# Are You Afraid of Spiders?



## The Condition of Keegan (Feb 1, 2016)

Im not really scared of them, but if they are in places I don't want them to be like my bed or bathroom then we have problems. 

Start poking it, make sure it stays in its corner. oke


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

Yes and no. I don't have any issues with them if they're just _around me_. I used to have practically a whole colony of them that lived on the wall next to my bed. I just let them know that we had an agreement, an understanding, that we were totally cool so long as they didn't touch me (or, at the very least, I didn't know about it.) And they didn't (at least that I ever knew about.) So we're fine.

If I'm taken off guard, however, and they violate this rule... I am unhappy. lol

But otherwise, I'm completely fine with them. They're interesting and very useful for pest control.


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## Memories of Silence (May 15, 2015)

I am, but maybe not as much as other people. I can pick the little ones up with paper (usually only daddy long legs) so I can put them outside, but if it crawls too far up the paper or I drop it, I'll be scared because I don't want it to be on me. I won't turn the garage light on unless I can see the light switch with another light because I imagine it being covered by a big spider.

They are fun to watch in jars or snap lock bags, or through windows.


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## AllTheSame (Mar 19, 2016)

I don't like them, at all. I'm not afraid of creepy crawlies....for example, snakes really don't bother me, I had a friend in hs that had a huge Ball Python and I used to hold it. But something about spiders gets to me. I cannot stand them. I don't care if they keep the insect population under control, I don't care if they eat mosquitoes, flies. I don't care, I don't care, I don't care. I don't like them, at all. And it seems to be something that sort of runs in my family....arachnophobia? Idk lol.


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## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

What is the difference between no and not really.


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Not really unless it the size of my hand.


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## Darktower776 (Aug 16, 2013)

A little bit, yeah. The bigger the spider the more I don't like it.


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

Kevin001 said:


> Not really unless it the size of my hand.





Darktower776 said:


> A little bit, yeah. The bigger the spider the more I don't like it.


Some of the most deadly spiders are actually quite small, though. Black Widows, for instance, are only about .5 to 1.5 inches long. They can **** you up. :X


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## eukz (Nov 3, 2013)

nubly said:


> What is the difference between no and not really.


I was just gonna ask that. I guess we'll just have to sum those two options...


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

I don't mind them, and kind of like them; they're like little beings that keep me company sometimes. I say hello to new ones I find and sometimes talk to them a bit if they hang around for a while. We've been getting cellar spiders lately and I always notice when there's a new one or when one has changed location. I really like the parson spiders that occasionally scurry through. And oh goodness, I ADORE the jumping spiders, though those are outdoor spiders and whenever I randomly find one in the house I try to put it back outside where it belongs. I'm always trying to coax them into jumping on my finger. :lol They're so cute.

My parents are kind of irked by how friendly I am to the spiders. They'd rather just kill all of them. And I have to admit, I hate running into their webs. :/

If they try to land on me or get on my bed I'll shoo them away, and if a bunch of babies hatch and end up crawling all over me/my stuff I might need to kill them  but I feel really lousy doing so. I go out of my way to save/relocate them when they're in an inconvenient place (such as the bathtub). I found a female cellar spider with a huge egg sac in my room and since I didn't want to end up with babies all over, I tried to catch/relocate her but she dropped to the floor and I lost sight of her...crud. ;_; And at the start of summer we were getting scads of harvestmen (not technically a spider, but most people assume they are) and there were just so many crawling out of the woodwork we had to start killing them. :/ I would be throwing like 5-6 of them out of my room each night. No clue what was going on.

Granted, the spiders we have here are harmless and relatively small...if I were dealing with those freakish Australian spiders it'd probably be a different story. :afr


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Ai said:


> Some of the most deadly spiders are actually quite small, though. Black Widows, for instance, are only about .5 to 1.5 inches long. They can **** you up. :X


I just kill them on the spot, if I get bit oh well.


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## a degree of freedom (Sep 28, 2011)

Technically, yes, though I feel it's more of a healthy mix of repulsion and murderous intent. I let my cat do the dirty work if it's at home and won't mind them if they're outside where they belong. Castle doctrine with justifiable arachnicide basically.


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

nubly said:


> What is the difference between no and not really.





eukz said:


> I was just gonna ask that. I guess we'll just have to sum those two options...


I took "not really" to mean "kind of, but only under certain circumstances, etc." whereas I understood "no" to be a more distinct and hard denial. Like, "Nah, I completely don't mind them" vs "I mind them a little bit, but I'm not terrified," I suppose? :stu Not sure if that is entirely where the OP had been going with it or not... But that was my rationale in voting the way I did.


