# Snakes Alive! Are you afraid of snakes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282 "2015-08-19T19:50:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/21 "2015-08-20T02:29:49Z")
I like snakes…unless they are venomous…or worse, if I don’t know if they are venomous. Then that freaks me out a little. Now Spiders, on the other hand. There is no good spider. Or bugs, for that matter. I don’t trust things with an exoskeleton. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/22 "2015-08-20T03:06:23Z")
I have a true phobia of snakes. Hate even the thought of them. Can’t even stand them in the zoo behind glass. I don’t care if they’re harmless garter snakes-they’re cold and slithery and horrible. (I know Freud would have a field day). ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/23 "2015-08-20T03:32:42Z")
I like snakes. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t like them. I’ve held pet snakes, and I’ve caught (by hand) and released the occasional wild snake. The only venomous ones I ever encountered were rattlesnakes, two times, many years apart. Both were just lying there, and both times I gave them a wide berth while thinking, “Wow, how cool!” ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/24 "2015-08-20T03:33:05Z")
I kinda like snakes. They’re sinuous! They have that nice supple leathery skin. The few I’ve seen in the wild have slithered away pretty quickly. They’re more afraid of me than I am of them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/25 "2015-08-20T04:01:44Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > 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. Here here!!! When I was a kid, my cousin would chase me with issues of _National Geographic_. My mother warned me the other day not to read one section of the newspaper, because there was a picture of a snake. I’ll change the channel if there’s a snake. I don’t want anyone to hurt them either. But if I see one, I run. Once when I was about twelve, my friend’s little brother came into their kitchen carrying a garter snake he found in their backyard. I screamed so loud our friends who were across the street heard me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/26 "2015-08-20T04:34:53Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > 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). I can’t think of a better name for that mountain. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/27 "2015-08-20T04:49:55Z")
I like snakes. I think they’re beautiful. I wouldn’t pick up a wild one, but I have no qualms about holding boa constrictors and other “tame” snakes. When I was little, the neighborhood boys tried a game of “let’s scare the girl” by attempting to chase me with a snake. That didn’t go so well when I immediately stopped and said, “Oh, cool, a snake! Can I hold it?” They wouldn’t let me hold it. ☹ (The same game with a tarantula on the end of a long stick got them much more of the reaction they were seeking, btw. \ I hate spiders!) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/28 "2015-08-20T08:58:45Z")
I have no fear of snakes. But then for most of my life I lived in a country that doesn’t have any snakes. Now I live in a country that has most of the most dangerous snakes in the world, but I’m more curious about them than afraid of them. Not sure I’d ever want one as a pet, or even desire to hold one, but I am not afraid of them. Spiders can all die in a fire, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/29 "2015-08-20T09:59:29Z")
I’m terrified of spiders to the point where I can’t even look at a picture of a spider, but snakes don’t induce the same terror. I’m cautious about them - stamp my feet when walking through long grass, just as I was taught as a child - but I can look at pictures of them without panic. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/30 "2015-08-20T10:54:36Z")
I like snakes, especially rattlesnakes. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/31 "2015-08-20T11:09:09Z")
I’m in the group that wants to KILL THEM WITH FIRE! Grew up in Florida, where there are a buttload of venomous snakes. You go in a lake or river, there they are. You go in the back yard, there they are. You want to enjoy your screened-in porch, and one of the little bastards is there, too! I’ve dispatched my fair share, which skeeves me out, but not more than having a giant live snake around. As a child I had a terrible nightmare about Sammy the Snake (who looked like the letter “S”) from _Sesame Street_. As a slightly older child, I nearly stepped on a “black racer” that was napping in the sun outside the door of my grandmother’s house in Florida. As an adult, I prepared to do battle with a snake that might or might not have been a water moccasin (it left before I could tell for sure). Kill them with fire. One of the great benefits of living where I do now is that there are far fewer snakes, and far fewer venomous snakes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/32 "2015-08-20T11:47:45Z")
