I suspect the idea of getting up close and personal with a spider is the last

thing many of us would want to do. Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is amongst the oldest and most common

phobias in Western culture. Now I wouldn't say that I have an enormous fear of spiders, but there's certainly something

about the way they scuttle about that makes me and perhaps you feel just a little nervous to say the least.

With the exception, strangely for me me of the tarantula. Growing up I was

mesmerized by them. I thought they were one of the coolest creatures around and

at 10 years old I really wanted one of my very own. Of course

that never happened. Can you imagine my mom letting me have a pet

tarantula, not a chance.

She's not a big fan of creepy crawleys, you see.

But about 15 years later, I finally

got to see and hold the tarantula in all its eight-legged splendour. I was in the Mojave

desert in North America. The animal handler who was with me carefully placed a spider onto the

back of my hand. I couldn't believe how gentle it was as she explored

my hand with slow and considered steps. Now I know for a fact that for some people this would

be terrifying and would have them running for the hills.

But strangely I wasn't frightened at all.

And as we're about to hear in the future there could be a spider that you don't want to run away from.

In fact, it might just save your life. Hi, I'm Patrick I.

And this is 30 animals that made a smarter from the BBC World Service.

The podcast which investigates the amazing things that animals have taught us.

Thanks for getting in touch with me to share your comments. You can email us at 30 animals at BBC.com

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