Daddy-long-legs v spiders!

[lindapinda]

How come,that I suffer total arachnaphobia,but,can pick up daddy-long-legs,so easily! To a lot of people,they appear similar,and on occasion,I have mistaken,one for the other,if you look quickly!!

[shaneystar]

I don't mind spiders at all Linda ..but Daddy and his long legs frighten the wits out of me !! We are plagued with them at the moment and I spend a lot of time with a rolled up newspaper !!
Ruddy things!!

[andy hughes]

The root of your arachnaphobia may be rooted in a forgotten childhood experience in which you were frightened by a spider, c ausing your fear and distaste of them, which does not extend to DLL's.

Personally, I cannot come within touching diatnce of either of them, my wife has to catch them and put them outside, while I quiver from a safe distance!

[Champagne]

I'm exactly the same lindapinda. I'm terrified of spiders but I never kill them, and only ever remove the larger ones. DLL's are fine though. I simply catch them and throw them out the window.

I certainly don't recall any childhood experiences, but my mother was an arachnaphobe and as a result my siblings and I are too! I think we just followed her reactions to spiders.  :o)

[Supernick]

I'm even more localised. Daddy long legs are fine, as are garden spiders, tarantulas, and any number of the weird and wonderful specimens that I came across in Australia. But don't let out a house spider anywhere near me because those f*****s are absolutely horrible.

[spudqueen]

A couple of weeks ago a daddylonglegs got caught in a spiders web on the outside of my kitchen window and was spinning round trying to get away. The spider ran down and jumped on the daddylonglegs back, presumably trying to bite it, with the dll still spinning around madly. After a couple of minutes the dll managed to get free and flew off with the spider still on it's back!

[smudge]

I'm terrified of spiders, but don't mind DDL/crane flies at all - in fact I think they are rather gentle looking & fairy like!

[smudge]

Whoops - I mean DLL's!

[lindapinda]

Thanks for all your answers! You're right about it being a childhood incident andy.  I think it stems from from when the older boys at p.s. used to chase kids with those horrible big black spiders that you get in the wash hand basins. As you say,it would therefore be a specific fear. Spudqueen,my skin was creeping there,picturing a spider on a DLLs back!! Gross!! Lovely analogy smudge!,all those little fairy folk...aah!