The Rosie and Roula Show

147: Why Are We Scared of Bugs and Spiders, But Not Cats and Dogs?

• Roula Abou Haidar and Rosie Burrows

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Why are we so scared of bugs? 🕷️ In this episode, Roula and Rosie swap their creepiest encounters with spiders, cockroaches, and all things creepy-crawly. From huntsman spiders in Australia to cockroaches in Lebanon, they explore why bugs trigger such fear and disgust—and whether it’s about survival, biology, or just how weird they look compared to us.

If you’ve ever screamed at a spider on the ceiling or sprinted from a cockroach, you’ll relate.

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Roula (00:00)
Okay, so this episode might be triggering for people who are scared from spiders, so in the beginning we have to put a disclaimer. No, no, we have to record in the beginning something.

Rosie (00:06)
good point to say that now, ruler. Yes, okay. I'll put this bit at the beginning. Yes, all right. Trick or warning, spiders,

bugs, scary things.

Roula (00:29)
My friends who were here, my besties, are you recording?

Rosie (00:33)
I am recording.

Roula (00:35)
My besties were here on Sunday and we had a gathering. They're very curious about how you and I have met. And I told them you have to tune into our episode for this week, how we met. Okay, by the time this episode is published, it's an older episode, how we met. Yes. And...

Rosie (00:44)
Mmm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll link it in the description. Yes.

Roula (00:59)
Besides that, there were curious to some question because it's summer and some of them is traveling to Africa. Another one is from Tanzania. I'm from Lebanon. You're from Australia. We included you in the conversation. That's why the episode today. And we all wondered why are we so scared of bugs and insects? And you living in a van, Rosie.

Rosie (01:10)
Mm-hmm. Aww.

Roula (01:26)
There could be anywhere out there, snakes, spiders, ⁓

Rosie (01:31)
Okay, okay, hang on, hang on.

and Australia has a reputation for all these dangerous, scary, poisonous, venomous animals, insects. But what's the difference between living in a van and living in a house? In terms of how many insects you'd see.

Roula (01:44)
Yeah!

Well, in a van, there's nowhere to run. It's so small. If the door is closed, you're trapped.

Rosie (01:50)
GAH!

guess. Same in a... okay well sure. But why are we so scared? Wow I don't know. I'm pretty scared like of cockroaches I really dislike but you know what I'm really scared of? Spiders. my goodness and this has been a challenge because usually most of my life I've lived with someone whether it was when I was growing up or with my partner or in uni with housemates and now I'm single I have to deal with spiders and it's scary.

Roula (02:25)
do you

do it?

Rosie (02:27)
You're frozen.

Roula (02:27)
Are they big and thick?

In the Netherlands, spiders are small and even if they're big, they're so thin, they have long legs, but they're very thin. They're they're like a piece of dust.

Rosie (02:36)
They're like daddy long legs.

Roula (02:43)
How are they in Australia?

Rosie (02:43)
I even find those ones

scary. We have those, but we also have little ones called red backs. So they've got a red bit on their back and they're very dangerous. We've got huntsmen. So they're really hairy and big. There's so many different ones. Usually, ⁓ I don't like this conversation. I'm sitting on the floor. I'm like, I've got creepy crawly like my skin. I'm getting sweaty. ⁓

Roula (02:59)
the ones that you usually see.

⁓ yes, I can imagine.

I don't know, should we

stop the conversation? I don't think it was a good idea from my friends. How about reptiles?

Rosie (03:13)
No, I don't think it's... It's a terrible idea! Yeah,

we don't need to describe what these things look like because the question was why are we scared of them? I guess they look so different from us, don't they? And what we're not familiar with, we're scared of.

Roula (03:32)
And why aren't we scared of cats and dogs? And birds?

Rosie (03:35)
guess because we're familiar

with them, we see them more often. Is that what it is?

Roula (03:41)
don't know, but I like what you're saying. It doesn't seem weird. ⁓ In our mind, I think...

Rosie (03:47)
I ca- hang on.

I'm really talking over you today, aren't I? You love it. ⁓ I was gonna say maybe it's because birds and cats and dogs look more like us. Now give me a second because you're gonna go what the fuck. But-

Roula (03:52)
I love it for once, I love it.

