I just read an interesting article about snake phobia and how it may be an evolutionary fear (i.e., when humans lived in the wild they had to avoid venomous bites; the unbitten survive and so on).
I’d really like to hear about your encounters with snakes, especially with the venomous critters. I am very afraid of snakes due to some frightening encounters with Western Diamondback rattlers – I haven’t been bitten, but there have been some close calls.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
I’m not a snake lover by any means, but ever since my son was born and became a major fisherman and all-around outdoorsman, I’ve had to get used to water snakes (which are around us all the time, and which he occasionally catches).
The most common ones here are diamondback water snakes, which are harmless and tend to be rather shy.
It’s pretty easy to recognize moccasins, the only local water snakes that are venomous, and give them plenty of room.
I was as a little kid, almost stepped on something small, probably a garter snake, and I thought my wee little heart would explode. But before long I though they were cool, had a small black snake as a pet for a while, and now we have a couple of garter snakes who have been around the house since we moved here. Little Snaky even wintered in the house with us one year.
I like reptiles in general – seeing a snake when I’m out and about is a plus in my book. Being surprised by a rattler is kind of scary, but if you stay calm and give them room to slither away you shouldn’t have any problems.
I’m not so much afraid of snakes as cautious. I don’t want to hurt them and I don’t want them to hurt me. I think they’re interesting critters, and I don’t mind holding them, but I wouldn’t want one as a pet. Live and let live, I say.
I like snakes and don’t fear them. But I do respect them and don’t try to go picking them up (in the wild).
Can’t stand snakes, non-venomous or otherwise. I’ve probably killed 30+ snakes in my lifetime, most of them venomous. Methods vary from shooting, hoe, machete, burning. I know they reduce the rodent and bug population, but I still can’t stand them.
I love snakes, more properly referred to as “sneks.” Black snakes make me scream pretty loudly in fear, but it’s not their fault. Garter snakes are cuter.
My parents weren’t thrilled the day I briefly had possession of a baby copperhead though. Tiny, tiny fangs.
BTW, here in Texas, a lot of what you may think are earthworms are actually tiny blind snakes who live under rocks and eat ant larvae.
The first time you see their little tongues stick out, you realize it’s not a worm.
I am terrified of venomous snakes. I’d rather be in an enclosure with a bear or a lion than a cobra.
If I know the snake is nonvenomous, it doesn’t bug me as much. But even the ones with mild venom, like the garter snake or hognose snake, bother me.
I want them to live happy, satisying, fulfilled snake lives. FAR away from me. I live in their house (the desert) and when I move out of it, they will be at the top of the list of reasons why. I have had many close calls including putting my dog down about a foot away from a huge coiled Western Diamondback, reared back and ready to strike. I scooped up my dog, ran inside and shook for a half hour. Problem is, you just don’t see them till you see them!
Javalinas, coyotes, tarantulas, gila monsters, even scorpions I can live with (more or less). Venomous snakes? No.
I’m in the same boat, more or less. There were lots of venomous snakes around where I grew up, so I learned to give snakes room as a practical matter, but I don’t hate or fear them. (Although I have had a couple of run-ins with cottonmouths that were more than a little startling and unpleasant for both parties.)
As a kid I had a lot of terrifying dreams with snakes, but then I got a pet California king snake, which was pretty friendly, and the dreams stopped. One day, however, it disappeared and never came back, which left me a little sad.
I’ve come across snakes in Griffith Park, but never a venomous one. Honestly, I was more disturbed when I turned a corner jogging on the path directly below the observatory early one morning and came face-to-face with a big buck deer, which gave me a dirty look and wouldn’t move out of my way. (Asshole.)
They creep me out.
I let my son get two little DeKays Brownsnakes, just UGH!
They look like fat earthworms with beady black eyes and flicking tongues.
Just the way they moved gave me shivers.
I even bought crickets for the things.
After one of them died I talked him into taking the terrarium down to the woods and letting the other one go.
Snake fan here. Now that I live out in the country I see them fairly often. I have so far resisted the impulse to catch them.
On a few kayaking trips I’ve encountered water moccasins, didn’t really feel an impulse to catch them but, for sure, didn’t want to kill them either.
I’m not afraid of snakes. It helps a lot that the only poisonous snake I might encounter in the wild is a timber rattlesnake which is extremely rare in this state helps, though.
I can’t even look at pictures of snakes in books without feeling very uneasy. There’s a mountain here that I refuse to hike because it’s loaded with rattlesnakes. (Tongue Mountain).
Even though I’m terrified of them, I’d never hurt one if I saw one. Nor would I want anyone else to, either.
I like sneks. I like all creatures, great and small, really. I have a “fool’s rush in” approach to dealing with them that has served me well over the years. I’m really good at reading body language, even with non-mammalian creatures. (That said, I don’t interfere with wild creatures, if I can help it, because it’s better for them to retain their shyness around humans.) The main thing with animals is respecting them on their own terms.
I’ve handled a lot of pet snakes over the years, up to a four foot boa. “Pet” is kind of a misnomer, since the reptiles are more alien than the mammals. They’re not really wild but they’re not truly domesticated, either. I wouldn’t handle a snake larger than that because I’m too small and scrumptious. I’m not afraid of snakes, but, again, I respect the snakes and fully expect them to act like snakes, at all times. There’s nothing to be afraid of. They’re just snakes, doing their little snake things.
They’re very elegant and so muscular. They’re basically an autonomous digestive system, sheathed in steel muscles. It’s still always a bit surprising how cool and sleek they feel.
I would classify snakes as not a terribly satisfying pet, but all around fascinating critters.
Growing up, my next door neighbors had an 8-foot boa who roamed the house. I grew up with Boris, so I never had a fear of snakes.
BTW, Boris made a very effective watch snake, too, as he like to greet visitors at the door!
Holy crap, chop them all into little bits and use it as chum for fishing! How I’m supposed to like something that just slithers (shudders) and then can jump? (eeeeep!!) They should find a new planet. Or how about Australia? They seem to do fine down under.
Although I have succumbed to YouTube videos of a python eating a live crocodile. Fascinating and disgusting. “Gee, I’m hungry. Whatever I have to eat better be alive. Then I’ll just bask with a wiggling, distended belly while I digest.” Holy effing crap they are absolutely awful creatures.