Phobias

[Richard Shah]

Hi Richard,
this is something everyone, including myself, has got wrong in the past I think. Its not the size of animal that counts but the way the enzymes in the venom react with the victim's body. For example a bite from a male A. robustus (Sydney funel web) would kill a healthy adult human without treatment inside 3 days, yet if one bit your pet dog or cat all you'd get is a yelp and a squashed spider. On the other hand if the spider were a Selenocosmia (now called Phlogius) the human might be ill for a day or two and feel ropy for a couple more, wheras the dog or cat would be dead in at the most a minute or two. Thats the way it works, biochemical interaction. Hope this helps.

Yes, it did. Thanks for that explaination

I used to be really arachnophobic, until I got my 3rd tarantula. Now at the worst there are some spiders I don't like, but I will tolerate them being around unlike before, and most spiders don't bother me. As for other bugs, I pretty much love them all, I have a big thing for invertebrates in general. I guess the ones that freak me out are hornets and horseflies, things like that. But basically anything that is creepy and crawly is ok in my book

They're okay but they make me feel uncomfortable. My mum left the conservatory door open and there are loads of flies downstairs now. I really don't wanna go downstairs, cuz those things pi** me off and unnerve me if they come too close!
Also, I do not have the time to go on a killing spree!

[Tara Newman]

I hate monkeys. They scare me so much!!

I also dislike flies alot, but never kill them, I don't kill anything with intention, I save bugs I see on the pavement incase someone accidently stands on them, I usher them along or pick them up and move them to a bush.

Richard what you said about the woodlice made me sad I love woodlice they are really cute and sweet.

I too used to have a phobia of spiders, very badly. But when I met Matt he made me see them in a different light, now I love them and adore them so much! I let spiders stay in the flat now and love checking up on them during the day

[Richard Shah]

I hate monkeys. They scare me so much!!

I also dislike flies alot, but never kill them, I don't kill anything with intention, I save bugs I see on the pavement incase someone accidently stands on them, I usher them along or pick them up and move them to a bush.

Richard what you said about the woodlice made me sad I love woodlice they are really cute and sweet.

I too used to have a phobia of spiders, very badly. But when I met Matt he made me see them in a different light, now I love them and adore them so much! I let spiders stay in the flat now and love checking up on them during the day

Monkeys and Apes are wicked animals, they, as a general group of animals, are one of my favourite. What about them scares you? Is it the larger apes; like gorillas, or their high pitched screaming? ( The latter freaks me out some times, or just annoys me)

I hate flies, and unless I'm busy, like I was today, I would go on a killing spree until every fly in sight is dead (that is, in my personal area). I respect what you do, when it comes to saving the insects, but if it were me, I'd just avoid them in the open space because it is their environment, but kill them if they were in my house and in my personal space. Spiders however, I trap in a glass (as of last year) and release them outside.

I cannot see how woodlice are cute and sweet, but I strongly disagree with what I did, and I think I was an ar****le for ever doing that.

It is good to hear you overcame your fear of spiders, and ended up likeing them. I have this one friend, she is terrified of them. She screams and starts running when she sees one; she said she wouldn't come to my house anymore, but she's blatantly chatting rubbish cuz she has come to my house after me getting IC lol.

Anyway,

Cya Tara.

[Tara Newman]

Monkeys scare me because they are similar to humans. Also their unpredictable behaviour is rather scary. I dread the day scientist discover that monkies can talk

I would never interfere with the course of nature, I completely agree with a statement John Locke says on the show Lost, where he is stood watching a moth escape a coocoon, and he says 'I could help this moth out of there, but then that would make it weak and unable to survive, where as if it does it itself, it has the strength to survive' Well along those lines anyway
I only help insects on the paths as it breaks my heart seeing injured or squashed ones, so I like to lend a hand in getting them across that road hehe. Same went for hegehogs when I lived near a few.

Woodlice are cute cause you can't see their eyes! In my books anything that has eyes but you cant see (or mouth) is cute! Also the way they move their legs.

[Tom Forman]

bugs do tend to get squashed. The odd one on the pavement is not going to make much difference compared to the millions we smash with our car widscreens alone. One ride on the motorway during the right time of year and I can go through a few hundred bugs, fraid I have to say.

The other day while eating some mopani worms(giant african caterpillar, yum) I found out that they get killed on the spot by pinching their rear and sqeezing their insides out like toothpaste...

Some people reckon bugs cannot feel pain. They do seem to be able to just lose a leg and not seem to care too much... Who knows. I prefer to think they cannot feel pain although I'm really not sure, just puts my mind at rest when I kill one I suppose.

