable with them crawling on me. I don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation. But I want to be able to kill them when they’re in the house without it being a stressful experience. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/24 "2014-04-13T16:50:03Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > But I want to be able to kill them when they’re in the house without it being a stressful experience. Dr. Hibbert recommends: **Fire! And lots of it!** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/25 "2014-04-13T17:04:01Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I’m afraid enough of them that looking at pictures of spiders makes me uncomfortable. Of course, that is ridiculous. But I should start there, I think. Just make myself look at pics of spiders until I don’t react to them anymore. > > My goal here is not to be comfortable with them crawling on me. I don’t think that’s a reasonable expectation. But I want to be able to kill them when they’re in the house without it being a stressful experience. I found sleeping in the dirt (while on Basic Training) pretty much eliminated any fear I had of bugs. Hard to freak out when you feel a spider crawling down your chest at the same time your instructor is screaming at everyone to stand still at attention. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/26 "2014-04-13T17:35:03Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I found sleeping in the dirt (while on Basic Training) pretty much eliminated any fear I had of bugs. Hard to freak out when you feel a spider crawling down your chest at the same time your instructor is screaming at everyone to stand still at attention. Ha! Joining the military would be one approach. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/27 "2014-04-13T17:36:06Z")
I’m actually not afraid of other bugs, just spiders. Snakes don’t bother me either. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/28 "2014-04-13T17:51:20Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Ha! Joining the military would be one approach. Well, it would definitely be a fully immersive approach. In all seriousness, spiders are less intimidating in their own environment, instead of on your pillow. Do you camp? Hike? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/29 "2014-04-13T18:10:25Z")
Next week the SyFy channel will present on of their fine films _Big Ass Spider_ I’m not kidding, that’s the title. > **[Big Ass Spider! (2013) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1830713/?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > Big Ass Spider!: Directed by Mike Mendez. With Greg Grunberg, Lin Shaye, Ruben Pla, Alexis Kendra. A giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages the city of Los Angeles. When a massive military strike fails, it is up to a team of... ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/30 "2014-04-13T19:29:24Z")
Yeah, \*\*Poysyn, \*\*I hike a lot, and I’m outdoors a ton. I don’t camp much, but only because we live in such a rural, woodsy area that it’s kind of redundant. We lived in Okinawa for 4 years, and used to hike through those tropical-jungle type areas, where they had GIANT orb weaver spiders hanging from every fucking tree. Though it was their natural environment, I did not find them unintimidating. There were also bonus enormous, agressive wolf spiders in Okinawa! Once, we did go camping, and brought back one the size of my hand in our luggage. She appeared on the ceiling of our living room, with thousands of babies on her back. Fun times! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/31 "2014-04-13T19:57:08Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > There were also bonus enormous, agressive wolf spiders in Okinawa! Once, we did go camping, and brought back one the size of my hand in our luggage. She appeared on the ceiling of our living room, with thousands of babies on her back. Fun times! they are so cute when they are young. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/32 "2014-04-13T21:19:28Z")
I haven’t been able to successfully overcome my fear of spiders, but a few months ago, my cat got fleas, and I set off a fleabomb in my bedroom, and one in my living room/kitchen area. I haven’t seen one single spider in the house since then, and they used to congregate in my shower on a regular basis. So from now on, I am going to set off fleabombs every few months just for spiders. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/33 "2014-04-13T23:09:08Z")
I started by forcing myself to look at those missunderstood spider memes. The combo of horrorfyingly cute plus funny now mean I can look at them without a reaction. It is a start ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/34 "2014-04-14T03:20:21Z")
