A friendly suggestion

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
I'm female too and I second that opinion.

That being said, I have a big time spider phobia and from time to time come across an avatar which is a spider/tarantula pic which always momentarily freaks me out but I wouldn't ask the person to change it because of how I feel.
this was in my yard the other day .......... IMG_5911.jpg
 

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
i think that is top ten ugliest things i've ever seen. WTF is that?

SPIDER!!!!

it looked like .... well, just nasty. it has really long legs they are tucked in in a defensive posture. it was sooo gross. it looked........ well gross. :evil:
 

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
There's no scale reference in that pic. Can you superimpose a quarter on that shit so I can see what yer dealin' with?
 

GoodFriend

Lumberjack
eww... i'm not coming up to cali any more...


any one here remember the movie arachnaphobia???

seriously... that movie gave me the phobia

fucking shit...

spiders are horrible creatures
they're lucky they're so helpful in a garden otherwise i'd set out to rid the WORLD of the...


hey hey now...
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
I love spiders, especially jumping spiders. :D I also love snakes and lizards and.. hey, I'm gonna have a question about gecko shit (instead of bat shit), but not right now. I'm trying to think of an animal that truly frightens me and I'm drawing a blank.. I'd probably shit bricks if I found myself in close proximity to a tiger, lemon or bull shark. Yep. Doesn't mean I won't go diving!

I can no longer directly handle rattlesnakes since having been bitten a few years ago, and I sometimes have bad dreams about rattlers with incredibly flexible jaws that can reach behind their heads to bite me in the finger again. :lol: :shock:
 

Celestial

Well-Known Member
this was in my yard the other day ..........
Clearly you have a mean streak, especially as the caption was beside the pic so there was no avoiding it. At least it wasn't full-screen size.... Had that been my yard, I'd probably be in police custody right now being charged with cultivation as my screams would've had the whole neighbourhood dialling 999 thinking some kind of violent crime was in progress. My most vivid memory from my one and only trip to the US was seeing cockroaches for the first (and thankfully last) time which has kind of scared me away from ever returning.
 

Florida Girl

Well-Known Member
I'm female too and I second that opinion.

That being said, I have a big time spider phobia and from time to time come across an avatar which is a spider/tarantula pic which always momentarily freaks me out but I wouldn't ask the person to change it because of how I feel.

I'm with ya on the spider thing sister!!!! ICK! ICK! ICK! The only good spider is a DEAD spider! I've been confronted by a spider in the bathroom a few times... where the only thing handy to kill it is a can of aerosol hairspray and lighter.... Makes a great flame thrower... and makes the spider VERY dead :D
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
:cry: Stop the killing, ladies. Hell, that's why I learned how to handle rattlers, so my neighbors would stop killing them.

I'm so bummed, too much spidey carnage. :cry:
 

Florida Girl

Well-Known Member
:cry: Stop the killing, ladies.

I'm so bummed, too much spidey carnage. :cry:


LOL... sorry SM... I have no choice. I actually have a very serious phobia.... I'm gripped with fear and an overwhelming sense of terror when I come across a spider. In all honesty I believe I was killed by a swarm of spiders in Africa in a previous life. I used to dream about it when I was very young. I don't dream that anymore... but I truly believe those were memories from a past life that I held onto in my early years of this one. (crazy? perhaps... but it's what I believe).

Anyway.... I probably can't explain what it's like ... but it's not a mild case of "eww spider". When I see a spider I'm so terrified ..... I literally become frozen in my tracks.... my heart pounds.... I start to sweat.... and my brain starts RACING with trying to figure out how to kill it. I also am consumed with keeping my eye on it.... I can't turn my back on it or it will get away.... and then it will get me later. (I know... unrealistic.... but I can't control those thoughts).

