this post is about spiders
I'm scared of spiders just as much as the next guy. I do however, own several of them as pets at this point (hands off, display pets only as my fear keeps me from ever wanting to actually touch one), including a black widow and as of today, a brown recluse. And i know that they're the United States boogey monsters of spiders, but the lack of knowledge around them from the general population is staggering, and im getting kind of tired of it. Every single person in my life has reacted with anger and horror at my perceived stupidity from "Keeping an animal that can and will kill you if given the chance". And very few people are even willing to believe me when I tell them the truth.
Like the fact is that it just isn't true that either spider can kill me. Unless im allergic to them, which would be like winning the lottery (of pain and death), then I as a healthy adult cannot be killed, not even close. I'm not saying they're puppies or anything, they do have a medically significant bite, or more accurately- they can have a medically significant bite. But they can also choose how much venom to deliver in a bite, and they do not want to waste it for something that isn't prey.
Both of these spiders are also incredibly shy, and you have to be actively squishing them to death for them to want to bite at all. If i was bitten by either of these spiders, i would spend an afternoon at the ER, and then go home and for the next few weeks/months (depending on venom amount), i'll be in a good deal of pain while i recover. Is it a walk in the park? absolutely not. But these spiders just.. aren't life threatening. I also don't plan on touching them at all let alone harassing them aggressively enough to get any kind of bite.
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confession, I love our violent delights, its a good novel but like that's not really luke
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