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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be terrified of crane flies?

47 replies

IfIDontSnowAndYouDontSnow · 11/04/2014 20:05

They scare me senseless. I thought that I had until autumn to start worrying about it, however went to put the bins out & there they are. Horrible things aimlessly flying around, crashing into everything in the way, including me.

They really frighten me, to the point where I cant go outside if they are by the door. As for opening the windows, I just cant bring myself to do it. I have made a fool of myself many times, trying to avoid them in a panic whilst out & about.

Anyway, now Ive made my feeli gs clear about them. Is there anyway I can prevent them coming within 10feet of me?

OP posts:

supadupapupascupa · 11/04/2014 20:52

getting them with fly spray is NOT a good idea. They go BONKERS!! like dive bombing tornados! shudders

CorusKate · 11/04/2014 20:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GerundTheBehemoth · 11/04/2014 20:59

In autumn lots of craneflies come into the dojo where I help at a kids' aikido class, so I'm always scooping them up (very gently) and throwing them outside so the kids don't trample on them. One of the mums told me that they are the most venomous of all animals, which surprised me as it's complete bollocks (they are not venomous at all) but I wonder whether it's a widely believed load of complete bollocks?

GerundTheBehemoth · 11/04/2014 21:04

Btw, there are more than 300 different species of craneflies in Britain, including three species discovered over the last 30 years which were brand new to science :)

supadupapupascupa · 11/04/2014 21:55

it's an urban myth gerund.

grimbletart · 11/04/2014 21:58

I thought I was the only person in the entire world who had a phobia about daddy long legs. Never met one before, and now I see there are loads of you.

It's when they trap you in a confined space I really hate it. We used to live in a flat on the fourth floor and in autumn I would never ever go in the lift because the little buggers would be in there and I couldn't escape.

My first car was a little mini and one night I opened the door and one of the bastards flew in and I couldn't get it out and had to drive home with it in there. By the time I arrived I was in a cold sweat and had spent the whole drive trying to make myself as little as possible - weird theory that if I hunched up there was less of me exposed to it.

I'm not so bad as I used to be but bad enough.

Daft when you consider that I don't mind giant spiders or wasps, have handled snakes and crocodiles, yet these little buggers terrify me.

cardibach · 11/04/2014 22:01

grimble really? You thought you were the only one? I have rarely met anyone who wasn't freaked out by them. Seriously, fingers of one hand in my entire life.

BlackeyedSusan · 11/04/2014 22:05

I can catch crane flies with my hands. and wood lice.

show me a spider and you won't see me for dust but half the planet will hear the screeching!

magicstar1 · 12/04/2014 00:20

Crane flies scare the crap out of me! I was baking at 3 am last year, and felt one brush my face...the screams out of me woke the whole house up.

Btw, they're not daddy long legs...daddy long legs are very skinny and don't have wings.

kentishgirl · 12/04/2014 08:18

I thought I was the only one too - other people laugh at me about it. i'm felling queasy and got goose-bumps just reading this.

It's the detachable legs thing - I have a horror of a leg getting caught in my clothes or hair or (gulp) mouth. And the poxy divebombing. Everyone else has always denied they do it. But they do it to me - and chase me round the room, the bastards. I know that feeling of being trapped with one between me and the door. And yes, they are unkillable!

I'm shuddering now.

rocketleaf · 12/04/2014 08:24

Yes YABU totally and utterly and terrifiedly unreasonable but then so am I. I HATE them. I once spent the night on the sofa because there was one in our room buzzing and skittering about and then there was one in the spare room too. They make my skin crawl. Horrid horrid things.

mrstigs · 12/04/2014 08:27

I'm terrified of them too. Horrible idea of Mother Nature that one, bloody great big drunk spiders with wings.

Joysmum · 12/04/2014 08:28

YANBU

People can have irrational fears of all sorts of things, yet not be frightened of the most risky things in life.

Fear of spiders is a good example, they don't hold any real dangers in the UK but it's a common phobia. Balance that out with the numbers of people seriously hurt or killed in traffic accidents, yet very few have a fear of roads in comparison.

We humans are funny souls, we feel how we feel and that's all there is to it, I won't judge others for theirs as I want to be allowed mine

JuniperTisane · 12/04/2014 08:32

Ug I really hate them. The worst is when they dangle on the bedroom ceiling by one leg, right above my pillow. Just waiting for me to fall asleep so they can drop and stack my face...

Daddy Long Legs in Britain are crane flies. Daddy Long Legs in America are a species of spider and I think they are the ones which are supposed to be venomous.

ACatCalledColin · 12/04/2014 08:36

Oh God, I hate them too and I have no idea why. I hate the way they flap in your face and the way they feel against your skin. shiver

Once when I was a teenager I had three of them in my bedroom, my tiny bedroom and I wouldn't go in there and wouldn't stop crying.

supadupapupascupa · 12/04/2014 08:41

weirdly i don't mind them at all outside, i can just brush them away. But indoors PANIC!!

BuzzardBird · 12/04/2014 08:50

In answer to your question Op the only thing you can do is concrete over your lawn. That is where they start their life, as Leather Jackets (almost as grotesque as ddls). That is what you see the blackbirds pulling out of the lawn (highly encouraged). It is the only thing apart from people on stilts that I have a real phobia about. Knees buckle, the lot :(

13Stitches · 12/04/2014 08:52

What? How can you be scared of these poor defenceless things?

Look at how dim they are, and lankey - they can't control all those limbs. Even if they could they don't know where they're going, or why.

Take pity on the poor buggers. They're constantly freaking out wondering why they keep crashing, each time breaking legs.

Think of them as confused, mal-coordinated drunkards (at the amusing stage, not the gross puking stage) - pick them up, soothe them, point them at a big open space and gently let them go.

BuzzardBird · 12/04/2014 09:00

Will try that thought process stitches.

Crinkle77 · 12/04/2014 10:57

I really hate spiders but I am ok with them. I think it's cos they just flutter about and don't really come near you while spiders dart really quick and crawl on you.

castlesintheair · 12/04/2014 11:05

I'm the same as crinkle77. I am terrified of spiders (mostly the house type you get in autumn) but not bothered at all by crane flies or those lanky spiders with tiny body that just hang about. I will happily pick them up

JuniperTisane · 12/04/2014 11:40

Ug I really hate them. The worst is when they dangle on the bedroom ceiling by one leg, right above my pillow. Just waiting for me to fall asleep so they can drop and stack my face...

Daddy Long Legs in Britain are crane flies. Daddy Long Legs in America are a species of spider and I think they are the ones which are supposed to be venomous.

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