I grew up with a fear of spiders; my terrified mother made sure that any that came into our house were promptly despatched to the Great Spider-Nest in the Sky.

My husband, however, doesn't like killing anything if it can be avoided, and I've gradually got used to spiders now. We get one or two big harvest-spiders in the autumn - I think they might be the same as the hunter-spiders that Laura mentioned - that run across the sitting-room floor of an evening, but I've learned to take no notice of them. If I find any in the bath or sink, I do my best to put them outside. I once picked one up in my bare hands! (But it was one of the smaller ones, and my resolve had been fortified with a gin and tonic or two ... ) In fact, some of the smaller garden spiders are very attractive: really lovely little things. However, this is the UK: if I were in a place where I was being invaded by hordes of tarantulas and Black Widows or similar, I doubt if I'd feel so well-disposed towards them.

Hermione