Rosie (04:04)
Cats and dogs have limbs, right? They've got four limbs, so do we. They've got eyes, they've got a mouth, they can smile, they've got ears. And birds, well they look a little bit different, but they've still got legs and they've got eyes. But, ⁓ spiders, snakes, like they look so different. I've got creepy crawlies on my skin again. ⁓ this is just an awful episode, Rula.

Roula (04:36)
Is this the new aircon that is on?

Rosie (04:38)
No, not the new one, no. It's not fully installed yet.

Roula (04:40)
Okay.

The most funny part in my gathering with my besties how this conversation started is that one of them is going to do Zanzibar, Tanzania and I don't know, yeah, these two countries. And my friend who's from Tanzania started telling the other one about all the bugs and what should be look out for. And then she was like, I did not think of that. I planned my holiday.

Rosie (05:08)
no.

Roula (05:10)
I did not think of these things at all. ⁓ You know, I have lot of memories from Lebanon, from we had bats flying in our playground. ⁓ Bats, bats, bats. How do I pronounce it? Bats.

Rosie (05:11)
⁓ dear.

Beds, what? Beds. bats, yeah, yeah.

Matts. Yeah, bats.

Roula (05:31)
Flair-mousen,

flair-mous in Dutch. Flair-mous. And they're flying everywhere and we have ⁓ cockroaches that are, that could be very big, long ⁓ mustache. These are the most hardable ones. I hate these ones. Big spiders. We do have big spiders. And we have...

Rosie (05:33)
Flair Mousen.

Don't! Yuck!

Roula (05:59)
a spring can, the one that jumps, I don't know. It looks like wood actually. So if it's on the tree, you wouldn't see it.

Rosie (06:07)
like

a stick insect.

Roula (06:11)
maybe. Yes, yes. And I remember one of them jumped on the chest of my sister when she was playing outside. I still hear her screaming in my ears. She was terrified, terrified. We do have snakes in nature. Yeah, there are a lot of bugs and they're scary. Most the ones that

Rosie (06:11)
Are they a bit like a grasshopper, but big and brown? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

What?

Yeah.

Roula (06:38)
creep us out the most are the cockroaches.

Rosie (06:42)
Yuck.

got a story about a cockroach. So I was maybe 10 or 11 because my sister is 10 years younger than me. And I was out with dad.

Roula (06:44)
Okay, go ahead.

Rosie (06:53)
and we were walking through a park or on a footpath something it was in early evening I can't remember what we were doing so he's carrying my sister in his arm she would have been under one I was walking with him and I went my god dad there's a cockroach on your shirt and I kind of like jumped back and he went get it off me get it off me and he couldn't get it because he's holding my sister and I'm just like ⁓

getting in he's like get it off me he's like crawling around everywhere I refused and a stranger had to come over and get the cockroach off I was just like I am NOT touching that

Roula (07:27)
Spiders don't freak me out, but cockroaches they do. Now I'm feeling sweating. Because you know, I have, when there is spiders, they're not fast. I can run faster than a spider. But I cannot, ⁓ no, tell me this. I cannot run faster than a cockroach. There's like a Formula One car.

Rosie (07:30)
Spiders don't... Yes, ready? Yuck! Ugh!

⁓ They are fast actually.

They are pretty fast, aren't they? And they like

zigzag around. Why are we talking about it? I just really don't like this. okay. Everybody, I don't want to talk about this ever again. Thanks for a while.

Roula (07:53)
Let's wrap this up.

No, no,

so my besties, here's your episode, go for it!

Rosie (08:09)
You can tell them

I don't like bugs. Why are we scared of them? I don't know. They look weird. I don't like them. I sleep with a blanket over my ear every night, even if it's hot, because I don't want bugs crawling into my ear. That's how much I don't like them.

Roula (08:15)
Yeah. ⁓

Yes, I also scared the fucks crawling in two holes.

Rosie (08:30)
and your mouth into holes.

Ew! And yeah, yuck. Why did you say it like that? Holes. Yuck. Ew. Ew.

Roula (08:35)
⁓ shut up, shut up! Okay, I don't know what we do. Because it's scary!

Rosie (08:46)
Yeah, can you wrap it up? Yeah.

Roula (08:48)
Let's wrap this up.

Listeners, you don't have to call us on this episode. It's fine. Sorry if we... This is traumatic episode. Bye!

Rosie (08:52)
Yeah, please don't send us stories. Yeah, we're good.

Bye.