No problem!

That's very accurate. I don't mind handling tarantulas or furry jumping spiders, but shiny spiders of any kind creep me out. Bonus point for terror if there's webbing involved. Hobo spiders are probably the worst. They're so fast and aggressive. I still catch them and take them outside, but it still feels awful. The only exception to the mercy rule is the shower. Shower spiders go down the drain immediately.

Nah, my mother loved spiders and we somehow regularly had fucking massive house spiders crawling around on the ceiling of the house when I was growing up. I swear she must have been bringing them into the house at one point or something, we definitely had a well above average amount of spiders for a good few years there.

There was only ever one at a time though, that I ever saw anyway, but they were those really big, hairy bastards that you can count the legs off from across the room and don't look like they're supposed to live in England.

Fast too, so fast, and eerily silent as they skittered, with too many angles protruding from their fat bodies. If you couldn't see them so starkly outlined against the white ceiling, you'd never even know they were up there, and they'd cross the room in less time than it took you to walk there yourself.

My mum thought they were cool though and called them all Boris and she'd talk to them like they were bloody cats. Mad woman.

I am (thank fuck) not my mother and shit scared of most spiders*. My mothers' behaviour did not impact my perfectly rational fear of potentially dangerous creatures crawling around my house. I know giant house spiders aren't dangerous to humans, but plenty of other big spiders around the world are and I don't think it's wise to try desensitise human children to this, especially as more and more species now will be migrating due to climate change.

*Jumping spiders are cool, I like those ones. They're surprusingly smart, and cute, and they've even evolved a vegetarian amongst them.

i think it's instinctive to go "OH FUCK" when something of sufficient size skitters about, but not instinctive to specifically hate spiders

and it doesn't matter what the skittery thing is, if a mouse scurries across my floor i'm gonna get spooked too, and i think mice are cute!

Yeah, I also think its cultural and not an instinct. We don't have screens on the windows, so letting spiders roam freely means I don't get flies, which are objectively worse to cohabitate with.

Aphids are borderline mindless, their chief strategy is simply breeding more aphids. I’ve gleefully spectated ladybugs devouring dozens of aphids, and not a single one responded in any way. Tiny dead idiots.

You might be on the right track, but I’m still struggling.

Thats actually wild, they can smell like ants and are convincing enough to pass a physical ant patdown. Crazy.