[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Irrational childhood fears

[Iggy McSnurd]

>illyana:
>You think that's bad? I am also afraid of spiders - even dead ones -
>and one morning I awoke to find a spider in my mouth! Actually, it was
>half-way in my mouth, and I grabbed it and threw it across my bedroom.

Iggy here:

I have one at least as bad... One of the reasons cockroaches wierd me out is
because, since moving here to Alabama, I've woken up TWICE to a roach
crawling into my ear.  I managed to get them back out on my own pretty
quickly, but I'll tell you one thing, not only is is a scary experience, but
it's downright painful when an adult one turns itself around in your ear
canal to crawl back out.

>illyana:
>That was so disgusting. Another time, I was lying on the couch in my
>parent's house (when I was younger and still lived there), and I looked
>up to see two dead tarantulas hanging from this window sill that was
>probably ten feet above my head.

Iggy here:

Funny enough, the only time a tarantula would bother me would be if I woke
up to find it in my bed or on me.  I've actually handled a California Brown
Tarantula... moving it off to safety with a small stick and a hat...  Think
of a very hairy brown tarantula that grows to be as big as an adult male's
hand with the legs at rest... (Not extended fully, but not curled up.)

>illyana:
>My parent's house was a nightmare for an arachnophobic person like me -
>we always had spiders hanging around, because my dad thought that
>spraying for bugs was unhealthy and unnecessary. Sometimes tarantulas
>would get in, but usually the worst were wolf spiders, which are a
>little scarier than tarantulas because they are faster and less docile.
>Tarantulas are usually quite timid and don't like being around people.

Iggy here:

The ones that actually terrify me (since I have fortunately gotten away from
the black widows that roam around California) are the brown recluses here in
the south.  Those actually scare me worse than the black widows because
they're not only more dangerous, but I know some of the strange things their
venom can possibly do to someone who has a bad genetic reaction to it.
(Trust me... you don't want to know.)  I actually found a dead one in the
glass globe over one of our light outlets when I was changing a bulb.

God forbid I ever visit Australia and see a funnel web spider.  I'd probably
just go into a massive case of the willies there on the spot.


>illyana:
>I have other frightening spider stories, like my stay at a summer camp
>that was infested with daddy long-legs (some of them enormous and with
>extra legs) when I was ten or eleven, but I think I have said enough
>for now! Plus, I'll probably have nightmares if I keep thinking about
>creepy-crawlies!

Iggy here:

A couple of fun little bits of info about daddy long legs'...

1:  They're not really spiders.  Instead of having a head and abdomen like
spiders (a two segment body), they have only a single segment head/body.

2:  Ounce for ounce, the venom of a daddy long legs is ten times more potent
than that of a black widow.

3:  Here's the good news about #2... their fangs are so small and thin, that
they can't even get through the first main layer of your skin, so they would
not be able to inject any venom into you.


*grins*

Iggy McSnurd