I SPIDER...

Apparently the recent mild weather will lead to a “good spider season”; not good news for the arachnophobes. Oh and did I mention they will also be a bit bigger too as the mild weather also provides more insects for the spiders to dine on.

As a kid I recall my nan having to get big spiders out of my room with a tissue. Inevitably after a few too many sherries, she would drop them before getting them out of the room, which would result in me sitting up all night wide eyed and terrified! Later, when working on site in my early 20s I had the awful misfortune of the lads learning that I was afraid of spiders, so they would end up in my lunch box, my bag and boots. It was then that I decided I couldn’t afford to be afraid of them anymore and just talked myself out of the irrational fear.

Hypnotherapy is the most popular way to overcome a fear of spiders and it is so common that Bristol Zoo Gardens offers a course, called “Living with spiders”. This is delivered jointly by Greg Nejedly (a hypnotherapist at the Hypnotherapy Bristol Practice) and a member of the zoo education team and takes place in the zoo’s Conservation Education Centre on Guthrie Road, opposite Clifton College. More details at www. bristolzoo.org.uk/whats-on/living-with-spiders