I must say that I am afraid of just about anything with six or more legs. Even after I left the Academy I thought every tickle on my skin was one of those giant walking sticks shown in the video. A friend reminded me that the most extreme remedy to my arachnophobia was to stand close to the tarantula and give it a few minutes of air time.

After a minute or too of watching Karen hold the enormous arachnid I think I may have grown a bit braver. Just don't test me.