Snakes are snakes. Because they feed on toads and chipmunks, my gf chooses to relocate them away from our home. Most summer weekends she spots one or two and has me catch and bag them. She hikes into the woods and releases them. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/33 "2015-08-20T12:16:05Z")
I and my daughters are all snake chasers. if we spot one we need to catch it or at least get a better look. My Wife, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/34 "2015-08-20T14:39:19Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#): > > I love snakes, more properly referred to as “sneks.” I like snakes too, only we call 'em “nakes” because that’s what my son called them when he was little. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/35 "2015-08-20T15:09:23Z")
There are no poisonous snakes where I live, so I did not grow up with the idea we needed to be afraid of them. My yard has a fair number of garter snakes, but they don’t cause any harm. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/36 "2015-08-20T16:39:35Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I’m in the group that wants to KILL THEM WITH FIRE! Grew up in Florida, where there are a buttload of venomous snakes. You go in a lake or river, there they are. You go in the back yard, there they are. You want to enjoy your screened-in porch, and one of the little bastards is there, too! > > I’ve dispatched my fair share, which skeeves me out, but not more than having a giant live snake around. > > As a child I had a terrible nightmare about Sammy the Snake (who looked like the letter “S”) from _Sesame Street_. As a slightly older child, I nearly stepped on a “black racer” that was napping in the sun outside the door of my grandmother’s house in Florida. As an adult, I prepared to do battle with a snake that might or might not have been a water moccasin (it left before I could tell for sure). > > Kill them with fire. > > One of the great benefits of living where I do now is that there are far fewer snakes, and far fewer venomous snakes. Ah, I liked Sammy! Cute cartoon-ish snakes don’t bother me. (In fact, I saw this huge, stuffed animal snake that was absolutely adorable). ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/37 "2015-08-20T16:50:13Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > 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](http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/nongame/snakes.html) which is extremely rare in this state helps, though. About the same here. Used to be that in the spring, I’d regularly find snakes curled up under my basement bulkhead doors, absorbing the warmth and hopefully keeping down the cricket population. Haven’t seen them in a few years. Granted, the time I was weeding the garden and came up holding a milk snake (I think) was a bit alarming for both me and the snake. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/38 "2015-08-20T16:51:57Z")
Nope. I used to keep snakes. If I see a garter snake (which I do only rarely), I’ll frequently pick it up\*, then release it. Other people, I know, don’t feel the same way. My mother and sister wouldn’t come in the room if I had the snake out of its terrarium. when I lost one in the yard, my sister didn’t want to go out for days, until we found it again. About a dozen years ago I was walking through the giant, mostly-empty factory building that our company occupied a corner of. It was summer, and the outer doors were open, and I found a garter snake that had wandered in. Not good for the snake – nothing to eat in this brick and cement tomb. So I picked it up, intending to carry it through and drop it off outside on the other side. When I got to the active office part, I showed people the snake, and got immediate revulsion reactions. Even the boss, a big, burly guy who coached high school football outside of work, shrank away and told me to get it out of there. It seems to be a visceral reaction, but my viscera didn’t get the word. \*Always wash your hands afterwards, Snakes can carry salmonella and other things. Besides, garter snakes like to excrete as a defense mechanism. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/39 "2015-08-20T17:03:01Z")
I am massively ophidiophobic. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282/40 "2015-08-20T17:09:47Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I like snakes, especially rattlesnakes. You can have my share, **Crotalus** , including the pilgrim below. That particular surprise encounter probably took a year or two off my life. 🙂 (Snake-o-phobes, avert your eyes!) > **[Photo Storage](https://s202.photobucket.com/user/hdiggitydog/media/misc%20pics/snake_zps5cf4627d.jpg.html)** > > Store your photos and videos online with secure storage from Photobucket. Available on iOS, Android and desktop. Securely backup your memories and sign up today! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snakes-alive-are-you-afraid-of-snakes/728282.md?page=3)