No, but there aren't many spiders with potent venom where I live. If that were the case, I probably would have some fear. They're definitely fascinating creatures.
I find their appearance and behaviours fascinating. Dislike the feel of one crawling on me and will brush it away quickly so as not to hurt it. I avoid the types with toxic or lethal venom.
The time I came closest to arachnophobia was this -- Ari and I were staying as guests with a friend who put us up in his caravan. He warned us about the resident spider and said we must not hurt it under nay circumstances.
Ian told us that he was a direct descendant of Bruce, The Scott. It was the mass of undisturbed cobwebs that saved Bruce's life from the English soldiers' swords poking into his hiding place in a dark rock crevice. When Bruce got home that night, he told his family and they agreed that thenceforth no descendant could harm a spider, to express their gratitude.
That night, asleep int the caravan, I was woken by a Huntsman tickling across my face. Remembering Ian's request, I stayed perfectly still and waited for the spider to crawl off me. It felt huge and it took every ounce of self-control I had.
After it had passed, which seemed to take ages, I fumbled around for a torch and switched on the light. There it was up on the wall, a female, leg span 4 inches across. I could not get back to sleep even after it wandered away to a dark place.
In Australia, the Huntsman is a common, large, hairy spider that likes to seek shelter in dry places, often houses. It has a bite, but its mandibles are too small to penetrate the skin of a human. Mostly they are tolerated as friends because they eat mosquitos, flies and other pests. But they look a lot like pale brown Tarantulas, and so there is a kind of instinctive unease one feels at the sight of them.
Nup, not at all, but we do have some deadly spiders here so one must be cautious, not silly at all to be fascinated in the them as their fascinating creatures, I like snakes more though.
I by no means freak out if I see a spider...but put me in a tight spot with them crawling all over me and it'd likely be a different story. But the more I think about it I could say that about anything.
I'm terrified of them. Can't even look at a photo. Ironically, I spend a lot of time outdoors and have gotten used to them outside, altho brown recluse spiders can have a nasty bite. Thank goodness for winter.
I don't like them at all. If I see one crawling on me or near me, I freak out. I owned a tarantula and held it without a problem. It's the same with snakes. If it's in my yard, I freak. If it's a pet, I have no problem wrapping it around my neck.
I have a very bad phobia of spiders and I am not fascinated at all with them~ I cant even look at spiders the only time i have was to look at the spider that does handsprings in morocco! I will freak out on you in a heartbeat if there is a spider around me!
No. I don't fear animals of any kind. I had a pet tarantula once. I don't get that kind of stuff, being scared of spiders like they are going to come after you or something. I sure don't want biting insects on me or anything like that but I don't go around dreading the idea of a spider.
No. I'd be wary of a spider that could give me a harmful or dangerous bite, but otherwise I rather like them and find them fascinating, and find invertebrates just as fascinating.
Some spiders are quite attractive little animals, and it's impressive to watch an orb spider building her web (the males tend to roam rather than make webs), using her legs to space the spiral evenly. Where do they find all that material and energy on top of that necessary to keep the creature alive? Obviously from her food, but considering the spider will rebuild a web broken by wind or an animal, she needs to accumulate sizeable reserves from just a few insects.
Watching a spider spin a web outside my window one day, I wondered if similar might help some people overcome a fear of spiders. You and it are safely isolated from each other by the glass, and anyway it's not bothered about you, so you can watch it go about its marvellous task, all by instinct, but literally at arm's length. And when she's finished she'll rest, either having trotted back into the centre of the web, or retreated to some cosy little nook in the corner of the window-frame.
Sometimes I wonder if an antipathy towards very small animals like spiders comes from a phobia of anything crawling. Yes, snakes are vertebrates but legless so have to crawl; but spiders and many other invertebrates including mites, woodlice, centipedes and insects do not crawl. They have legs. They walk.