Fear of Spiders?

[tofu]

Do you think that a fear of spiders is inborn or is a product of upbringing? It's a little of both I'm sure, but which do you think is the largest factor? Is there something ingrained in our brains that makes us afraid of creepy-crawly things, or do we learn it when people tell us that spiders bite, and when we see someone scream and violently smash a bug

[crosscountry]

weird question. I'm not afraid of spiders so can't really contribute, but I do like the movie Arachnophobia.

[danscope]

Do you think that a fear of spiders is inborn or is a product of upbringing? It's a little of both I'm sure, but which do you think is the largest factor? Is there something ingrained in our brains that makes us afraid of creepy-crawly things, or do we learn it when people tell us that spiders bite, and when we see someone scream and violently smash a bug

Hi, A friend of mine was working in a damp cellar, and got bit mear his belt buckle . Hospital....shots, damned sore, lost 4 weeks of work, still suffering.
Hates it. Says it is no fun at all.
The worst may be day time television.
Best regards, Dan

[tofu]

I'm not afraid of spiders so can't really contribute,



Well call it whatever you want, fear, dislike, whatever.

If you saw a non-poisonous spider craw under your pillow, would you lay down and go to sleep? I doubt it. There's a difference in the way you think about a spider and, for example, a kitten. I'm wondering if that is some biological basis for that.

[weatherc]

I'm scared of spiders, and I have no idea why. The funny thing is that I used to catch all kinds of insects of all sizes (including wasps!) when I was younger, but spiders still give me the creeps. How's that for illogical? Why does something with eight legs freak me out, but stuff with six has no effect on me? It does make me wonder if there's something hardwired in my system to not like them.

[mike alexander]

Hard to untangle, but part of it may be that it is just about impossible to anthropomorphize the arachnid body plan.

[suntrack2]

our brain reads first the appearance and its properties, then the term 'fear' comes later. if the appearance is shabby of any thing and the known properties are much adverse then brain start alert ourself to keep a distance from the thing.

secondly the rash on skin due to spider sometime create wounds too, even pus formation is also possible in some condition.

[Nicolas]

I don't know why, but I'm afraid of the things. When I know they can't or won't reach me it's no problem, but I dislike seeing one running in the house a lot.

Put me in a rocket and send me to the moon (I will be nervous of course) anytime, but don't let me in a room close to where I just saw a midsize spider run away and hide.

[N C More]

If you saw a non-poisonous spider craw under your pillow, would you lay down and go to sleep? I doubt it. There's a difference in the way you think about a spider and, for example, a kitten. I'm wondering if that is some biological basis for that.

Yes, I'd react differently to the spider than the kitten. I'd be far more upset about the kitten... I'm horribly allergic to cats! But, I do understand what you're talking about, I'd probably shoo the spider out of my bed as well (but I wouldn't be sneezing/wheezing while doing so). Spiders don't really bother me all that much. Basically, I think they are pretty cool little critters.

[jseefcoot]

Well, I think it's a little of both -- but I think also that it can be on an individual basis.

Why do some infants react with fear to the sight of a spider, while others will gurgle happily and try to pick it up?

I remember seeing a video in the second or third grade. . . . something akin to a public service message that's supposed to inform you of dangerous local animals. For a young child, it was a scary production. Of course, being the non-conformist that I am, I spent the rest of my life turning over rocks and logs looking for (what else?) spiders, lizards, and such. But perhaps this is where I got the uneasiness I feel when a big spider is crawing across my floor.

Spiders are not my favorite creature. . . . .but unless they're poisonous, I leave them alone when I see them. They are a predatory species after all, and who knows how many insects they kill?

The only thing for bug elimination that is better, IMHO, (and if you can stand to have them roaming around your house) are Mantids. A 6" female praying mantis will consume everything in your house smaller than herself, if left to her own devices. I used to let mine live on the drapes. They would occassionally go flying across the living room at full speed to snag a moth out of the air. Very entertaining, but most often they are ambush predators. It's rare to see a well fed mantid fly for food; they prefer to wait. I thought I would have to cage her when I got a cat. . . . .Somehow she impressed upon the cat the need to leave the mantis alone. It wouldn't go near any kind of mantid the rest of its life. Which was cool, because it sure wouldn't kill any pests. I never really saw any bugs in that house until the mantis died.

