Why Won't Myths Die??????

TeaandTs

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
31
How can I convince my grandmother that a heavy bodied terrestrial tarantula most definitely cannot jump three vertical feet into the air, short of dropping one from that height and showing her the result????
 
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sasker

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2016
Messages
1,091
Do you want to convince your grandmother to keep tarantulas? If not, then don't bother. Some people decided for themselves that spiders are scary and dangerous. Nothing you can do.

Use her ignorance to your advantage. At least she will not try to open the terrariums or get near them to kill them if she is afraid of them.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
Messages
1,735
Suspend her three feet over the cage tape a cricket to her forehead and take the lid off.. Come back in three hours and causally say I told you so..
 

Walker253

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Messages
554
Arachnophobia is serious to those who have it. The only way to get someone past it is through education. I don't mean trying to teach them anything directly. They are shut down to any info. Do it, by taking good care of your tarantulas and ensuring noting bad happens. Over time hopefully they will notice this and common sense will show itself. As FDR said, "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself". You just can't force information on them.
 

TeaandTs

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
31
Do you want to convince your grandmother to keep tarantulas? If not, then don't bother. Some people decided for themselves that spiders are scary and dangerous. Nothing you can do.

Use her ignorance to your advantage. At least she will not try to open the terrariums or get near them to kill them if she is afraid of them.
Yeah, with those people I don't bother. I have a few phobias that I know are irrational, and I hate it when people try to talk me out of it. I try not to be aggressive with promoting my arachnid obsession, just as I appreciate others not being aggressive in convincing me that it's weird/dangerous/etc.

The thing is though, this is something my grandmother thinks is really awesome about tarantulas. She is convinced that they are capable of this, and thinks I have somehow trained mine not to. :banghead:
 

TeaandTs

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
31
Arachnophobia is serious to those who have it. The only way to get someone past it is through education. I don't mean trying to teach them anything directly. They are shut down to any info. Do it, by taking good care of your tarantulas and ensuring noting bad happens. Over time hopefully they will notice this and common sense will show itself. As FDR said, "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself". You just can't force information on them.
This is good advice for dealing with a lot of other people in my life, so thank you. I guess I wasn't clear though: my grandmother is actually not scared of tarantulas. She likes them. But she hails from the American southwest where tarantula legends abound, and believes some crazy stuff. So I kind of want to educate her, but I don't want to argue with her.
 

sasker

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2016
Messages
1,091
this is something my grandmother thinks is really awesome about tarantulas. She is convinced that they are capable of this, and thinks I have somehow trained mine not to.
Hahaha! This sounds like a hopeless cause. But +1 for her because she thinks that tarantulas are awesome and +1 for you because you are the only person in the world who can train tarantulas :D
 

TeaandTs

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
31
Hahaha! This sounds like a hopeless cause. But +1 for her because she thinks that tarantulas are awesome and +1 for you because you are the only person in the world who can train tarantulas :D
Wow those are two great bright sides to this. Haha.
 

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
218
This is good advice for dealing with a lot of other people in my life, so thank you. I guess I wasn't clear though: my grandmother is actually not scared of tarantulas. She likes them. But she hails from the American southwest where tarantula legends abound, and believes some crazy stuff. So I kind of want to educate her, but I don't want to argue with her.
Explain to her that she is partly right but is confusing aboreal with terestial.
I'm not sure about the distance but that is a mute point.
She just needs to learn about different species.
 

beaker41

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
220
I always point out to people that the most venomous tarantula in the world is nowhere near as bad as a black widow or a brown recluse or a hobo spider and there are likely 20 of those under your house right now.
 

D Sherlod

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
218
I always point out to people that the most venomous tarantula in the world is nowhere near as bad as a black widow or a brown recluse or a hobo spider and there are likely 20 of those under your house right now.
I knew there was a reason I liked living in Canada
 

TeaandTs

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
31
Explain to her that she is partly right but is confusing aboreal with terestial.
I'm not sure about the distance but that is a mute point.
She just needs to learn about different species.
She has narrowed it down now and says she knows for sure that the ones from where she lived in Arizona (Aphonopelma chalchodes, presumably) can do that. I'm going to be getting one of those soon, so we'll see if that will settle it. Doubt it though! :rolleyes:
 

Devin B

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 30, 2016
Messages
326
Myths don't die because they are immortal beings that feed on lies and misinformation
 

mistertim

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 4, 2015
Messages
548
I always point out to people that the most venomous tarantula in the world is nowhere near as bad as a black widow or a brown recluse or a hobo spider and there are likely 20 of those under your house right now.
I dunno. I've read bite reports from Pokies and bite reports from Latrodectus and they sound pretty similar actually.
 

tetracerus

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
65
She has narrowed it down now and says she knows for sure that the ones from where she lived in Arizona (Aphonopelma chalchodes, presumably) can do that. I'm going to be getting one of those soon, so we'll see if that will settle it. Doubt it though! :rolleyes:
Ahaha. I live in AZ and have a coworker who swears a local tarantula once jumped up several feet onto his leg... I'm pretty sure we only have Aphonopelma around here. I also caught a chalcodes outside my workplace and even before I fed her to her current plump state she definitely couldn't jump that high. :rofl:
 

patriotgator

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
34
When I got my first T, a rosehair, my grandmother said it's the same thing as keeping a rattlesnake.
 

Magenta

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
55
My sister believes that tarantulas chase humans because she saw it in a movie. I wonder if she thinks Hogwarts is a real place too?o_O

As for tarantulas being deadly to humans, I blame Harry Belafonte :D
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Messages
741
I always point out to people that the most venomous tarantula in the world is nowhere near as bad as a black widow or a brown recluse or a hobo spider and there are likely 20 of those under your house right now.
Their venom is meant to do different things, especially OW tarantulas. Black Widow venom is loaded with neurotoxin, which isn't very painful, but it's lethal instead. That's venom that can be life-threatening. Old World tarantula venom, on the other hand, is full of proteins and toxins that cause immediate, flaring, intense pain, and that would make a predator jump back and run off with their tail between their legs.
 
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