Irrational fear - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

Rorie_Fantastico · 11-19-2005, 05:45 PM

an awfull thought struck me in bed the other night. I am an arachnaphobic, genuinely mewaning wen i see a spider i feel dizzy and frozen with fear and may pass out of true terror rather than run around screaming like a girl. My route will go thru California, Fiji,Oz, New Zealand, And south east asia. Am i doomed to be terrified a lot or what precaution can i take!

horsepuppy · 11-19-2005, 05:59 PM

From what I understand spiders are pretty common in Australia...Huntsman spiders I think they're called? Is it manageable or is it every time you see one?

**Esterina** · 11-19-2005, 06:20 PM

Rorie, I spent two weeks in Australia without seeing any spider, but I did hear they were bigger than in North America. Maybe it depends on the time of the year ? One thing is certain : you'll see plenty of wild Kangooroos.

In South East Asia, I've been in Laos, Vietnam (central and northern), and Bangkok, and also never saw a spider. Just got bitten by moskitos !

I spent time both in cities and countryside.

For the rest of your plan, I can't help.

I hope you'll go no matter what !

**travelpunk** · 11-19-2005, 09:16 PM

I know in Bali and Iraq, some spiders grow rather large

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Sleep well......Muhahahaha

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Just kidding....You'll be fine.

**weirdbeard** · 11-19-2005, 09:17 PM

I think you need to confront you fears head on. Read up on spiders and maybe go to a zoo and check em' out. They're pretty harmless for the most part and usually aren't very aggressive. Besides, it could be worse. You could be afraid to travel. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

**weirdbeard** · 11-19-2005, 09:22 PM

Whoa!!

Crazy Iraqi spiders Tony!!!

**Tadpole** · 11-19-2005, 10:23 PM

Im not sure if those are the best pictures to help him with his fears about spiders

I think i develpoed arachnaphobia just lookign at them....

chelseafc05 · 11-19-2005, 11:37 PM

yeah we got lots of spiders down here in australia.many venomous many non venomous and the well the huntsman(even i dont know how to spell it) the aggresive ones will be above a doorway.. then as your walkng under it they will jump down in front of you and just hang there..... or when your driving in your car theyll come out from there hiding spot and run around the roof side of the door etc.. while your swerving off the road trying to kill it...

nothin really to worry about seriously tho

**TheJake** · 11-20-2005, 01:27 AM

my lil buddy from brasil!

Rorie_Fantastico · 11-22-2005, 12:38 AM

the pics dint help. im pretty stibborn tho theres no way im not goin. im just gonna have to like scream for help everytime anything happens and make people check my bed every nite while i watch........
and seriously dude stories about spiders dropping on my head as i walk thru a door adds a whole new dimension of fear, now i expect them to come from the sky too.....

thanks tho :D

**LiveFreeorDie** · 11-22-2005, 10:10 AM

I spent two weeks in Australia, a fair bit of it outside and away from the cities and saw only a few spiders here and there and none in my living space or anywhere where it would be freaky to see them.

Same with Thailand. I even spent a week up in the mountains out in the boonies and saw very few spiders.....and I HATE spiders too...so I was looking. Saw some big-ass snakes...both in Thailand and in Australia, but very few spiders.

**bluepea** · 11-22-2005, 10:38 AM

I won't say I'm arachnaphobic, but I'm not a huge fan. I got over that pretty quickly in Texas a few years back. Me, lover of flips flops and refuser of shoes in the summer, went for a hike in flip flips of course. Saw little black things darting around every five, ten feet. Halfway through the hike, my brother in law let us know not to touch those darting creatures and they were brown recluses. I survived, none of us got bit.

Rorie_Fantastico · 11-23-2005, 11:58 AM

ha ill be cool then i dont mind snakes my other half hates them tho so ill be tha daddy lol

chelseafc05 · 11-23-2005, 11:01 PM

i ate deep fried spider in cambodia mmmmmmmm crunchy

Rorie_Fantastico · 11-24-2005, 12:14 AM

id rather starve

chelseafc05 · 11-24-2005, 12:34 AM

they arnt as bad as what you would think they are... still i wouldnt eat them for a snack all the time like them..

**LostFarmboy** · 11-28-2005, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rorie_Fantastico@Nov 23 2005, 11:58 AM
* ha ill be cool then i dont mind snakes my other half hates them tho so ill be tha daddy lol

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It's lucky that you're not afraid of snakes, we get a few of those fellas down here. Here's a list of the world's top 10 deadliest snakes and the countries they're found in:

1- Inland taipan, or fierce snake - Australia
2 - Eastern common brown snake - Australia
3 - Taipan - Australia
4 - Eastern tigersnake - Australia
5 - Revesby Island tigersnake - Australia
6 - Beaked sea snake - South Asian waters
7 - Western Australian tigersnake - Australia
8 - Chappel Island tigersnake - Australia
9 - Death adder - Australia
10 - Australian copperhead - Australia

Of course, this is only one list, it changes depending on which snake expert you talk to, but there is always 2 things in common - Australia always has the top 2 and atleast 5 or 6 in the top 10. If you plan on doing any hiking through the bush in summer, keep your eyes open and make sure you know what to do if someone gets bitten.

Now, about spiders, there's always atleast one huntsman around the house somewhere but they're harmless. It's the freakin redbacks you've gotta watch out for, garden sheds are always packed full of them. Here's a few to expect:

Funnel Web Spider

One of the deadliest in the world. Common in Sydney.

The pesky little Red Back Spider

They always chill out with the lawn mower with their whole family. Bite can cause serious illness or death

Black House Spider

Painful bites

The Huntsman Spider

See heaps of them every year, they grow up to the size of an adults hand span. Bites can be painful and cause headaches and nausea

Wolf Spider

Bites cause itchiness or pain

White Tail Spider

These fellas are very common around my area, we see heaps of them every year. Bites burn, then itch, then swell up.

But honestly, you've got nothing to worry about, i'm 22 and i've only been bitten a couple of times, it's not as if they're crawling around everywhere.

Hope this helps in some way, dunno how, but maybe.....

**U2fan** · 11-28-2005, 06:43 PM

Wow- I read about all these snakes/other poisonous things right before I'm gearing up to go to Oz! Fun times!

Nah, not too worried. My big fear is heights. Now that's extremely irrational yet very scary!!!!!!!