[Nicolas]

Of course, being the non-conformist that I am, I spent the rest of my life turning over rocks and logs looking for (what else?) spiders, lizards, and such. But perhaps this is where I got the uneasiness I feel when a big spider is crawing across my floor.

The unconscious fear of being crushed by a huge rock ;)

[Nicolas]

Somehow she impressed upon the cat the need to leave the mantis alone.

Somehow, our tiniest free roaming chicken managed to do that with the largest stray tomcat you've ever seen. I think that it was mainly because she didn't flee when seeing the cat, and hence never became a very entertaining object for a hunt. Instead, she looked him in the eyes (though from a rather safe distance :)). Just saying "I've seen you already, start running and I fly up. You've lost already". They seemed to become more or less friends after a while, at least they didn't seem to have a full blown hunter-pray relation. More like "I trust you a tiny little bit".

A slightly different situations is your pet cat vs your other pets (I don't include the mantis in that, but anyway :)). In my opinion, the cat notices from your behaviour that the other pets are part of the group and are of importance to you -alive- and therefore your cat will not kill your pet rabbits, birds... In general :).

[eburacum45]

I saw Bill Oddie on TV with a Dysdera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysdera_crocata) the other night; he says 'there are stories that this species can bite',
then
'Ow. Ow ow! It's true, they can!'
But he still let the little creature run around on his hand after it bit him. Now that is the mark of a true nature lover.

[tony873004]

I had a mantis and it killed a lot of bugs. But one morning I woke to find a daddy-longleg sucking on the mantis. It had tied the mantis' hands together with web. I guess this spider's exceptional reach gave it the edge. It amazed me how the mantis could eat spiders, obviously ingesting the venom, but if bitten, it would die.

[teddyv]

I too am afraid of spiders. Not really the ones outside that make webs in your garden, but the indoor ones, especially the big black/brown house spiders. I think its partially because they are very fast and I worry that they will run onto and up my leg.

A couple years ago, I was sampling an exploration trench in Ghana. At on point, I glanced down and all I saw were legs coming toward me (it was on my chest). I nearly jumped out of my skin even though it really wasn't that big.

Ultimately I chalk it up as an irrational fear, since things like snakes and mice don't bother me that much (and snakes love those trenches - black cobras, green mambas, etc.).

[Nicolas]

It is largely irratonal indeed. But I can't help it. It's in most cases not to such an extent that it interferes with my life.

[jseefcoot]

I had a mantis and it killed a lot of bugs. But one morning I woke to find a daddy-longleg sucking on the mantis. It had tied the mantis' hands together with web. I guess this spider's exceptional reach gave it the edge. It amazed me how the mantis could eat spiders, obviously ingesting the venom, but if bitten, it would die.

That's pretty cool, actually. I have never seen a mantid fall to a 'lesser' creature, and I have kept several dozen at various times in my life. I fed them every kind of spider I could catch (even two brown recluses and a black widow), wasps, bees, salamanders, you name it. Everything that moved went right down its throat. The only thing my mantids would not consume were walking sticks, and I think that's because they were too camouflaged for the mantids. I would definitely say that was one frighteningly smart daddy longlegs. I have seen longlegs escape from the webs of other spiders before, so who knows? Maybe they're the Einsteins of the arachnid world.

I believe that the only natural predator of the praying mantis is the bat. I do know that the echolocator from a bat is pretty much the only thing a mantid is capable of hearing, which says to me it hasn't evolved to fear much of anything else.

[PhantomWolf]

I'm okay with spiders as long as a) they aren't on me, and b) I can see them, otherwise....

I have no idea why, I know I was fine with them as a child, and there are only 2 poisonous spiders in NZ (one of which is an Ozzie import) so it's not like I don't know that they are harmless, but somehow the fear over-rides my logic circuits and.... well yeah.

[OptimusShr]

I am afraid pf spiders and the sight of them causes me to run in the other direction.

[Swift]

I would guess it is more learned behavior (upbringing) than inborn. I probably wouldn't let a spider sleep in bed with me, but short of that I'm very tolerant of them. I actually like them in the house for their bug eating ways, as long as they don't put their webs across hallways, etc.

My wife, on the other hand, is very afraid of them, and will actually stay out of rooms if there is a spider in them. My job in life is to kill any spider she finds.

[Ronald Brak]

In some cultures little crawly creatures of all kinds are a vital part of the diet of very young children.

