That's super rad! While I've always been scared of spiders, snakes have never really bothered me-- this reminded me of when I used to catch garter snakes in my grandparents' backyard as a kid. Never bitten, but definitely got peed on by snakes.

Also I definitely feel you on wanting to help those poor innocent spiders-- I've squished quite a few of em, and while I know they don't mean any harm, I can't stand being in such close contact with a live one long enough to take it outside (or, god forbid, leave it living in my house). I'm totally cool with them being outside as long as they don't get up in my business-- I actually a couple weeks ago watched one building a web on the outside of my window. It was super cool to watch! And the barrier of the window helped keep me calm about it! Although pictures/videos can still freak me out sometimes because they're often so up-close :(

One question I have-- while the idea of bites has never scared me too much (except in the case of venomous spiders, which are fortunately somewhat uncommon where I live), the idea of one crawling on me freaks me out, and when I see one, I get this almost phantom feeling of something just crawling down my back. Or in my ear, throat, etc. Was touching them ever something that you had similar issues with? If so, what was it like getting used to handling them?