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## Niftyearlobe (Sep 14, 2016)

They only surprise me a little when I see them. The big fat ones creep me out though. Usually I just grab a piece of paper and put them outside. Far, far way outside.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

No but the UK ones are harmless and I kind of like them because they're 'dark,' if I lived somewhere where most spiders were venomous and could literally kill you I'd probably reconsider. Also I tend to move them from my room if I'm about to go to sleep.


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## Fangirl96 (Apr 13, 2015)

Hate them. Ugly disgusting creatures. It's not their fault, but they make me skin crawl so much. I usually trap them under a plant pot or something and force my mom to deal with it later, lol. But i will kill them myself with a fly swatter if i have to. But i will squeel and jump across the room the second i smack it. The worst is when they're on the ceiling. Can't predict where the f*****s will land when i murder them. What a hassle.


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## Humesday (Mar 6, 2016)

It depends on my medication. If I'm not on anything, no. If I'm on adderall or bupropion, maybe. It all depends on where my base anxiety level is at when I'm around one. Stimulants can obviously heighten anxiety, so even a high dose of caffeine can make me freak out when I see a spider. Otherwise, no, I don't care.


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## KILOBRAVO (Sep 17, 2011)

not really. however the bigger it is the less i like it. I never swat them tho, they get put into a jar and let away regardless of how big or small it is. Anyway, they eat flies that have been on a dog doo, so they are useful creatures [spiders]. so don't kill them.

id be more scares if i lives in one of those places where they were poisonous tho.


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## Cashel (Oct 29, 2013)

Obviously. Some of them are extremely venomous and capable of killing you. I'm no arachnologist, so I treat all of them as a potential threat.


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## Ominous Indeed (Sep 6, 2015)

Ai said:


> I took "not really" to mean "kind of, but only under certain circumstances, etc." whereas I understood "no" to be a more distinct and hard denial. Like, "Nah, I completely don't mind them" vs "I mind them a little bit, but I'm not terrified," I suppose? :stu Not sure if that is entirely where the OP had been going with it or not... But that was my rationale in voting the way I did.


Same. Not really to me means: Not really, ... (Something)!

Do you hate hiking? Not really, but it depends specific trip vs No, I don't.

I am not scared of spiders, but I don't have anything positive to say about them either. If they are in my house I'll get the shotgun.


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## SouthWest (Dec 4, 2014)

I used to be really scared of spiders, but after handling a tarantula during a animal show I can deal with them much easier - I was shocked by how lightweight they are.

Even when I was afraid of spiders I couldn't kill them. There's only one bug that I can kill (crane flies aka daddy longlegs), and even then I feel bad. Thank goodness I live the UK - safe from the big, venomous nasties elsewhere in the world.


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## sad1231234 (Jul 10, 2016)

I think if someone didnt have at least a slight fear of spiders there would be something wrong with them  lol


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## NoEgo (Jul 5, 2016)

Not afraid, I just don't like them being near me. I know spider bites (even Black Widow bites) have a less than 1% mortality rate, but I hate the fact that they might crawl on me. Spiders love me for some reason. Every couple months of so, I'll wake up with a dull pain in one of my limbs, and I'll look at it and see the distinct 2-hole "pimple" from a spider's fangs. I have no problem having to pick one up and put it somewhere else. In fact, I actually LOVE Tarantulas; I used to have one as a kid. I'm weird: I hate small things. Small spiders make me uneasy, but Bird-Eating Spiders are totally okay.

Actually, for the past week or so, I've had a spider hanging out on the rear deck of my car. It's just been chilling there, and it's probably eating all the bugs that fly through my rear windows, so I don't mind it.


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## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

I general yes but it depends on their size, how fast they move and how soon I'm aware of them


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## In The Shade (Jun 26, 2016)

Yes

They freak me out


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## pollutedessence (Aug 18, 2014)

SOOOOooo....when my boyfriend and I moved to Guam we met a little guy...or two. I HATE them now. 



 Luckily, I've only seen two since we lived here. They're SO fast!!!! D: Also, there are huge banana spiders everywhere.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

Funnily enough, I just had an awkward encounter with a spider a couple of days ago. First one I've seen for a while. I was on the toilet and I happened to look down and there was a big, fat spider right there by the baseboard. Now my bathroom is small. I won't traumatize you by describing exactly what went on in there as I finished up and did my best to not do anything to provoke the spider until I could go get the vacuum cleaner. Suffice to say that it would have been a real mess in there if that thing had moved an inch. 

Yes. I HATE spiders! I don't care. They can be completely harmless and I still don't want to be near them. I don't want to see a spider. Ever. Everything about spiders gives me the creeps.


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## Crisigv (Aug 3, 2013)

Yes. There may be the odd time when I am not too bothered by one, but it has to be small and not moving for days.