[Nicolas]

I would guess it is more learned behavior (upbringing) than inborn. I probably wouldn't let a spider sleep in bed with me, but short of that I'm very tolerant of them. I actually like them in the house for their bug eating ways, as long as they don't put their webs across hallways, etc.

My wife, on the other hand, is very afraid of them, and will actually stay out of rooms if there is a spider in them. My job in life is to kill any spider she finds.

My SO has no problems whatsoever with spiders. She takes them in her hands and puts them outside, in those good days where she doesn't feel the need to give it to me first. "Do you want to have it?" "What, the spider or the heart attack?"

I never really laugh at jokes of elephants being afraid of mice :).

[Van Rijn]

I never had a real fear of spiders. I played with daddy long legs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae) when I was a kid. I've held pet tarantulas, not a big deal, and my position is "live and let live" unless they are making webs in the house. I do avoid black widows, however.

[ciderman]

I am totally cool with those daddy long leg spiders, they don't scuttle about, they just keep to themselves out of the way in the corners of the ceiling. & they eat other spiders!(seem to keep other 'bugs' down too)
Otherwise, up to about an inch leg span I'm fine. Up to 2 1/2 inches I'll try to capture them for release outside/transplant to mates room or workmates desk drawer:D. Anything larger around here is just too damn fast/agile for capture so has to be terminated.

Edit:Oh, I was staying in a mates caravan near Melbourne,Oz.
With broken windows & torn bug netting.
"What's that Paul?"
I say pointing to the large, unusual looking spider on the cabinet less than two foot from my sleeping bag.
"mwmm?
OHHH! KILL IT! KILL IT!" etc comes the reply, unreasuringly.
So I have a go at it with my boot, miss, knock it onto the floor.
Certainly one of those occasions when time slows down, but still remains rather hectic:lol:
Did I get it? I did mash a large spider down there after a bit of flailing around, but that could have been another spider altogether though!

[Gillianren]

It amazed me how the mantis could eat spiders, obviously ingesting the venom, but if bitten, it would die.

You, too, can consume things that would poison you if you had them injected into your bloodstream. It's a different process.

I'm not fond of spiders, especially given I've probably been bitten by a few in my day and had the bites get infected, but if they're not in the house, I probably won't get fussed. Besides, Intrepid Hunter D will probably find them if they're somewhere near where he's allowed to go--ie, not in the kitchen or above either of the altars.

[Nicolas]

You, too, can consume things that would poison you if you had them injected into your bloodstream. It's a different process.

Cola would not be a good thing in the blood stream. Anything with gas bubbles wouldn't be. :).

[Tog_]

A few things to offer here.

1. I was a little confused by the Wiki article about the daddy long legs. Around here we have things called daddy long legs (http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2000/jun00/daddy.htm), but they are not spiders, they are closer to mites. Long legs, tiny head, bubous thorax, no webs. We have a lot of the real spider version around here too, only they are referred to as Cellar Spiders; well something similar in shape to them. They live in huge groups or alone. I got bit by something one day and one of those was under my desk. I don't know of that's what got me, but the area was red and puffy for three days, and very sesitive to touch for another week or so. It got me on the left side, about kidney high, right above the crest of my hip. And it hurt.

2. That nasty looking red and gold spider from the other article has the range wrong. Either that or there is another species that looks almost exactly lik them around here. Their fangs go latterally across the front and each is about as long as the body is wide. Freaky ugly things too. That's the one spider, other than a black widow, that the GF won't pick up to carry outside. They definately live in norther Utah.

3. In the fall, if you happen to see a mantis laying on it's side. Don't touch it to see if it's dead or dying. They hate that when they are about to lay eggs. And it hurts. Where she placed the eggs they would never have survived but they were easily transportable. She actually laid them on a corn stalk leaf that was stuck to a trash compator. I took the eggs home in the hopes that I could hatch them. The first thing the GF sai when I told her was, "They won't follow you around like baby geese you know". I knew, but it still would have been cool. They didn't hatch.:(

4. Since it's not been mentioned that I've seen, Ladybugs (http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/fldcrops/ef105.htm) are nasty, evil, feral little creatures that should not be allowed anywhere near anything you would rather not have bathed in searing pain. Seriously. They hurt worse than an ant bite. No one seems to think they bite, but I have spoken to about a dozen people who all agree. Evil, horrid litte fang'd monsters.

