While it is hard to know why we are afraid of spiders in the first place, you should at least know whether you should be afraid of them or not! We have already looked at ten reasons not to be scared of spiders and now it is time to look at ten reasons to fear them! The good news is most of us won’t have to worry about many of these spiders and facts below, but it’s best to keep a rolled-up newspaper handy just in case. Just be warned that there are facts and pictures below that would send most peoples fear of spiders spiralling out of control…so you have been warned…
Spider Sting Allergy
Being stung by a spider is not an everyday occurrence, but when it happens, you may have an allergic reaction. Spider bites can be very painful or mild and harmless depending on which species bit you and how much venom it delivered during the bite. Most spider bites are very similar to insect bites, so you may not realize unless you saw it biting you.
Normally, when bitten, you will have rashes, swelling, and itchiness at the spot where you were stung. If you are allergic, things can get very tough for you as the reactions may include muscle spasms, hives, difficulty breathing, diarrhoea, Nausea, drowsiness, fainting, and excruciating pain. If you do need some form of medical treatment, places like a san francisco walk-in clinic offer help right there and then, so you might want to find out what clinics there are near you.
The widows live up to their Reputation
There are three known widows, in the world, the red widow, the brown widow, and of course, the black widow who is associated with at least 2500 visits to venom control centres in America every year. They got their name of widows because the females eat the males immediately after mating, so it is very hard to find male members of the species.
While black widows cause the most human cases, the brown widows are the most dangerous because they carry twice the amount of venom of the black widow. Brown and Red widows, however, tend to be less aggressive and only inject a small amount of venom when threatened. Their identifying mark is an hourglass-shaped design found on their bottom side. They are common in human dwellings, so don’t be surprised to find one in your shoes.
The Brazilian Wandering Spider
It is the most dangerous spider in the world, and unlike the widows, it tends to be aggressive. Its genus is called phoneturia, which is Greek for murderess. Some people also call it the armed spider or the banana spider because they tend to build their webs on banana leaves and sometimes, between bunches of unripe bananas. When threatened, the spider stands on its hind legs, preparing to deliver a blow rather than run off like other spiders.
It has been named more times than any other spider in the Guinness World Records as the most venomous animal in the world. Their bites are most dangerous to little children and old people. They are even more dangerous for men as their bites can cause an erection that doesn’t go away. Some researchers have noted that the species has since been spread to North America and Europe through banana shipments.
The Goliath Bird-Eating Spider
This is the scariest tarantula in the world and probably the largest spider species ever discovered. Like most tarantulas, this large spider is not dangerous to humans as it prefers to stay away, although its appearance tends to make hearts skip. When fully grown, the Goliath Bird-eater can measure up to 12cm in body size, with its hairy legs rising up to 28cm.
The spider is native to the rainforests of South America, where it hunts any animal that is smaller than it, including mice and birds. Its body is rather scary because of its many hairs, which it also tends to throw at its attackers when it feels threatened. It is one of the favourite spiders for most spider lovers, and many keep it as a pet.
It’s all about conditioning
If you are as old as me you might have seen many a good ‘killer spider’ film like the 1990 Comedy horror film Arachnophobia. At the time you might well have laughed at it, but like any good horror film, it is when you go to sleep when the brain takes in what it watched. So it might have been a news story or article about a spider killing someone and even if it was “fake news” the brain might still have translated it into fear and that just human nature.
Jumping Spiders
Sadly these super jumpers can jump up to 50 times their own body length and they are found all over the world. It’s not just how far they can jump, but how fast with the average jump of one of these spiders taking just 0.3 of a single second! Even thinking of that sends shivers down my spine.
Spiders Can Be Trained To Pounce on People
Yes, this is not a joke, there are people within the movie industry who train insects like spiders to do whatever the movie entails them to do. So things like run towards humans, jump on humans and yes even run up the body and stop on the head! Well…I was nearly physically sick then!
Spiders Lay 300+ Eggs Each Time
The average female spider can lay 10 to 20 egg sacs in their lifetime and sadly each egg sack can containing 150 to 300 eggs! If you do the maths that means each spider within its lifetime can produce up to 6000 more spiders! And just to blow your mind those 6000 could then produce 3.6 million more! And no, this is not over years, this can happen over weeks!
You Have a LOT of Spiders in Your Home
Due to some of the baby spiders being microscopic in size no-one knows for sure the real number, but based on a study of 50 UK homes there was an average of 30 spiders (visible ones) in each home. Based on the maths in our previous fact, that could mean most homes have 180,000+ spiders in their homes!!!
Spiders Found in Scary Places
Much like all the images above us human beings have encroached into most spider dwellings, so spiders don’t have much choice when looking for a home, so they tend to live with us. The scary thing is that some have decided to go as far as “live in us.” Many spiders live in cracks in walls and in the corners of houses or old tires. Others, however, prefer warmer dwellings such as shoes and clothing, which brings them into contact with human beings. News of spiders being found in unwelcome places is now very common. In 2019, a venomous recluse spider crawled out of a woman’s ear in Kansas City. In some cases, spiders have been reported to bite people when they put on their shoes or clothes.