This is awful...I was so mad!

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
I was alerting the people of the board to the presence of bait by quoting said bait and typing BAIT ALERT in all caps.
How was it a bait quote? Did you only read the first few words before posting?

Should have probably put the first part of the post in quotation marks but the last sentence clears it up.

That's the kind of logic these people have.
 

Leila

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 7, 2017
Messages
525
Ugh...yeah, people irk me to no end.

My fiance had a kinda-pet grass spider at the bank where he works. It hung around his desk for about 2 weeks or so?

Well, every single person he works with is just itching to kill any spider or bug they see. Any and all. Especially spiders.

So my fiance asked me a few days ago to set up an enclosure for the grass spider (not sure of the proper ID) so he could at least bring it home and release it in our yard, safe and far away from the arachnophobes at his workplace.

The day he took the deli cup enclosure I'd made for the spider, he saw one of his coworkers stomp on something, look at him, and laugh....
Yes...it was fiance's spider.... :sorry:

:rage:
 

PanzoN88

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
713
What benefits do people really think can come of doing such a thing. If anything that is just an invitation for pest insects and just pure hate for such amazing creatures. Thumbs down to spider murderers.
 

Garth Vader

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 25, 2016
Messages
427
I was talking to someone recently and she said she's very afraid of spiders, has to have her spouse manage any bugs in the house, and now her son is afraid of spiders. I think to some extent there is a primal fear of things like snakes, spiders, heights which can also be a fascination too. I notice people who are afraid of them ask a lot of questions about them. The brain wants to learn new things about feared objects, perhaps?

Then I think the fear of spiders and snakes gets a lot of social support. People teach their kids to fear things, or not fear things. People talk a lot about spiders, scream when they see them, panic when they are around. They get a lot of social approval for this fear- "oh yeah spiders as so gross"... etc. It is very much an accepted fear. I am afraid of driving in busy freeway traffic and now that is not a very accepted fear.

My daughter loves spiders. We found a dead spider in her room the other day and she was so excited at first and then very happy when we threw him away. I know she likes them because I have taught her to. Imagine if I screamed and freaked out whenever I saw them!

People make me sad. I can't believe that lady flushed a T. I hope it mutates in the sewer and comes back to get her like that alligator in that movie from the 80s.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
I was talking to someone recently and she said she's very afraid of spiders, has to have her spouse manage any bugs in the house, and now her son is afraid of spiders. I think to some extent there is a primal fear of things like snakes, spiders, heights which can also be a fascination too. I notice people who are afraid of them ask a lot of questions about them. The brain wants to learn new things about feared objects, perhaps?

Then I think the fear of spiders and snakes gets a lot of social support. People teach their kids to fear things, or not fear things. People talk a lot about spiders, scream when they see them, panic when they are around. They get a lot of social approval for this fear- "oh yeah spiders as so gross"... etc. It is very much an accepted fear. I am afraid of driving in busy freeway traffic and now that is not a very accepted fear.

My daughter loves spiders. We found a dead spider in her room the other day and she was so excited at first and then very happy when we threw him away. I know she likes them because I have taught her to. Imagine if I screamed and freaked out whenever I saw them!

People make me sad. I can't believe that lady flushed a T. I hope it mutates in the sewer and comes back to get her like that alligator in that movie from the 80s.
You know, if the spider isn't submerged for long, and assuming it didn't die from impact, it might still be alive...T's don't drown easily. Whether or not it will mutate...I'll guess we'll find out :D

The topic of learned versus instinctual fear has been discussed very much on here. I think most is learned behaviour, especially here in Europe. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of spiders here since we have no killer spiders. The most deadly insects here are mosquitoes and ticks. But you don't see people screaming when they see one of those....
Now, living in Australia, I can imagine the fear being more realistic, but even then, caution is more appropriate than fear.