As for the OP, in my case a fear of spiders was learned. I ran into a huge web one day when I was about 5. It freaked me out so badly that when I was about 12-15, I wouldn't sleep under the covers incase there were spiders. I'm a lot better now, and I can handle some of them (like in hand). Mainly jumpers. We have a few in th house that we've brought in from where we work. The plan is to let them pick off all the things we call Box Elder Bugs (http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/INSECTS/box_elder_bugs.htm) (which seems to be the real name... go fig) that have moved in for the winter.

[Tog_]

Cola would not be a good thing in the blood stream. Anything with gas bubbles wouldn't be. :).

Mercury can be eaten with no real toxic effects, but breathing the vapor when heated is bad...

Lead is toxic when eaten, but a lead bulet can remain in a body for years without harm.

[HenrikOlsen]

I regularly have cellar spiders in my home, once I had one of them walk across my bed about 20cm from my head as I as about to go to sleep.
I just waited until it was all the way across, then turned off the light and went to sleep.

[suntrack2]

the spiderman never fear the spiders. :)

[Delvo]

A show I saw on Discovery or A&E a few years ago about snakes said that, unlike with arthropods, humans are not born with a built-in aversion to snakes, so fear of snakes has to be learned. It stuck wth me because, even though the show was about snakes, the main thing I got from it that was new to me was the implication about arthropods that it tossed out while actually making a statement about snakes.

[tofu]

A 6" female praying mantis will consume everything in your house smaller than herself, if left to her own devices. I used to let mine live on the drapes.

Didn't they poop everywhere? I had a problem with ants in the kitchen of the apartment I was in in college. One day I noticed a spider that had eaten a few ants so I let him stay. But then later I noticed all his droppings, and it was nearly impossible to clean them.

Somehow she impressed upon the cat the need to leave the mantis alone.

I wonder if the cat just couldn't see it because it wasn't moving. The cat would be able to smell it though, and when he went closer to get a better sniff, the mantis would wack his nose. So from the cat's perspective, it's like this "hey what's that smell? *whack* Ouch! ok note to self: If I ever smell that again I'm walking in the other direction!"

[jseefcoot]

Didn't they poop everywhere? I had a problem with ants in the kitchen of the apartment I was in in college. One day I noticed a spider that had eaten a few ants so I let him stay. But then later I noticed all his droppings, and it was nearly impossible to clean them.



I wonder if the cat just couldn't see it because it wasn't moving. The cat would be able to smell it though, and when he went closer to get a better sniff, the mantis would wack his nose. So from the cat's perspective, it's like this "hey what's that smell? *whack* Ouch! ok note to self: If I ever smell that again I'm walking in the other direction!"

I never saw anything that I thought could be mantis poo. :dance: I never saw anything of them actually use the 'facilities'. This may be due to the fact that mantids are much more mobile than web-based spiders, and so anything they did leave behind would have been scattered about and much harder to spot. I did have to pick up after them though because mantids are notoriously sloppy eaters. Since they eat their prey alive, the squirming around sometimes causes premature dismemberment. If the mantis drops a body part, or even the whole meal, it won't bother retrieving anyting. Plus, they will often eschew things like legs and wings for a nice meaty abdomen or head -- dropping the unwanted pieces form wherever they are eating. When catching stinging fliers (wasps/bees/etc) the mantids would catch the head in one claw and the abdomen in the other, right next to the stinger so they couldn't get stung. I'm sure this was no accident. From there, they would frequently chew their way through the midsection and proceed to eat from the inside out, dropping the empty husk to the floor. Spiders too -- except they would usually make efforts to avoid the head, and would usually try to immobilize at least the rear legs.

I just kept a dustbuster handy -- and didn't use it for anyting but cleaning up after the mantids. :naughty:

As far as the cat goes, she was constantly aware of the mantis I had at the time, greatly intrigued by it, and extremely wary of it. That one was more then six inches in length, probably the biggest, fiercest one I have ever kept. So I know she could see it even when it was still. (Even when they're 'still', mantids aren't still. Like many camouflaged tree-dwelling predators they tend to wiggle back and forth to simulate movement by the wind. Especially evident when on the hunt.) I never saw such a thing, but I do think that the mantis struck the cat. It sure doesn't feel very good, and I imagine it hurts more on a smaller organism.

[tofu]

But they never stung you when you'd pick them up?

