LOL no, tarantulas are much creepier. When I was in high school I saw a commercial for one of those Time-Life video series about wild animals...the commercial showed the giant tarantula. I fell asleep watching tv shortly after that and the thing was in my nightmares! Although I was really creeped out before I fell asleep too...*shudder* those things...

I had a roommate who would tease me by saying, "but its furry, just like a little puppy!". )

I am an arachnophopic.  That is I am terrified of spiders.  Most any kind.  The bigger the scarier.  I have spider traps all over my house.  In the corners, where's there's wood, under the beds, under the furniture, in corners, bathrooms, (they like bathrooms, water and wood) But I have them everywhere.  Even when they're trapped, I hate to look at them.  I've been this way all my life that I can remember.  I don't like to go into certain pet stores because they sell tarantulas and they keep them in little cages.  Once I was walking through an isle and almost bumped into one.  I got out of that store as fast as lightening, and felt very creepy for quite a while after.   I lived in Florida for 4 years.  Two years in school, and 2 years in a first floor apt.  In school they had big palmetto bugs.  They'd get in the kitchen at night when it was dark, and if you turned on the light, they'd scatter.  None of my roomates would go in the kitchen at night.  But they didn't bother me too much.  But in my apartment, the spiders that got in, were huge.  Great big ones.  If one got into my house, I'd sit outside until someone, a neighbor, or my husband would come in and kill it.  Once when he was studying for the Bar, I was sitting with his wife watching TV in my apt.  She saw it first.  It was crawling up my curtains.  She yelled.  At first I couldn't see it, because the curtain had a pattern on it, but when I did.  I froze.   It was as big as my hand.  I screamed.  Ran outside.  Told her to call the guys.  She didn't want to go back in the house, and I refused.  She finally did, then we both went outside and waited.  Her husband was squeemish about them, but he went in and looked, and couldn't find it.  Then my husband went in, and after a while, he said he couldn't find it either.  I refused to go back in the house till he did.  Finally, I heard him shout;  Wow!  Look at that!  What?  It had wrapped it's whole self around my dog's tennis ball.  It was hard to get him, because he was on a ball which kept rolling, when he hit it. But he finally got it.  And after I was sure it was dead, I went back in the apt.  No cure for this fear.  

People in Florida say "don't kill spiders."  They call them housekeepers, because they kill other bugs that get into your food, etc.  Well as far as I'm concerned, spiders are bugs too, and I want nothing to do with them.  Right now, I'm looking around on the floor.  This is a scary thread.

Nov 1, 2010 -- 8:52AM, river8101 wrote:

 "Arachnophobia is defined as an inordinate fear of         spiders. This phobia can often be triggered by the thought of or         sometimes even a picture of a spider. A serious case of arachnophobia is          much different than someone who doesn't like spiders. Many people who are afraid of spiders have         feelings of panic entering into a situation where spiders may be         present"   (Internet)   That's describes me.   I don't like pictures either.

I probably wouldn't have wanted to go back into the apartment/house either if I knew a huge spider was there! Even a *picture* scares me! When we were kids, my sister thought it was funny to creep me out by telling me about a spider outside the window...there wasn't actually a spider but she'd describe one.  Scary!

Nov 1, 2010 -- 4:07AM, Yavanna wrote:

Oct 31, 2010 -- 3:18PM, Beautiful_Dreamer wrote:

LOL no, tarantulas are much creepier. When I was in high school I saw a commercial for one of those Time-Life video series about wild animals...the commercial showed the giant tarantula. I fell asleep watching tv shortly after that and the thing was in my nightmares! Although I was really creeped out before I fell asleep too...*shudder* those things...

I had a roommate who would tease me by saying, "but its furry, just like a little puppy!". )

My ex used to keep one. You've got no idea how hard it is to sleep at night. Of course I ran the risk of running into a wild one indoors anyway, or scorpions, brown recluse spiders, or snakes.

There's a reason I consider myself a northern climate person.

Hi Yavanna!  I remember you - do you remember me?  How are  you?

Anyway, on what you posted - my wife and I are organic gardeners and we do not like to kill insects - I am that way more so than my wife.   I let spiders spin webs in my trailers - it is not like I like them to kill other insects - far from it!  But I just like natural rather than chemical controls. 

BTW - others in my congregation do not appreciate this at all!  But I kind of look at it as part of God's original purpose (not for spiders to kill, but for us to have all insects in loving subjection - and all animals):

(Genesis 1:28) . . .Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”

I look forward to when we can have all insects under loving subjection (Isaiah 11:6-9)

I wonder what it was actually like in Noah's ark that year?

Did you ever see the Movie - The Bible?