miko_supra Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I wouldn't say I was terrified of spiders, but out of all the insects they are right at the bottom of the popularity list, and if I see one I feel a strong urge to reach for the nearest glass and pizza menu to scoop him up and chuck him back outside. Most people I know hate them too, but why?! They are harmless, a fly for example is far more discusting and annoying but I dont see anyone running out of a room screaming when one of them appears. Was the world once like starship troopers with giant spider like creatures destroying the planet, and so it has been wired into our brains to fear them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'd say it's a natural phobia, like some animals even with no previous encounters of other animals intrinsically know they're a threat? Same as a barking or growling dog may scare a young child even though they've never encountered one before. Like some small wildlife will try and hide if they see a large bird in the sky, even though they've not been attacked previously. Nature has certains ways to either make you instinctively know something is bad (mushrooms which look weird, puffer fish etc). Ok some ignore or are oblivious of the warnings, or those that aren't afraid may be more logically minded and so ignore these built in instincts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Dude, its becuase they just look nasty, a round hairy blob crawling around on thin tall legs..eiwwww, i also feel the same way towards moths, i have moths and spiders, everytime ones in my room i pull the hoover out. My hoover is like the hellish burrial site for those things. Im scared to open and change the bag inside now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Any excuse for photos. I'll have to start a thread soon, once I get all my new vivariums sorted out, but here are a few piccies of my collection for now. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Actually, they are completely lovely. Alice (Acanthoscurria geniculata). She's about 7" across. Rosie (Grammostola rosea). She's about 5.5" across. Tia (Cyclosternum fasciatum). She's about 4" across. Lola (Grammostola pulchripes). She's currently about 3", but will grow to around 9" across. And I have a few other spiderlings that will grow to around 9-10" in a few years too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lbm Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I have to say I'm not keen on them myself. Given the choice of parachuting or let one crawl over my face...I'd chose option 3. Nice pics though Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I wouldn't say I was terrified of spiders, but out of all the insects they are right at the bottom of the popularity list, and if I see one I feel a strong urge to reach for the nearest glass and pizza menu to scoop him up and chuck him back outside. Most people I know hate them too, but why?! They are harmless, a fly for example is far more discusting and annoying but I dont see anyone running out of a room screaming when one of them appears. Was the world once like stormship troopers with giant spider like creatures destroying the planet, and so it has been wired into our brains to fear them? I can think of two possible explanations: 1) It's social learning. A lot of human learning is observational. Consciously or unconsciously, we learn what is an appropriate response to a given stimulus. As there are lots of people around scared of spiders, as kids we observe them and conclude that a fear response is what we should do. It's a culturally transmitted fear. Of course, this doesn't explain where the fear came from in the first place, but this could be a historical accident. For reasons lost in the past, we just learned to associate spiders with harm (in the same wasy that cats are linked with luck or goats with the devil). 2) It's biological preparedness. In the 1970s, Martin Seligman suggested that each species is hard-wired to learn certain connections. Which ones are linked to its survival. For example, you can teach a rat to associate flavours with sickness, but you can't teach it to associate flashing lights with sickness. This makes sense, because rats have a habit of trying out many different foods, so learning a connection between a flavour and something poisonous has real survival value. But rats don't naturally encounter flashing lights, so their brains aren't hard wired to make that connection. Applying this argument to humans, things in our evolutionary past likely to harm us would include biting arthropods, large predators, snakes, falling from heights and so on. And it turns out phobias for these sorts of things are amongst the most common ones. So we don't directly inherit the fear, but we inherit the tendency to develop that fear. As for flies. Well, I guess most people find flies revolting (but that may be a recent thing; I seem to remember tales of lascivious roman women smearing honey on their.... but that's another story). It might be that evolution can't prepare us for a fear of flies because there's too much separation between the appearance of a fly and the damage it can cause through disease. How could you learn a connection between the two through classical conditioning? It would be the same as trying to teach your dog to associate its dinner with a bell that you rang three hours before.Whereas biting invertebrates we could learn about more easily, because the appearance of the invertebrate (e.g. a spider) is followed almost immediately by the bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 The last pic looks really cool, i duno sometimes im freaked out and sometimes in not...that ones looks ok, but i dont like the feel of them walking on your hands, makes my blood tickle and i dont like that. Sorry im out:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 It just shows a complete lack of testicular fortitude, and urine should be extracted at every possible opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko_supra Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 Any excuse for photos. I'll have to start a thread soon, once I get all my new vivariums sorted out, but here are a few piccies of my collection for now. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Actually, they are completely lovely. Alice (Acanthoscurria geniculata). She's about 7" across. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Alice/Alice001.jpg http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Alice/Alice056.jpg Rosie (Grammostola rosea). She's about 5.5" across. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Rosie/Rosie013.jpg http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Rosie/Rosie016.jpg Tia (Cyclosternum fasciatum). She's about 4" across. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Tia/Tia025.jpg http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Tia/Tia001.jpg Lola (Grammostola pulchripes). She's currently about 3", but will grow to around 9" across. http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/Walswebworld/Tarantulas/Lola/Lola008.jpg And I have a few other spiderlings that will grow to around 9-10" in a few years too. I'm sure you love your spiders, but what is the point? They don't do anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I see Andrew's pics and not being a monster or such I really do wonder what deep fried spider would taste like. I imagine the legs to be quite crispy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko_supra Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 i see andrew's pics and not being a monster or such i really do wonder what deep fried spider would taste like. I imagine the legs to be quite crispy :') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko_supra Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 Dude, its becuase they just look nasty, a round hairy blob crawling around on thin tall legs..eiwwww, i also feel the same way towards moths, i have moths and spiders, everytime ones in my room i pull the hoover out. My hoover is like the hellish burrial site for those things. Im scared to open and change the bag inside now. I'm not sold on it being because it looks hairy and weird. Most insects are like that, look at this millipede... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I think it's something to do with the way their six legs move. Our perception is that we can't look at all of their 'moving parts' all of the time.. so our eyes flick around it trying to decide which way it will go. This inherently makes us nervous, scared, and wanting climb aloft a small stool and exclaim words like 'eek' Well, that, and that they're hairy creepy mo-fos with fangs and lots of eyes and stuff. AndrewOW - loving you're little lot though.. they look very friendly. Do they bite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseys Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'm not sold on it being because it looks hairy and weird. Most insects are like that, look at this millipede... http://www.seattlebugsafari.com/Images/African-Millipede-Jason.jpg Now I'm just thinking of the Natural Confectionary Company http://www.australiashopping.us/images/sour_squirms_tncc_200.jpg Damn you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'm not sold on it being because it looks hairy and weird. Most insects are like that, look at this millipede... http://www.seattlebugsafari.com/Images/African-Millipede-Jason.jpg awww.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Now I'm just thinking of the Natural Confectionary Company http://www.australiashopping.us/images/sour_squirms_tncc_200.jpg Damn you Bring on the Trumpets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I'm sure you love your spiders, but what is the point? They don't do anything They are a very cheap pet to observe and look after. Brilliant to photograph, and tend to do all kinds of interesting things too. They all lay a table cloth of silk when preparing to feed, and watching them pounce on their prey is something else! I've always been interested in them, and thought I'd give it a go. I only wanted one, but I now have 12, and want at least a couple more. AndrewOW - loving you're little lot though.. they look very friendly. Do they bite? All tarantulas can bite, and opt to envenomate if they really mean it, but most new world (South American) tarantulas flick hairs off their abdomens when threatened, but even mine haven't done that yet, so very tolerant so far. A dry bite can be substantial, as some of them have massive fangs! I haven't handled any other than Lola there, but if they are used to being handled from a young age, then most are reasonably friendly. Old world (European/Asian) tarantulas tend to bite first and ask questions later, though. I've got 4 spiderlings (Lasiodora parahybana), Brazilian salmon pink bird eater, and this one seems quite friendly, even though they are know for their aggression. 7i0IpU-1WEc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakey Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I personally can't stand them, even little ones... the vacuum cleaner comes in handy! The one that lives in my kichen is too big for the vacuum I think its someones escaped pet. I think the fear comes from the fact that they can be posionous. The early human people that feared all types of spiders were less likely to get bitten, so higher surival rate. Eventually this was hardwired in through natural selection, giving us alot of us "The fear". If that makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyP Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 'Cos they're fookin' scary, ugly and they run fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Oh, and another thing, their bite is no worse than a bee sting, but as their fangs are quite large, they can make a bit of a mess in doing so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyT Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Oh, and another thing, their bite is no worse than a bee sting, but as their fangs are quite large, they can make a bit of a mess in doing so! Oh. That's all right then. Fook that. Nutter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Is that what you call spider offspring, spiderlings?? Every day is a school day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Is that what you call spider offspring, spiderlings?? Either that, or he's genetically engineered a cross between a spider and a duckling (with 4 asses...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aweegin Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Bought one of THESE locally... best fun ever for the war of flies...wasps n the like.. It proved so popular I had to buy 2 more..for my Dad and bro-in-law lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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