Had to evict a big ass spider from my room today and was reminded of this meme template. At least it’s easier to evict spiders than cats, the latter don’t fit in measuring cups.
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Well, they are not really the same, are they? One is cute, small, furry and graceful. And the other one’s a cat.
Spider are cool outside but not inside.
i mean, they’re pretty much entirely room temperature, unlike cats, which are warm blooded
Thanks to the heatwaves, cats are also room temperature
ITT: Orb Weavers seemingly help to reduce arachnophobia? Chill little dudes, just trying to get by like the rest of us
ok but also valid me and the spiders have a rule. they stay outside and keep the perimeter clear and i dont freak out T_T
though as much as i’m terrified of spiders they’ll always end up with me getting the biggest cup you can find, sliding a paper under it, and screaming all the way to the window.
To be honest, putting them in a glass really helps me. Not too much of an arachnophobe but once they’re contained I have absolutely no issues.
I recommend cardboard instead of paper btw, it’s so much more sturdy and there’s zero risk of the spider noticing a gap and escaping when tilting to lift it up. I’m using the same strategy for wasps that somehow found their way inside and refuse to fucking leave through the open window and there the lack of gap is SO much more important because I don’t want a pissed off wasp escaping.
cardboard is a little harder to slide under the glass but i do recommend like thicker letters (like bulk mail etc)
I always feel bad when I have to remove spiders from the house. I try to be gentle, and I do hope that they stick around outside. There’s more for them out there anyway.
If a spider was you sized it wouldn’t hesitate
“A tiger enters the room”
I know which one I’d feel more comfortable waking up next to…
As a borderline arachnophobe, I’ve had the privilege of hosting a gorgeous orb weaver in a really awesome spot for this season. She’s got a massive space, where lots of flies come, and it’s in a social area outdoors, but the location is perfectly situated for viewing from a distance so it doesn’t trigger anything for me.
She has her mate, she’s healthy as hell, and I’m actually dreading the day she passes because it’s become a bit of a ritual daily interaction with her.
Have you considered getting her a companion, like some pig?
a rat and a goose would make good friends too.
Now am sad
i’m still waiting for the domestic jumping spiders smh, i want a rat-sized pet jumping spider that can ride on my shoulder and lean into scritches.
Do you read? Have you heard of the children of time series?
Personally, and idk if there’s a phobia for this, I really don’t like things that are small and fast. If I can’t keep track of something it makes me uncomfortable. So spiders are an ick for me.
this is why i’m generally fine with orbweavers: they will literally stay in the exact same spot forever if they keep catching food, and if they decide to relocate they won’t spend more energy than necessary.
many years ago I had a big one that camped over a light in a corner that was always on, so I got to see her catch SO MANY things. Moths, earwigs, other spiders… Spiders do unfortunately poop so the lampshade had spots on it but it was evidence of what WASN’T roaming around my place
I fucking love spiders, they’re awesome
I’m usually arachnophobic, but once I had an orb weaver decide to live on the back of my work truck. Freaked me out at first, but I let it be. It would come out of it’s hiding spot at night to make its web across the truck, and I would watch it clean up in the morning before I left. Almost got it on my face a few times while doing overnight work. It stayed with me all summer, I could always find it hidden under a door seal or up on the ladder rack, tucked away.
It was nice almost having a pet. Then, one morning, I get ready to leave for work. The web was still up, tattered, and spider bro was nowhere to be seen…
That ending was surprisingly sad.
I taught my kids early and often that spiders are friends, aside from a few dangerous ones we don’t really encounter here. Mosquitos are scarier than spiders. One of my kids is still terrified of spiders though 😭
I don’t think arachnophobia is learned or a result of upbringing!
Look at any 2 year old digging around in the dirt and notice how they will happily pick up and examine spiders and other “creepy crawlies” with their bare hands. They haven’t learned from society as a whole that they’re supposed to be weirded out or afraid of these things.
We tried so hard to raise our kids to not be afraid of spiders, and to decide for themselves whether they had a preference for blue or pink, dolls or cars etc. But none of that effort survived contact with their extended family or starting school.
At least for the spider thing we’re having some success with unlearning that fear. When it’s a choice between spiders in their room or mosquitoes, they’re choosing the spiders.
I haven’t been able to observe all two year olds. It’s only a few percent of the population that has arachnophobia, and the fact that it doesn’t always present in infancy doesn’t mean it’s learned.
Though it’s quite possible there’s a combination of predisposition and learning.
Definitely some evolutionary coding at play.
One of my coworkers said she was trying to catch some ants to try to nurse a spider in her house back to good health. Absolutely insane behavior.
tell her that she’s my friend and I love her for that
golly, what a woman 💘
We have huntsman spiders in Australia, they make great house pets. It’s a little game everyday to see what wall/corner they have moved to and they keep other bugs away.
They also eat mice and lizards and can drag them up the walls.
There’s all the people posting that they are arachnophobic in the comments, and then there’s this person lmao.
I wonder if they were more common here would people be more or less arachnophobic in general? Like, I’m much more afraid of a wasp than a crow because crows cannot sneak up and stab me. Or rather, they haven’t tried. UNLIKE WASPS.
I’d still be careful with crows. They’re wicked smart, can mimic sounds including human speech, and remember your face for life.
However, crows are normal beings, while wasps are demons from hell. It’s unfair to compare them
I will defend the wasps. Most are harmless, many perform vital duties like pollination and pest control (they parasitize hornworms in the garden for example), and even species with reputations for being angry will only be angry if you get near or destroy their homes. And who wouldn’t?
I spent the last month pressing apples for cider and almost immediately this activity attracts fleets of yellow jackets. But as long as you don’t smoosh any they won’t sting and are quite friendly. I will even grab them out of the cider bucket with my bare hands if they fall in, and set them down to dry off with no risk. They’re kind of like cats in a way, curious and a bit moody, again though, as long as you don’t start messing around with their nests
with crows it’s a very human kind of threat, they take offense to the same things we do and retaliate in the same way.
Exactly. Even better, you’re not obligated to interact with them, so they’ll always be strangers you can simply ignore and respect.
Wasps are important links in the decomposition cycle [of your happiness].
cereally tho, if you’re eating outside and you attract the attention of The Wasp, you must offer payment for their services. Animal proteins are most valuable, followed by whatever else they might be interested in. Just remove a little piece of whatever it is, hold it up for them to sense, and put it to the side. It’s actually really cool to see them carve up a chunk of it and carry it off like a heavy cargo helicopter.
