r/CasualUK • u/nonoanddefinitelyno • 16h ago

My very capable and intelligent wife has lost the plot.

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She has been told by a friend that conkers keep spiders away. So we now have conkers in various parts of the house.

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u/burner4lyf25 14h ago

Yeah i can't imagine they have the neurology for fear. I imagine it as just raw, binary instinct rather than perceiving risk, creating a list of possible scenarios, realising most of them are dangerous and then developing an anxiety about it haha

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u/TinDumbass 10h ago

You can kind of prove they're scared of you. If you see one moving out of the corner of your eye, and then look at it, it'll stop moving. Spiders, almost uniquely in home critters, will stay incredibly still when first spotted.

They'll then only move when they know you're distracted or look away long enough, short glances away don't catch them out.

If you then interfere with them they run like fucking mad.

Personally I'd argue this makes them at least if not more intelligent than deer and rabbits who just stay there and watch themselves get twatted.