About 20 years ago I was driving (a 5 speed... MR2) and a spider dropped from the ceiling and dangled from his web right in front of my eyes. Without ANY thought at all... my body went into flight mode...I never even hit the brakes.... I just opened the door and tried to bail. Luckily my seat belt held me in.... and I was driving on a residential street and probably not going more then 20 mph and down shifting.... when my foot came off the clutch the car sputtered to a halt... and there I was... hanging inches from the asphalt by my seat belt.... I was still panicking and hit the button to release my belt and I rolled on out of the car. Wouldn't you know it... there was johnny law.... the look on his face when he came running up to me was priceless.... not every day you see a woman in a business suite... trying to bail out of a moving vehicle. :mrgreen:

Anyway... at first he thought I was high or drunk.... but after a few minutes of listening to my story through hysterical tears he decided I was sober. He told me to get in my car and be on my way. WHHHATTT??? was he CRAZY?? Get in my car??? no fucking way! The guy spent the next 30 minutes searching my car for the spider....he couldn't find it. I ended up sitting there for I don't know how long........ gripped with fear. I did not want to get back in that car.

I have all kinds of these "spider terror" stories from over the years. Someone once suggested that I try to go through phobia counseling.... I won't do it because I KNOW it will involve being up close with a spider and I just can't have that.

So SeaMaiden.... I'm sorry I kill your friends :cry:.... I really have no choice. Luckily I doubt I've even made a dent in the worlds spider population :D

:peace:
 

Celestial

Well-Known Member
Anyway.... I probably can't explain what it's like ... but it's not a mild case of "eww spider". When I see a spider I'm so terrified ..... I literally become frozen in my tracks.... my heart pounds.... I start to sweat.... and my brain starts RACING with trying to figure out how to kill it. I also am consumed with keeping my eye on it.... I can't turn my back on it or it will get away.... and then it will get me later. (I know... unrealistic.... but I can't control those thoughts).
I know EXACTLY how you feel. I don't even think I could get close enough for the flame-thrower idea to work. I have the stand of an old floor lamp that is about 4' high and I have to use the base of that to squish any spiders I encounter so that I can keep a safe distance. I have considered some kind of phobia treatment too, but even the first step which is apparently to look at pictures of them is too offputting. One positive thing about my phobia is that I think that it's greatly improved my relationship with my boyfriend because any time we fight and I'm sulking and a spider appears, all is immediately forgiven as long as he kills it for me.

Anyway I'm feeling like I've hijacked this thread and gotten it way off topic - sorry!!!
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
Ladies, we're heads. Thread drift is a GIVEN. :lol:

I understand phobias, I've been battling them just to ride. But I'm a stubborn woman and detest the idea of a fear "forcing" me one way or the other. And, the thing with the human brain is that either of you could have become just as phobic over something that, on the surface, might appear to be completely silly, such as feathers. Our brains are complicated and sometimes stuff can trigger a reaction that we cannot control.
 

Seamaiden

Well-Known Member
The bugs out here are NOTHING. Try the tropics. :twisted: Roaches so big if you try to step on 'em they'll just run away with you on their backs. :lol:
 

Gryphonn

Well-Known Member
I'm tempted to post some of our spider photos from here in Oz. I have one where my partner has her open hand next to it. The spider is a Golden Orb Weaver and stretches as big as her hand. It's abdomen is about 4 cm long (around 2 inches). I might find one later if anyone is interested in checking it out. It may even help Florida Girl and Celestial with their phobias. They could print the pic and stick it next to their monitors. Exposure therapy... //smile//
 

Celestial

Well-Known Member
It may even help Florida Girl and Celestial with their phobias. They could print the pic and stick it next to their monitors. Exposure therapy... //smile//
I will politely decline that offer of "help" because by the sounds of that thing I would need a defibrillator standing by to even look at the pic. Sounds like you have a brave girlfriend! You get some nasties in Aus which I'm glad haven't migrated across the Tasman. When I was in Surfers I got bitten on the foot by the biggest ant i have ever seen in my life. Then again NZ has its own share of horrors - one day I came home to find a big weta sitting right outside my front door as if waiting to get inside. i think if i revisit this thread I'll have to change my settings to not display pics...
 
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