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## sabbath9 (Dec 30, 2014)

Yes, I wanna buy something called "Miss Muffet's Revenge" to spray them with, currently I use windex to kill them. Also I vacuum them up with the Dyson. I know there's a video somewhere of a mass of them being born or hatched and I don't want to watch that. I always worry if one has crawled into a shoe, sometimes I'll wear gloves and wipe down the inside of my shoes with wet cleaning wipes to kill any that are in there.

Look, he's crawling up my wall
Black and hairy, very small
Now he's up above my head
Hanging by a little thread

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Now he's dropped on to the floor
Heading for the bedroom door
Maybe he's as scared as me
Where's he gone now, I can't see

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly

There he is wrapped in a ball
Doesn't seem to move at all
Perhaps he's dead, I'll just make sure
Pick this book up off the floor

Boris the spider
Boris the spider

Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly

He's come to a sticky end
Don't think he will ever mend
Never more will he crawl 'round
He's embedded in the ground

Boris the spider
Boris the spider


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## Rickets (May 5, 2014)

The big fast ones are a little freaky, but otherwise I have no issue with them. I let the big slow tree ones crawl on my arm during my conservation job days. 

I catch them all and release them outside. Like me cause of my height, they intimidate people partly because of their often large size even though most of them here are fairly harmless. So I empathize with them.


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## Cronos (Mar 31, 2013)

Not really. The bigger ones can get a jumpscare out of me and I'm quicker to squish them than smaller spiders.

I actually kinda like housespiders. They help deal with the more creepier crawlies running about. As long as it's just chilling in a corner, we're cool. If it gets too close to me, rip spider.


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## farfegnugen (Aug 16, 2010)

I find them somewhat creepy but fascinating.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

This just reminds me that there is one hanging around in my room for days. Now I looked around and check, it's gone. :afr

A few times I'm just sitting on my desk and one would show up outta nowhere and crawl across the surface.


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## SD92 (Nov 9, 2013)

Never been scared of them. I just ignore them if I see one.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

The ones we have here in Quebec aren't very threatening. I mean they'll bite, sure, but it's not worst than being bitten by a mosquitoe. I don't mind them, not even in my room as long as they don't walk near or on me.


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## Awkto Awktavious (May 11, 2011)




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## Crisigv (Aug 3, 2013)

Awkto Awktavious said:


>


Why did you have to do that? This still haunts my dreams.


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## nightfly (Sep 9, 2015)

nope. although i don't think i'd react too well to this:


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## BAC (Aug 16, 2015)

I dislike them for sure, but for the most part, they're minor to my larger fear of centipedes. I can't stand those things.


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## Hank Scorpio (Oct 28, 2008)

Nope. They're beautiful creatures.


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## ShatteredGlass (Oct 12, 2012)

Most spiders that I encounter don't bother me too much so long as they're doing their own thing. There are a couple of daddy long legs spiders in my room that just kind of chill in their own little corner. They don't bother me, lol. I'm scared of spiders in the way that it's normal to be scared of something that poses a threat to you. A a redback or a black widow will make me ****ing panic, for example. Not surprising, considering the very real danger they pose.


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## ScorchedEarth (Jul 12, 2014)

Nope, I never harm them if I can help it. They eat flies so they're helpful in a very direct way. A spider isn't going to harass and annoy me with machine-like reflexes and precision, that's for damn sure.


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## Nitrogen (Dec 24, 2012)

so i'm taking an entomology course this semester and i never thought i'd be chill having a spider crawl across my hands but it's happened twice

i also almost caught a black widow that was in my garage for my collection and if you told my past self about this i would've wanted to die


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## Topia (Apr 7, 2016)

If there's no one to catch it, I'll probably burn the house down just as a safety precaution.


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## Dreaming1111 (Aug 31, 2016)

Yeah if they are larger than a dime I get squeamish :afr


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## Kilgore Trout (Aug 10, 2014)

I'm afraid of all insects
like hell


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## Evo1114 (Dec 9, 2012)

Not at all. Sometimes I will go out of *my* way so as not to disturb them or their little home. 

If they were to be somewhere they really don't belong, like my bed (though can't remember last time that happened), i'll just have it crawl onto a piece of paper and put it outside or figure something else out if it's winter. I rarely get spiders in my apartment though.

Obviously poisonous ones you should probably have some fear of.


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## RestlessNative (Jun 17, 2014)

I think that almost everybody is afraid of spiders really. Well, I think most arachnids in general. There's just something about them that seperates them from other crawlers.

I will freak the hell out if I come across a red back or white tail or other poisonous Aussie spiders, but a huntsman on the wall doesn't really phase me. Unless it fell on me or something.

I share my room with like 50 daddy long legs, they're all right. Unless they run, they're scary af then.

The weird thing is that I'm more afraid of *dead *spiders. They make my skin crawl more than anything else. There's one on the windowsill in the laundry that's been there all year and I feel sick every time I look at it. I honestly just can't fcking handle them. I couldn't dispose of one myself.