I can't feel sorry for insects I'm afraid, they are just part of the greater foodchain. You will have to get used to killing bugs, especially keeping Tarantulas...

[Richard Shah]

Monkeys scare me because they are similar to humans. Also their unpredictable behaviour is rather scary. I dread the day scientist discover that monkies can talk

I would never interfere with the course of nature, I completely agree with a statement John Locke says on the show Lost, where he is stood watching a moth escape a coocoon, and he says 'I could help this moth out of there, but then that would make it weak and unable to survive, where as if it does it itself, it has the strength to survive' Well along those lines anyway
I only help insects on the paths as it breaks my heart seeing injured or squashed ones, so I like to lend a hand in getting them across that road hehe. Same went for hegehogs when I lived near a few.

Woodlice are cute cause you can't see their eyes! In my books anything that has eyes but you cant see (or mouth) is cute! Also the way they move their legs.

That is a good quote, and it is true. Let nature, work itself out.

bugs do tend to get squashed. The odd one on the pavement is not going to make much difference compared to the millions we smash with our car widscreens alone. One ride on the motorway during the right time of year and I can go through a few hundred bugs, fraid I have to say.

The other day while eating some mopani worms(giant african caterpillar, yum) I found out that they get killed on the spot by pinching their rear and sqeezing their insides out like toothpaste...

Some people reckon bugs cannot feel pain. They do seem to be able to just lose a leg and not seem to care too much... Who knows. I prefer to think they cannot feel pain although I'm really not sure, just puts my mind at rest when I kill one I suppose.

I can't feel sorry for insects I'm afraid, they are just part of the greater foodchain. You will have to get used to killing bugs, especially keeping Tarantulas...

No; no, they must feel pain. When you grab a cricket, they squirm, they wriggle, they may even nip. Why? They are feeling uncomfortable.
Now, apply that to humans, and some big giant. Tell me, if you were being grabbed at the waist by two of their fingers, would you not feel uncomfortable and try to wriggle out?
They feel uncomfortable; they must feel pain too.
They have a nervous system, like us - they have nerves. Those nerves feel pain, as they send what they have sensed to the brain.

Like you said, it is just something that happens, and will contue happening forever. But, in my opinion, you have to acknowledge and understand, that those animals do feel pain too.

BTW, I really wanna try some Mopane worms now; where do you get them from? Lol!

Thanks Tom, and you too Tara,

Rich.

[Tom Forman]

BTW, I really wanna try some Mopane worms now; where do you get them from? Lol!

Rich.

Africa heehee.

[Richard Shah]

Africa heehee.

An excuse to go to my land of Kenya; yes, there are a hell load of Indians in Kenya.
What do they taste like? (I mean Mopane worms, not Indians. Lol If I wanted to know that I would've taken a bite from myself! )
I wanna go to one of those insect bars, and try a bit of scorpion, I dunno about bugs but definitely scorpion.
Must be crunchy...

[Tom Forman]

well they dry em in the sun and then salt em.

Have you ever tried dried fish? I think beef jerky is prepared in a similar way too?

It's got the same kind of texture but tastes a bit like tobacco.

It took some getting used to but I think of them as sundried tobaccofish now.

Guess not everyone would like them. They aren't anything amazing tbh, smoked dry fish on the other hand is quite nice.

[Richard Shah]

well they dry em in the sun and then salt em.

Have you ever tried dried fish? I think beef jerky is prepared in a similar way too?

It's got the same kind of texture but tastes a bit like tobacco.

It took some getting used to but I think of them as sundried tobaccofish now.

Guess not everyone would like them. They aren't anything amazing tbh, smoked dry fish on the other hand is quite nice.

I do not know about dry fish, but I love beef jerky. Haven't had it for year though!
Anyway, when I get an oppurtunity, I'll try some mopane worms.

Thanks Tom.

[James Box]

Richard, that's pretty cool you're big enough to admit the mistake you made by mistreating woodlice.
i was similarly brutal to wasps when i was young, well i smashed them by the hundreds because i thought they attacked randomly. i realised i was actually guilty of so much death i finally felt bad and stopped.
i think it's a bit hypocritical of us to pity cute (subjective use) animals more than ugly (again subjective) animals, or just plain, common animals.

ie: baby seals in Canada...i don't like they getting clubbed either, but i'd rather they didn't starve slowly to death, which is what's going to happen.
they can definitely feel pain.
but what of the cows, pigs, sheep, etc that we eat? often kept in horrid conditions, even if their incredibly brutal deaths weren't quick (as far as i know). now i'm not a vegetarian, but it's still horrible, and i'd rather get freerange where possible.

