Has it ever occurred to you that such a small, innocent looking creature can kill a human with a simple bite? Usually spiders are thought to be harmless and a nuisance when you see them or their webs in your home. They are just squished or picked up on a piece of paper and thrown outside without fear of it attacking you. However spiders can be the most dangerous arachnid in the world. The spiders that we find more often in Canada are cellar spiders. They are venomous spiders yet cannot affect humans because its fangs are too short to penetrate human skin so nobody fears it. There are three reasons why I fear spiders are because of how venomous some can be, the size and speed of spiders, and the way they look from far away or when I see pictures in a book.

When I was younger, I always feared that a spider would attack me while I was just playing or even when I was sleeping. I always thought that they would just crawl onto me very quietly without me feeling them, and bite me, killing me almost instantly. Even now being exposed to facts, saying that there are many spider related deaths (not necessarily in Canada), but around the world creating a secondary fear of traveling because of the fact that I can die from spider bites. The Brazilian wandering spider is one of the most deadly spiders that I have heard of, and it was responsible for most human deaths in Brazil in 2007. Being a very small spider (not much larger than one inch in body size) the Brazilian wandering spider can kill a human with a simple bite.

When I first saw a tarantula, I thought it was fake because I did not know that spiders could be that big and hairy. When I found out it was real and venomous, I could not even be in the same room. Later learning that it is not dangerous when its fangs are cut off. Its size and the purple design, even just the overall appearance of the tarantula scare me.  Other spiders such as the Black Widow or the Funnel web spider, just scare the living hell out of me.  The black widow is very small, with a big black ball as its body, and two small fangs that just send shivers down my spine. The funnel web spider with its thick fangs and its beady eyes just say “I want to kill you” when it stares you down.

The speed and size of spiders astounds me. How they can grow to be six inches in size; such as the Camel Spider. Being one of the more common dangerous spiders found near Canada, having around 50 or so different species. It is known to be able to eat large lizards which are one of the main reasons why I fear it. Not only that, but it can also run up to 16km/h which is nearly half as fast as the fastest human sprinter, so if one of these were to chase me, it would probably be able to catch me after a while and possibly kill me. So would you just simply squish a Camel Spider or pick it up on a piece of paper if you saw one? Or would you run for your life?

In conclusion would you change your mind about spiders? Would you think twice before you decide to pick up another spider? I do not know about other people, but just how spiders are venomous is the main reason why I fear them. Even though their faces and the size of them makes me want to just run and hide. So I think you should think twice before you decide whether a spider is harmless or really dangerous.