Colorado man dies after bite from Gila monster he illegally kept as a pet

My partner has a friend that he can't even mention my snakes around because she starts freaking out. Apparently, before I was told this info... I dropped a picture of a hatching ball python into a group chat for someone else to see and gave them a full on panic attack.

I think the only reason talk of them visiting here for the holidays hasn't happened is because she's absolutely against being in the same house, even if they're isolated in a different area. So my partner has gone out to visit them for the holidays.

Phobias can just be so detrimental. But there's only so much you can do sometimes. Sometimes the phobia is just that bad...and sometimes the person is just unwilling to try to change. The best that we can do is try not to push the issue.

I once worked with a guy that was reading a paper (on a break) & suddenly he freaked out, & threw the paper down- there was a black & white picture of a snake in the paper & we had to tear it out for him so he could calm down & read the paper. So yes, some people have really awful phobias. And my (late) mom was like that about spiders...:rolleyes:

But still- while we should not try to force anything on others that they fear, by the same token, they shouldn't expect everyone around them to give up the enjoyment or education about that which they fear. Because that's wrong too.