Fear of snakes (1 Viewer)

Who needs an explanation? Some of them are lethally venomous (and hurt/damage even if sub-lethal) others are gigantic and will crush you to death. Being frightened of them is a simple common sense reaction.

John

I think its also an "organic" reaction. I remember a new puppy we had years ago that arched up in fear when I wiggled a hose pipe - it had never seen a snake.

That's interesting... Our dog would have a very aggressive reaction to the hose of the vacuum cleaner or to the garden hose. As soon as it was out of sight she would immediately calm down. Anything else new, strange or noisy and she would bark, whimper and wag her tail but never attack as with 'snake-like' things...

As John said it's 'normal' to be afraid of snakes, or at least be wary of them. Me? I like them - unlike spiders - they cause me to scream like a deflowered nun. :eek!:

Chris

Grabbed bracket text from another post of mine, during a discussion with another member last year. It's from the Smithsonian archives in DC, an except from an article about inborn or involuntary reaction to snakes. Couldn't help but chuckle when the article was encountered. Light hearted chuckling and the new material above forces introspection and further study. (until the Trumpeters get here)

["Even the largest apes are terrified of snakes. Jim Murphy tells the story of Bushman, a huge male gorilla that lived at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo in the 1940s and 1950s. One day, Bushman escaped from his cage and wandered through a service area into a kitchen, where he began to wreak havoc. “Keepers tried everything to entice him out, but nothing worked until the herpetology curator suggested putting a live garter snake under the door,” Murphy recounts. “Bushman saw the snake, and literally ran down the service corridor and back into his cage. He had been caught in the wild as a baby and so probably had very little contact with snakes. Yet a very small, harmless snake terrorized him.”]

Small place I have outstate, has a creek flowing through it and inhabited by a healthy population of Common Snapping turtles. Numerous occasions, both myself and the late Husky have literally walked/stepped over various snakes. Me not seeing, and dog just not seeming to care. Turtles on the other hand, were a nemesis to the dog and my mortal fear that one would latch on her muzzle during an encounter. Was bit by a Soft-shelled turtle when I was a kid, in the thumb-forefinger web of hand. Bite required one suture to close, the discipline my dad showed in not laughing is cherished. That turtle perhaps, a reason why I'm more comfortable with snakes.

Yes, fear of snakes is instinct in humans, apes and at least some monkeys.

Still, it can be easily overcome - I remember some restaurants in China...

I have been plagued with venomous snakes the last two years (copperheads) and I wound up with two deserted Bluebird boxes when the parents would not come back to feed their young after spotting a snake under their box.

KCFoggin said:

I have been plagued with venomous snakes the last two years (copperheads) and I wound up with two deserted Bluebird boxes when the parents would not come back to feed their young after spotting a snake under their box.

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Blue birds abandoned nest because of Copperheads? I'm around them often, they seldom climb. Black rat snakes on the other hand, are almost arboreal in nature, very adept at climbing.

chris butterworth said:

As John said it's 'normal' to be afraid of snakes, or at least be wary of them. Me? I like them - unlike spiders - they cause me to scream like a deflowered nun. :eek!:

Chris

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:-O Me too!!

birdboybowley said:

:-O Me too!!

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I really wonder how you two came up with that simile.....

John