As a little boy, I cured my arachnophobia by indulging in a hobby: spider fighting. I catch house spiders, keep them in matchboxes to starve them, and then pit them against each other on a bamboo skewer. Cruel death, worse than any blood sport. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/35 "2014-04-14T13:57:18Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Once, we did go camping, and brought back one the size of my hand in our luggage. She appeared on the ceiling of our living room, with thousands of babies on her back. Fun times! I have seen something similar to this indoors in Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/36 "2014-04-14T16:57:11Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > As a little boy, I cured my arachnophobia by indulging in a hobby: spider fighting. I catch house spiders, keep them in matchboxes to starve them, and then pit them against each other on a bamboo skewer. Cruel death, worse than any blood sport. Hmmm…no. I think the misunderstood spider memes technique is more my style. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/37 "2014-04-15T10:44:21Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > As a final step, the spider expert remarked that spiders generally have a pleasant nutty taste when eaten. So, one evening, while seated at some big formal event and finding the people on either side of him focused on conversations in opposite directions, he noticed a spider slowly descending a thread from the floral centerpiece at the table. He grabbed the thread and swung the spider into his mouth and ate it. > > And only then noticed the entire dinner party staring silent and slack-jawed at him. Slightly topic-drifting: I’m a bit arachnophobic – it’s only big ones that bother me, but there is absolutely no way that I would ever contemplate eating any kind of spider whatever. My niece is currently backpacking around south-east Asia / Oceania with her boyfriend. Boyfriend has a fancy for trying strange things to eat: I was a little taken aback to discover that when they get to Cambodia, he’s looking forward to sampling a snack which is in favour there – fried tarantula. I’m given to understand that this is a fairly recent development in those parts. Eating of these creatures began in Cambodia in the period when the Khmer Rouge was in power, with a consequent famine situation. Subsequently, the Cambodians found that they rather liked tarantulas-as-food. I can only say that they, and niece’s boyfriend, are more than welcome to my share… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/38 "2014-04-15T11:03:44Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I’m given to understand that this is a fairly recent development in those parts. Eating of these creatures began in Cambodia in the period when the Khmer Rouge was in power, with a consequent famine situation. Subsequently, the Cambodians found that they rather liked tarantulas-as-food. I can only say that they, and niece’s boyfriend, are more than welcome to my share… I would be surprised if they weren’t eating them before. All manner of bugs have long been standard snack fare in northeastern Thailand, where many of the citizens are ethnic Khmer. The Khmer Rouge may have made it a more exclusive diet though. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/39 "2014-04-15T11:49:38Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > Slightly topic-drifting: I’m a bit arachnophobic – it’s only big ones that bother me, but there is absolutely no way that I would ever contemplate eating any kind of spider whatever. My niece is currently backpacking around south-east Asia / Oceania with her boyfriend. Boyfriend has a fancy for trying strange things to eat: I was a little taken aback to discover that when they get to Cambodia, he’s looking forward to sampling a snack which is in favour there – fried tarantula. > > I’m given to understand that this is a fairly recent development in those parts. Eating of these creatures began in Cambodia in the period when the Khmer Rouge was in power, with a consequent famine situation. Subsequently, the Cambodians found that they rather liked tarantulas-as-food. I can only say that they, and niece’s boyfriend, are more than welcome to my share… Heh that’s funny: my little sister was just whatsapping me pictures of the fried tarantula she was eating in Cambodia! She’s always been a little afraid of spiders, but decided she really wanted to be brave and eat one, so she did it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912/40 "2014-04-15T12:32:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I would be surprised if they weren’t eating them before. All manner of bugs have long been standard snack fare in northeastern Thailand, where many of the citizens are ethnic Khmer. The Khmer Rouge may have made it a more exclusive diet though. The pair I mentioned began their holiday in Thailand, where “Mr. Adventurous Eater” started off gently, with a cricket. He’s looking forward to witchetty grubs in Australia. When New Zealand is reached – I’m sure that country must have something equally revolting… > [@gracer](#): > > Heh that’s funny: my little sister was just whatsapping me pictures of the fried tarantula she was eating in Cambodia! She’s always been a little afraid of spiders, but decided she really wanted to be brave and eat one, so she did it. 😃 There’s a British series of thrillers by Stephen Leather, whose hero is a tough guy (ex-SAS) called Dan “Spider” Sheppard. He explains the “Spider” nickname by telling of taking part in a spell of SAS jungle-warfare training, I think in Malaysia – including living off the land in the absence of normal rations. He recounts “things getting a bit silly”, with he and his mates having a competition for who could eat the most disgusting thing. He came second, by eating a tarantula. He always refuses point-blank, to tell what the first-prize-winner ate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-done-being-afraid-of-spiders/685912.md?page=3)