My five year old never feared spiders. Until she saw a movie at school in which a girl was scared of spiders. I have worked with her for a week to change her mind back to her former 'mr skinnylegs-state' in which she was just curious. A WEEK. It took five minutes of that damn movie to get her scared. So every time she sees a spider, she asks 'no need to be scared, right mommy?' After reassuring her she just moves on, but it has made a big impression on her, and I'm not happy with this at all. But I know that if I contact school about this, I'll be the odd ball...:shifty:

(Wow, this turned into a rant, sorry about that)
 

Garth Vader

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 25, 2016
Messages
427
You know, if the spider isn't submerged for long, and assuming it didn't die from impact, it might still be alive...T's don't drown easily. Whether or not it will mutate...I'll guess we'll find out :D

The topic of learned versus instinctual fear has been discussed very much on here. I think most is learned behaviour, especially here in Europe. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of spiders here since we have no killer spiders. The most deadly insects here are mosquitoes and ticks. But you don't see people screaming when they see one of those....
Now, living in Australia, I can imagine the fear being more realistic, but even then, caution is more appropriate than fear.

My five year old never feared spiders. Until she saw a movie at school in which a girl was scared of spiders. I have worked with her for a week to change her mind back to her former 'mr skinnylegs-state' in which she was just curious. A WEEK. It took five minutes of that damn movie to get her scared. So every time she sees a spider, she asks 'no need to be scared, right mommy?' After reassuring her she just moves on, but it has made a big impression on her, and I'm not happy with this at all. But I know that if I contact school about this, I'll be the odd ball...:shifty:

(Wow, this turned into a rant, sorry about that)
Don't worry I love rants!

Fear is a powerful emotion!

Good point about considering fear of spiders related to where we live. In Washington state there are not a lot of harmful spiders.

I really like snakes and always have. But when I worked in Africa for 2 years I was very scared of them because, well- black mamba, green mamba, puff adder, etc.
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
Here in Montreal we don't have many spiders, the largest ones are called dock spiders (don't know other name) they are sort of like fishing spiders and as the name indicates they would always hang around docks.

Many years ago I went up North with summer camp and there was a kid who killed any insect/spider he encountered. I remember asking him why are you killing them? Just leave them alone... he would stomp them and laugh with no remorse or respect for the living creature.

So one day we went swimming at this lake with the camp. There was an old dock that had been half sunk and was no longer being used. I remember seeing him pushing it into the water deeper and all the spiders would come out to the top, it was swarmed. He was trying to flush them out of the dock and into the water, when I noticed that dozens of spiders were now floating in open water I lost it.

Here's the funny part, I ended up tossing him in the water near the dock and all the spiders that were looking for land started climbing his body and face as he was the closest land available! He was freaking out, screaming and crying like a little girl. It was awesome, I got in trouble but was definitely worth It! ;)
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
Don't worry I love rants!

Fear is a powerful emotion!

Good point about considering fear of spiders related to where we live. In Washington state there are not a lot of harmful spiders.

I really like snakes and always have. But when I worked in Africa for 2 years I was very scared of them because, well- black mamba, green mamba, puff adder, etc.
Yes, that is exactly what I mean! If course you are cautious and a bit fearful when you are in a region where bites of anything can make you ill or are potentially lethal. It makes even more sense because medical help is often far away as well.
 

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
218
I guess I am really lucky. Everyone I work with knows about my hobby.
Some think I'm nuts but when they see a bug or a spider they call me to come get it.
They think it's amusing that I catch them and bring it outside.
I picked up a very large spider the other day. Having it in my bare hand ,,,freaked the girls out :p
 

Stella Maris

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Messages
180
So she decided to murder an animal by flushing him down the toilet...and introducing a non-native species out
In the "wild" (well, human society as least)? I would call animal control on her, though I doubt animal control would do anything. If it were a tiny newborn kitten getting flushed while still alive or a puppy thrown off a bridge, you could bet animal control would be all over an abuse case like that.

