The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsOctober means the start of tarantula mating season in the Bay Area.
I once read they handed out warnings at the park ranger stations on Mount Diablo advising drivers to avoid hitting them because they could cause vehicles to skid.
Just sharing for fellow arachniphobes.
Lochloosa
(16,067 posts)The tarantula is actually considered one of the more docile of all spiders. Sonoma County Reptile Rescue Education Director Laurie Osborne actually keeps one in her house.
Theyre very sweet! Shes totally mellow, said Osborne with a laugh. Yeah, shes all fuzzy and cuddly! Like a teddy bear!
The male has special claws on two of the front legs to hold the female while mating. This prevents the female from killing him when they are done
spiderpig
(10,419 posts)What is it about spiders that makes them so terrifying to a lot of us? In 1984 Winston Smith's Room 101 was rats. Mine is...oh, never mind (in case I end up in Room 101).
zanana1
(6,125 posts)Of course, I live in NH and we don't get many tarantulas up here. I've only seen pictures of them.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)They prey on pests.
I especially love tarantulas; I kept one in my classroom for 8 years. At one point, when I lived in the Mojave Desert, we'd find them in the house or garage periodically; we could use our bare hands to pick them up and relocate them without any difficulty; they weren't at all aggressive.
spiderpig
(10,419 posts)Maybe my mother wore a spider costume when she made me eat my vegetables, and I've blocked it out.
Another "scary insect" is the praying mantis. I clearly remember opening the front door to our house as a kid and seeing a mantis staring at me eye-level from the other side of the screen door.
We know how they deal with their mates.
Shudder-shudder-shudder. OK, I'm a wimp.
I just have different shudders. Flies, roaches, mosquitos, gnats, aphids...spiders prey on them, so I tolerate spiders.
I also can't stand rodents of any kind; probably from having to deal with them constantly, living rurally. The only good rodent is a dead rodent in my book. Which is why I also don't mind snakes. I'd rather find a snake in the house ( and I have, several times), than a rodent.
alwaysinflux
(149 posts)FSogol
(45,519 posts)edbermac
(15,943 posts)"Was it good for you too?"