[Ilya]

I am not the least bit afraid of spiders. If there is one on my pillow, I’ll pick it up and put it outside. I would not touch a poisonous spider, but that’s rational. However, I was afraid of them when I was a kid. My earliest memories of spiders involve panicked jumping and screaming when accidentally touching one. I got rid of that fear by forcing myself to pick up spiders and hold them. It was very difficult at first, then less so, and eventually the fear was gone.

So yes, I think it is inborn.

[TriangleMan]

I think from an evolutionary standpoint that there is some level of instinctive fear of arachnids. The fear of spiders is more common in people than a general fear of all 'bugs' (arachnids and insects). It makes some sense as many species of spider can harm or kill a person, and early primates lived in tropical areas where contact with harmful spiders would be more common. It might also apply to scorpions. :think:

[closetgeek]

I saw a program once that said it is a remnant of our ancient instincts. It didn't really back it up with anything though, I thought the show would help but it just gave me nightmares. I am just convinced that I must give off some pherimone (spelled phonetically) which attracts only grown man-hand-sized, spiders, covered in hair. Yes my posts get a bit longwinded so I will give you the short version of my two best spider anecdotes which I feel shareworth.

I once jumped out of a car, that I was driving, to escape a spider. (the car was in neutral so catching up to it was no big deal.)

I once stepped on a toddler, running away from what I thought was a spider, which turned out to be dog whiskers. Mind you it was not five minutes earlier, that a spider, roughly 8 inches across, black, and hairy, literally jumped off the wall at me. Believe me, I am not big fishing that either.

[Ozzy]

I remember getting into a car when I was young, and turning my head to the right, was surprised and freaked out by a large huntsman (big, hairy, tarantula like), inches from my face. I also remember being in the bush and walking into a giant spider web (I totally freaked). :eek:

I'm surprised that I am fairly calm around spiders, but if they run at me my logic goes south and I just have to get away. I remember once a large ugly running at me and I jumped up backwards into a chair. I have never been able to duplicate that maneuver conciously.

I seem to remember a doco on arachnaphobia which said it comes from the"alien" look of spiders (and many bugs in general). As someone mentioned early, we cant anthropomorphise a spider. Kittens, seals, dogs, even fish, have a face with two eyes and a mouth.

Its no surprise that many Hollywood aliens are insect like.

[Nicolas]

we cant anthropomorphise a spider. Kittens, seals, dogs, even fish, have a face with two eyes and a mouth.

Its no surprise that many Hollywood aliens are insect like.

There might be a point in that. I'm not afraid swimming around fish (though suddenly seeing a huge one for the standards of this area is scary), but I'm not too fond of crabs, even though they don't tend to do anything to a diver. But as with many animals, the animal fleeing away is the scary part :).

I think a cyclope is more scary than a Grey.

[Tog_]

My fear of spiders goesback to a child hood trauma. Other critters I 'm not good around include Siamese cats (trauma- Lady and the Tramp), emus (trauma- being chased around the zoo by one when I was about 24), horses (they all seem to hate me). I actually don't have a problem anthopomorphising spiders, especailly jumpers. They have these cute little faces,and you can sort of see which way they look. I can pick them up, but the other kinds I leave to the GF.

[Aqualung]

For anyone like myself who has a fear of spiders and wants to keep them out of the house, here's how.

Use Horse Chestnut. It gives off a chemical that spiders don't like.

A string off horse chestnuts in a room will keep it spider free for a year. If you want to go into the loft then plan in advance and put some leaves, branches and chestnuts in there a few weeks before going in and it will be spider free.

I can assure you it works, I have been using it for 6 years now.

[Nicolas]

emus (trauma- being chased around the zoo by one when I was about 24)

You still don't like Bert, do you :)

[closetgeek]

Use Horse Chestnut. It gives off a chemical that spiders don't like.

That seems a lot easier than my solution. I send my daughter out to catch some geckos. Frogs work fairly well too, but they drive the big dogs crazy.

I remember getting into a car when I was young, and turning my head to the right, was surprised and freaked out by a large huntsman (big, hairy, tarantula like),

The spider that freaked me out so much that I stepped on the toddler looked exactly like a huntsman only it was black. I spent hours on the internet looking for a name but that was the closest. The funny thing is, the whole time I was looking, I was heaving, but couldn't look away. Hubby even came in and warned me that every time I go on a spider obsession, I have a really bad spider experience. Low and behold, I pushed the chair away from the computer and there, sitting on my prosthetic foot, was a medium sized Wolf spider. They are after me I tell ya!