Dogs and cats cause far more destruction than spiders do, yet there is no unified effort to eradicate them.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
I think most is learned behaviour, especially here in Europe. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of spiders here since we have no killer spiders.
I love how everyone here in England starts panicking over False Widows practically every autumn despite there being no reported deaths as a result of their bites in the 100+ years they've been here.
 

nburgmei

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 19, 2004
Messages
12
You know, if the spider isn't submerged for long, and assuming it didn't die from impact, it might still be alive...T's don't drown easily. Whether or not it will mutate...I'll guess we'll find out :D

The topic of learned versus instinctual fear has been discussed very much on here. I think most is learned behaviour, especially here in Europe. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid of spiders here since we have no killer spiders. The most deadly insects here are mosquitoes and ticks. But you don't see people screaming when they see one of those....
Now, living in Australia, I can imagine the fear being more realistic, but even then, caution is more appropriate than fear.

My five year old never feared spiders. Until she saw a movie at school in which a girl was scared of spiders. I have worked with her for a week to change her mind back to her former 'mr skinnylegs-state' in which she was just curious. A WEEK. It took five minutes of that damn movie to get her scared. So every time she sees a spider, she asks 'no need to be scared, right mommy?' After reassuring her she just moves on, but it has made a big impression on her, and I'm not happy with this at all. But I know that if I contact school about this, I'll be the odd ball...:shifty:

(Wow, this turned into a rant, sorry about that)
I think there has been a little bit of research that has suggested at least a mild genetic factor for a fear of spiders/snakes, but I think most agree that it's primarily social. Kids soak that stuff up. My wife's best friend and her best friend's sister are scared of most animals. I'm not just talking spiders/snakes but also dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, etc. Their mother basically, for whatever reason, instilled a general fear of animals into them. Her friend won't come to our house because we have a dog, two cats, a snake, and a bunch of tarantulas. She will cross the street to avoid someone walking their dog and almost freezes up when that isn't an option. Thanks, mom.

Now they're late 20s/early 30s, and they're finally starting to try to push themselves to stop being scared of everything. My wife keeps a snake in the classroom so that helps some because her friend has to go in their to work, and she doesn't want the kids to end up like her. Crazy stuff.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
But when I worked in Africa for 2 years I was very scared of them because, well- black mamba, green mamba, puff adder, etc.
Ah nothing bad happened because the Goddess 0.1 Pelinobius muticus PBUH (Peace Be Upon Her) watched over you, my fav. 'Brain Doc' :angelic:

Praise the Goddess!
 

user 666

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
355
I had a Sunday school teacher way back when (who, coincidentally, was a perfect Hillary Clinton lookalike) who was terribly afraid of birds. I'm not just talking about big birds, but everything including little chicks.

She saw Hitchkock's "The Birds" at a young age, and it stuck.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
I had a Sunday school teacher way back when (who, coincidentally, was a perfect Hillary Clinton lookalike)
Ah ah they exists! Even in Italy I spotted a couple of Hillary's clones... I believe in a somewhat "plate" theory.

Christ, I've lost the count of the "Sean Connery of the last period look" clones I've encounter :-s
 

Magenta

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
55
I think there has been a little bit of research that has suggested at least a mild genetic factor for a fear of spiders/snakes, but I think most agree that it's primarily social. Kids soak that stuff up. My wife's best friend and her best friend's sister are scared of most animals. I'm not just talking spiders/snakes but also dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, etc. Their mother basically, for whatever reason, instilled a general fear of animals into them. Her friend won't come to our house because we have a dog, two cats, a snake, and a bunch of tarantulas. She will cross the street to avoid someone walking their dog and almost freezes up when that isn't an option. Thanks, mom.

Now they're late 20s/early 30s, and they're finally starting to try to push themselves to stop being scared of everything. My wife keeps a snake in the classroom so that helps some because her friend has to go in their to work, and she doesn't want the kids to end up like her. Crazy stuff.

My grandmother(mom's mom) is like this. She used to tell us "don't go outside, you might see a fox and get scared."o_O...My mom and my most of my siblings are terrified of going anywhere alone. Guano crazy.

My dad did everything he could to fight this mentality. He used to take me outside at night and he would tell me all about the stars and planets. I got my love of science from my dad.
 
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