5 Everyday Dangers Not to Worry About

Real Simple asked a host of experts—from an arachnid specialist to a meteorologist—to put your worst nightmares to bed.

1. That Nasty, Hairy Spider on the Wall is Going to Jump On You Any Second Now

In the United States, there is only one family of spider, called Salticidae, that is capable of jumping, and these spiders are not commonly found in houses (they prefer forests). Generally, spiders do not seek people out and attack them. It’s not in their nature. Spiders are only going to crawl across you if they’re headed somewhere and you’re in the way. As for the hairiness—what can I say? They are indeed hairy. But personally I find them to be quite darling.

Jonathan Coddington is the curator of arachnids and myriapods at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C.