Do your Palmettos measure up to the Goliath bird eating tarantulas ?
The big spiders, for some reason, don't bother me as much as the mid-sized ones like the ones people have been picturing. Where I used to work, a couple of co-workers had ten or so in cages that they took care of. Sitting near them, we got used to every trick in the book: a suddenly empty cage with people asking if anyone has seen "it", placing the shedded skins around the office, etc. They were pretty cool to watch.
Although, I have to say my most pleasant spider memory is one from school. A huge spider, four inches across or so, had managed to drop a line and suspend itself at chest-level in the middle of my classroom and attract the attention of a large group of people who had encircled it, watching. All it took was a good set of lungs, a puff of air, and several seconds wait as my breath travelled across the room. Just at the right moment, the biggest guy in the class ducked down and braved a closer look when the spider magically propelled itself onto him, resulting in him flailing, falling backwards over desks and chairs, and emitting high-pitched screams of terror as he thrashed around on the floor, practically tearing his clothing off to be rid of the beast. Ah, that pure enjoyment. I wonder if I assisted a lasting phobia in him?
Palmetto bugs, while off-topic for this spider thread, are what I hate the most in the realm of the creepy-crawlies. Take a roach, make it huge (four inches long or so), make it fearless (doesn't run from light, people, etc), make it want to enter your home regardless of food being around or not, and the worst part: they fly. Not only that, but if you spray one while it is on a wall, as a defence they fly
at you. They're so big you know if one gets into you place because you can hear them moving around at night. UGH!
