I have a strang question for you. The other night when I let my dog out?

Many of the Apaches and all of the Navajos believe spiders to be sacred and beneficial. Navajos believe that the spider goddess taught them how to weave cloth. Apaches believe that spiders are dead and dearly loved relatives watching over them to protect them. An Apache graduate student had a party-and one of the classmates came out and said-"I just killed that spider in your bathroom." The party was over, because her 'grandmother' had been stomped on and flushed down the toilet. So, if I go somewhere-I learned this as a child-I say, "do U know there's a spider in your bathroom?" If the person screams and jumps on a chair, wanting 911 to be called- I stomp on it and flush it down the toilet. If the person dismisses it, saying leave it alone, or they'll take care of it later- I leave their relative alone. I had a pet spider on a rose bush. We had a deal- it ate aphids and othe bugs, and I made everybody to be nice to her- she might have taught people how to weave rugs.

Funnily enough, when I came to the States, I lost my fear of spiders... to the point that I became somewhat of a pacifist - like the Hindu's who believe that all living things have souls - so that now, if there is a spider or even a big hairy centipede (and THOSE guys CAN sting you... ) - well, I catch them in my hands gently, and just put them out the door. Nor was I ever afraid of things which CAN hurt you; the wasps in Ireland are MUCH larger, & ditto for the bees... used to catch the bees in jars when I was little - got stung so many times, but it never phased me.
But my CURRENT terror are two things I never encountered in Ireland, and which freak the heck out of me - praying mantheses and waterbugs. Again, just like the spiders, I LOSE it if one crosses my path! I know they can't hurt you, but oh gosh am I terrified of them. And I hear that the waterbugs down in Georgia & FL, (THINK they call them Palmetto bugs) are rampant, and that they FLY, and can land on you if you're unlucky! That's why I dare not set foot in either of those states, even though I'd love to see them - their bug species and the possibility of running into one have me warned away! NOT for me...

" He said drop em (my jeans) & lets take a look" He ended up putting me on Valtrex, which I thought, I don't have Herpes,what's the deal? It did work altho' so I guess it was the right choice. We lived sort of out in the county at the time, & I hate spiders with a passion. We always spray around the doors & window ledges as it seems that's where they come in from. Even tightend down every little crack around the doors, but they still get in occasionally, Just harmless ones, but I'm afraid to kill them. If I don't get them on the first hit they usually get away, & end up biting me somewhere. My one son out of three ,& has worse allergies than I do, always gets bit too if there is a spider in his house. I always as a kid was so interested in science, & wanted to go on to be some type of scientist, but thank the Lord I didn't Ha! Couldn't handles spiders if I had too, but think it's because they always bite me. Gary's good about the spider & snake scream I have now, & usually gets up to kill them for me. I used to live in Wyoming so got used to Rattlesnakes. Just gave them a wide berth, but here in Illinois you usullaly only see gardner snakes, but I still don't like them. Only 2 things that really bother me, until the slug thing! I did use neosporin overnight as Dzoo suggested (was going to anyway), & it seems much smaller this morning. Still a tad sore, so think I'll dab it again with neosporin, & put a bandaid back on after my shower. Thanks to EVERYONE for your help. Sort of freaked me out a bit, & it takes quite a bit to do that! More worried about any disease it could have spead to me as in Lyme or West nile. I know it's usually ticks, fleas, & mosquitos, but you never know. what if he had been on a bird that was infected or something. We lost all our Blue Jays to West Nile more than 10 years ago. Had to pick them up off the lawn & street all that year we got struck with it, & haven't seen a jay since. Too bad, what a beautiful bird too. Sure hope I didn't get that salt too close to my Hosta, would hate to lose them. Probably should have just used inscrt spray around them that's safe for plants... Mary

You DO raise an excellent point though. If it's the case that we have an allergy to ANYTHING - be it food or the toxin of a specific bug, or a wasp - such a scenario can in certain situations be fatal! My aunt was allergic to wasp stings, and subsequently was paranoid each time one indiscriminately got into her house (in summer she always kept the back door open)... because she had a near-fatal experience by a sting one time. Her tongue swelled up, nearly cutting off her air supply, and her breathing got labored. So that IS a legitimate reason to fear certain things.
And Mayati, that tradition of killing a rooster, putting it's blood on the front door etc... is that an ancient Native American ritual? It sort of has reminiscences of what Judaism was told to do for Passover, as per the angel of death's instructions to pass over those homes which had a red "X" painted on them with lamb's blood. And isn't it true that the Santeria religion, prevalent in Hispanic societies (custom brought from South America) uses the rooster as part of it's ritualistic killing? Clue me in on that one Meyati, as you got me thinking!