the debate of how much inverts can feel is steeped in thousands of years of us smashing bugs on sight. we'd rather we weren't guilty of causing suffering, so we hope that they don't actually feel anything, that their squirming and attempts to escape are based on instinct rather than actual pain.
i don't know enough of the science of these animals to say one way or the other which is true.
for myself, i do feel bad for the crickets, locusts, and mealworms i have to feed to my predatory pets. their terror is real, and something i hate to have to inflict.
but one must die so the other lives, that is nature's way.
imagine if they find one day that plants can suffer! i certainly hope they don't!!!

interesting that you're scared of monkeys, Tara...you must be the target audience of the Planet of the Apes!
i suppose put the way you said, it could be a little creepy...

Richard, i have an Indian colleague at my office with your surname who has family in Kenya! small world, eh?

[Richard Shah]

Richard, that's pretty cool you're big enough to admit the mistake you made by mistreating woodlice.
i was similarly brutal to wasps when i was young, well i smashed them by the hundreds because i thought they attacked randomly. i realised i was actually guilty of so much death i finally felt bad and stopped.
i think it's a bit hypocritical of us to pity cute (subjective use) animals more than ugly (again subjective) animals, or just plain, common animals.

ie: baby seals in Canada...i don't like they getting clubbed either, but i'd rather they didn't starve slowly to death, which is what's going to happen.
they can definitely feel pain.
but what of the cows, pigs, sheep, etc that we eat? often kept in horrid conditions, even if their incredibly brutal deaths weren't quick (as far as i know). now i'm not a vegetarian, but it's still horrible, and i'd rather get freerange where possible.

the debate of how much inverts can feel is steeped in thousands of years of us smashing bugs on sight. we'd rather we weren't guilty of causing suffering, so we hope that they don't actually feel anything, that their squirming and attempts to escape are based on instinct rather than actual pain.
i don't know enough of the science of these animals to say one way or the other which is true.
for myself, i do feel bad for the crickets, locusts, and mealworms i have to feed to my predatory pets. their terror is real, and something i hate to have to inflict.
but one must die so the other lives, that is nature's way.
imagine if they find one day that plants can suffer! i certainly hope they don't!!!

interesting that you're scared of monkeys, Tara...you must be the target audience of the Planet of the Apes!
i suppose put the way you said, it could be a little creepy...

Richard, i have an Indian colleague at my office with your surname who has family in Kenya! small world, eh?

Lol - it wouldn't surprise me though; there are many Indians out there in Kenya, and a lot of them have the surname 'Shah'. Don't think we're joking when we say "We will breed!"

I will smash a wasp of it is in my area, or personal space. Unless it is near a window, which I can trust to quickly open and let the wasp out, I will kill it, because I do not want to risk it stinging me and/or annoying me!
As I say, I will let them out when I can though. I do feel a little bit sorry for them when I finish making them a smear.

I hope people can come to realize that mistreating animals for the sake of it is wrong and quite despicable.

And yes, people do tend to separate 'cute' animals from 'ugly' animals, and to a lesser extent 'violent' from 'nice, calm and somewhat a domesticated manner'.

About insects feeling pain, I think a lot of people do not care if they do one way or another, and I think that thinking like that is better then putting it out of your mind just for the sake of feeling okay. Yes, it's cruel but it allows you to be more honest with your actions.

I love monkeys and apes, and although I understand your reasons Tara, I do disagree with them. I like the fact that we are rooted from another group of animals; it allows me to better make sense of life, evolution, how organisms form and that we are not alone!
Their unpredictable behaviour, well, that depends on the species, how you are treating them (in terms of, allowing them to sustain a calm state of mind) and the environment they are in. If you relate that to humans, we are not so much different.

Thanks James, and Thanks Tara!

[Dave Freeman]

I wouldnt say im scared but i cant bring myself to touch any bugs that are black and shiney, millipedes and scorpions being the worse.

I dont know what it is about it cos i find hissing cockroaches ok, so i dont think its the shiny shell but the roaches are mostly brown.

[Nicola Dolby]

I totally understand where you are coming from James, I also agree with free range. The problem is that its such a popular market the suppliers knock up the prices to exploit those who care. If the money went to the farmers themselves I wouldn't mind so much (God knows they need it) but I'm not sure it does.
As for seal cubs, there would be plenty of food for them if we hadn't fished the fish stocks to virtual extinction, and yes they would starve otherwise as the polar bears can't get to them because the ice shelfs aren't freezing in winter anymore (global warming). So when the bears come into town looking for food we can shoot them and say we're protecting our children!

As for fearing monkeys, the only monkeys I fear are called humanity.