In July of 1990 one of the most horrific comedy movies was released at a cost of $31 million dollars. Sure with todays talk of a billion here a trillion there this may not seem like much but in 1990 it was a huge and the box office hit raked in over $53 million dollars. Arachnophobia, starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman wowed the panting public as they gathered and waited in long lines at movie theaters across the country just for their chance to have the dickens scared right out of them.
In my business our spider calls go way up every single time the movie is rerun as people are suddenly aware of every spider that crosses their path. When perhaps the night before a tiny house spider perched in a corner was ignored or at worst ‘shooed’ out the door is now treated as a major infestation and a deadly foe. I don’t blame the movie so much for the added logs to the fire and it’s been years since I’ve seen it so I don’t even want to get into questioning specific accuracies or lack thereof. People in general have an innate need to view such spectacles and while we know it’s just a movie with actors, actresses and fake props, something about seeing it on TV gives it some sense of authenticity and we’re fooled into thinking, “it can’t all be made up.”
Unfortunately this line of thinking is where many people get ‘their facts’ from and like a rumor that spreads faster than weeds, this trumped
up information, fed by fear picks up steam as it makes the rounds. In today’s world we not only have the big screen and our need for shock value but we also have the world wide web which has given unlimited speed and access for misinformation to weave its way into the common thinking of man. Say it once on a blog or web site and the so aptly named ‘spider bots’ pick it up, categorize and even rank the information. This tiny motion sets up a ripple effect and if the so called fact is compelling enough it can soon become a wave and gains momentum. Once enough people have heard it and repeated the claim it’s as if the story is validated in true de-facto style. After all, most web sites look so authentic and official. The forum’s with their consensus style comments and anecdotal evidence but no real substance are hard to ignore and most conclude if that many people believe it then it must be true.
While I could choose just about any subject to fill in here from earwigs boring into your brain to Listerine warding off mosquitos it is just the spider misconceptions that I’ll tackle for now. Many spider legends exist where there is no basis (or very little) for truth. I wrote a tongue in cheek article about any person not being more than 6 people away from knowing someone who has been bitten by a brown recluse spider. This is amazing to me because the recluse that has gained such a reputation is confined to limited area of the states and study after study refutes the legitimacy of such claims. Still people swear by it. The black widow is a shy and nervous spider who cowers in her protected layer when anything larger than she is walks by yet since the 50’s the legend of the widow in the bouffant hairdo persists. My customers amaze me with their stories and factoids which sadly they say they’ve gotten from other exterminators or relatives who were once in a Masters Gardening class. I suppose I could write a book on the misinformation that’s out there but that might be a big one and I don’t have that kind of time. As luck would have it however I did write a report which I think you’ll enjoy on 3 of Americas most prominent spiders. Well 2 are well known and the other is more of the culprit who’s gotten away with murder for years and never been convicted.
The truth about Americas most deadly spiders” is a free e-book which you can choose to download and read at your leisure. Simply sign up for my also free newsletter and it’s your to keep. This is the first of many detailed writings that I have planned and I truly hope that you’ll enjoy it and use the information to keep your home spider free. If you missed the sign up box when you logged onto my site simply fill out the newsletter request form at the right of this page and shoot me an e-mail and I’ll get it right to you.
Information is a powerful thing and I hope together we can put to rest any undue arachnophobia’s.
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