Spiders are amazing.

Having heard about their photographic competition, I recently checked out the countryfile magazine web site.  I was extremely disappointed by the comments concerning one of the winning entries, a fantastic looking (jumping?) spider.  More than one person commenting suggest that they would be reluctant to buy a calendar with a spider in it.  And some of those even go as far as to say that children will have nightmares on seeing the spider photo.  This mindset displays alarming ignorance.

Firstly, it suggests that the best way to overcome people’s fear of spiders is to remove all spiders from sight.  This response is an example of why humans, as a species, are destroying the world that we live in.  Rather than worry about how we make thousands of spiders homeless every day, assuming they survive us moving into their lives, we can only think of ways in which we can remove them from our homes/crops/outbuildings/vehicles/etc (we don’t just do this with spiders, we do it with every other species on the planet that we don’t call ‘domestic’ or a ‘crop’).

Secondly, it suggests that children are born scared of spiders.  This is generally not the case.  A large number of people grow up being scared of spiders because they see adults reacting to them when they are young.  In some countries spiders can kill you, but in this country, reacting like someone has passed an electric current through the floor when one appears, seems a little extreme (Dad).  If children are taught to appreciate spiders, then they invariably do.  Exposure, not avoidance, is the way to overcome an irrational fear.

If there was a Royal Society for the Protection of Spiders their strapline would be “Spiders are amazing, let’s keep them that way”.  Spiders ARE amazing, I hope these pictures, taken during my last three work weeks (Dundreggan, Balmacara and Glen Affric, see previous entries) will help you to agree.