[crosscountry]

I'm not gullible because I'm a Leo.--Actually said to me by a co-worker

did you laugh at her? him? right then or think about it later? I'd have gone home and figured out the irony only to spend the entire evening laughing at that peron's sillinness.


I have one like that:

In 11th grade I was in the band. Every Friday night we played at the High School Football Game. The first game of the year was in another town so we put 200 kids on buses. The band payed for our dinner at a Lubys. Of course I was in the back of the line with my new freshman girlfriend and her friends. Can't leave her standing alone ;)

Well, the girl in front of us, also freshman, was quite blond. And during the long wait (200 people remember) She was telling us about how she's a vegetarian and despises people that eat meat. That went on for a while until the subject changed. The, we turn towards the food and guess what? She gets something from the meat server! I comment, "what about all that you just told us?" She replies that chicken isn't meat because it doesn't have any protein. DOH.... Talk about dumb, but that wasn't the worst....

wait for it....



She had ordered Chicken Fried Steak. LOL

[Tog_]

I'm not gullible because I'm a Leo.--Actually said to me by a co-worker

did you laugh at her? him? right then or think about it later? I'd have gone home and figured out the irony only to spend the entire evening laughing at that peron's sillinness.

If I recall, I didn't quite make it into the closet next to me when she said it. The best part was that what she was not going to believe was some comment I had just made about talking horses or something obviously silly. That is one of the things I want to put on a t-shirt some day

I should add, that this is the same woman I convinced that you can't your own voice when you speak because the speech center of the brain lie right beside the ear canal. The brainwaves of what you think cancels out the sound waves that come in, thus what you hear is really your imagination, and why you will not recognize your voice wen you hear it on a recording. She said, "Oh, that's why my choir teacher told us to put out fingers in our ears to hear what we really sound like when we sing." That one stunned me a bit.

Same woman leaves work in May for "open heart surgery", only to come back in September to get her check wearing a bikini top and shorts, perfectly tan, and no scars on her sternum.

Same woman changed out of her checker uniform to go to lunch "Just in case she got into a wreck, she wouldn't want to be seen wearing THAT"., but when she changes to go to the gym, she walks out in a black on piece leotard thing with a white thong bikini bottom, the rear string of which was not visible.

Another time I had her believing I was in a cult that I took from a role playing game. Basically, everything that was alive grew from moldy food left in a big sack. Actually acknowledging the giant carrying the sack would cause him to become aware of the problem, clean out the sack, and destroy the universe as we knew it, so no church buildings.:whistle: (I hope that didn't go over the line here for religion;))

Another guy I worked with said his mother-in-law asked how many came in the all you can eat shrimp, and has seen people nod when asked if they want fries at a drive up window.:p

[crosscountry]

oh, those kind of things happen all the time.


I once asked a man from whom I was buying a truck (didn't buy it though) is that slant 6 a V? After we stopped laughing I went home.

People like that amuse me. I've gotten over letting them upset me and let them live those simple lives. It's got to be easier than making decisions for yourself.

[Big Brother Dunk]

the spiderman never fear the spiders.
Maybe not this spider.


http://members.shaw.ca/dkm.pod/spider%20copy.jpg

[clop]

Here in Australia our houses are constantly being invaded by the common Huntsman Spider. It has a non-fatal bite but it's huge and ugly and scares almost everyone.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/huntsman/Heteropoda_ZZ279_F2649.jpg

clop

[Sean Clayden]

My fear of spiders grew from an episode of Dr Who back in the 70's. There was a room full of huge spiders and they jumped on Dr Who's back and controlled his mind. Ever since that episode from behind the sofa I have had a fear of spiders.

[Nicolas]

Clop: that sight would kill me. If not because of the huge ugly spider, than because of the ridiculously small toilet paper you have overthere ;).

Talking about dumd (sounding) people:

I heard a woman in the train saying

"yeah, ok there are women with no hips, but they are stupid and blonde".

I just didn't know where to start :D.

If I (being male) would ever say such a thing, I wouldn't make it out of the train alive.

[Ronald Brak]

Here fear of frogs is not common amoung Eurasian decended people, but fairly common among indigenous people. I presume this is because they had had experience with the mild poison they carry and have learned to fear them and transmit this fear culturally. I knew a Brazillian lady who was terrified of frogs which makes sense because in South America they can have deadly poison. I think humans are capable of being frightened by just about anything but your culture has a large effect on what you are likely to fear.