Giant spooky bridge spiders?

3 years ago
94

Ottawa has a new pedestrian bridge - the Flora Footbridge - that traverses the Rideau Canal between Ottawa South and The Glebe. It’s beautiful, but I wonder if the original designers ever thought about this? Spiders casting disturbingly-big shadows across your path!

I was crossing the bridge last evening and noticed a potentially-pedestrian-frightening effect being cast on the pavement. The under-railing lighting system seems to not only be attracting spiders (who are in-turn interested in the bugs, also attracted to the light), but in addition, the lights themselves were casting giant, eerily-moving, spider-shadows! Lots of them! All the way along the bridge!

Holy, revenge of the giant spiders, Spiderman!
The intense fear of spiders is called arachnophobia, and it can cause “clinically significant distress” that can impact someone’s quality of life. Around the world, between 3% and 15% of individuals have been diagnosed with specific phobias, with the fear of animals and heights being the most prevalent.

Keep in mind that while the fear of spiders is common, not every person who feels afraid or on edge around them has arachnophobia. But if you think you’re even in the range of spider-fear, might I recommend not walking over Ottawa’s Flora footbridge after sunset?

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