I suppose that's quite strange...?


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## RestlessNative (Jun 17, 2014)

I quite like tarantulas though. I always wanted one as a pet when I was younger.


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## harrison (Apr 14, 2012)

I don't like them much - but it's only the big ones that really bother me nowadays. My wife used to freak out if there was some tiny little thing in the room and get me to kill it - it was incredible.

A good way to get the bigger ones is to use a vacuum cleaner. Then all you have to worry about is whether they're actually dead or nor and are going to crawl back out again.


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## Miach (Mar 29, 2016)

No, spiders are my friends. I often have them in my hair, I see them spinning web down from my fringe, it happened just today in fact. They are more afraid of me than I am of them, which they should be because I'm human, although I never kill them intentionally (unless maybe it is a mercy killing), obviously many people do kill them.


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## Miach (Mar 29, 2016)

geraltofrivia said:


> I'm afraid of all insects
> like hell


Spiders aren't insects, they are arachnids. Just so you know


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## Pongowaffle (Jul 23, 2015)

They do not scare me really. But they make me uncomfortable enough that I would go in great lengths to get rid of them as soon as possible if I see them in my house. I just don't want to leave them alone to end up seeing them disappear and then reemerge crawling on my bedding or on my arm.


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## LydeaCharlotteGirl (Aug 27, 2013)

There are some cobwebs in the house, but I hardly ever actually see a spider, even in the bathroom. Perhaps they're scared of cats. I don't particularly like spiders though as a child I used to have a toy spider called Incy-Wincy, and it must be worse with the poisonous ones in other countries.


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## truant (Jul 4, 2014)

I have a phobia of spiders. I literally won't be able to sleep if I know there's a spider somewhere alive in my room, or anywhere on the same floor as my room, for that matter. So they have to die if I want to sleep. I have a lot of trouble bringing myself to kill them, though, because they terrify me. I've spent upwards of an hour staring at spiders trying to will myself to swat them before I finally summon the courage to do it.


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

i love spiders. keeps houseflies away.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

I let the spiders and centipedes hang out for the most part. Cockroaches get killed promptly though. I only get little spiders. One time I had a big centipede and had to dump that outside. It was creeping me out. Maybe I should have let it stay inside and eat the cockroaches.

Mildly annoyed that my spiders have been making webs near the baseboard floor. I end up disturbing them when I sweep or swiffer. I wish they'd make webs near the ceiling instead.


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## vela (Apr 19, 2012)

Yes!!! I'm terrified of them. However, not as much as I'm scared to death of centipedes and roaches! Thankfully I've never lived anywhere that had roaches. One time I was at a friend's apartment and they had roaches, I nearly passed out! Yikes!!


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## tea111red (Nov 8, 2005)

Not really.


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## truant (Jul 4, 2014)

My phobia of spiders is so bad that I've developed a nervous tic: about, oh, 20 times a day, I'll look up at the ceiling over my head to make sure there are no spiders descending on me. Yes, it's annoying. It's OCD and it drives me batty because I can't stop doing it.

Welp, last night, I'm typing away and I happen to notice _a f-cking spider hanging from the ceiling about six inches from my face_.

I sh-t you not. This is exactly the reason why I have developed this nervous tic, because _this is not the first time this has happened to me._ I've had several spiders do this to me over the course of my life. (And don't get me started on the one that I almost swallowed because it kamikazeed into my drink when I wasn't looking. The f-cker landed on my tongue. My _tongue_, dammit! Is nothing sacred?!)

Does this happen to anyone else, or has the International Association of A-shole Spiders just declared war on my sanity?


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*still ones, hanging in their web, long time*

helping clearing up flies in house and outside - door mirror webs

on the carpet scuttling, hiding somewhere, then coming after me again
flies do, on the carpet, crawling too quick to catch

sealing up all windows & vents 24/7 all seasons, could have wrecked my mind in this home, if I never had any air to breathe. I like ventilation, so creatures can get in


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*yeah*



nightfly said:


> nope. although i don't think i'd react too well to this:


not mammals. they breed

got legs, eyes, fangs.. very different sizes


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## Bonfiya (Jan 19, 2015)

There's this one with a yellow stripe that's made it's web (AND LAID ITS EGGS) next to where I park my car. I now walk all the way around my car to get to the driver's seat because **** giving it the chance to jump me.


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## Jadewolf (Sep 8, 2016)

I'm always chasing them. Spiders are scared of me, lol.


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## PhilipJFry (Jan 24, 2012)

No, but I had an ex-girlfriend who was really terrified of spiders. I've never quite understood the fear since they're so small and usually harmless.


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## Protozoan (May 26, 2014)

I dislike mosquitoes more


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