What do you make of snake-phobic people?

So far I've been able to get three people over they're fear (at their pace). My grandmother was terrified of snakes she wouldn't look at my corn but when I got my ball she started asking me to bring it over (she lived nextdoor) and after the 3rd visit she started holding her. My brother would stare at the bp and after a while he asked to hold her. And one of my friends that I worked with would bout have a panic attack when he saw a reptile of any kind, but his little girl love ALL alimals. So he started asking questions and one day when he came over and I had my bp out he asked if he could pet her which led to him holding her. A year later he got his first reptile a cresty and he loves it like a child. So far all the people who I've met that are scared of snakes are either misinformed, uneducated on snakes, or its a religious thing (they say the bible says we're sopposed to fear snakes.) Adam & Eve. But I give kudos to any one who is able to get over they're fears what ever they might be, I'm still working on spiders.:P

I believe among all the people who have fears of snake, phobia is very rare.

The majority of people in my opinion fear snake because of misinformation and misconception, in that case I try to educate them on the subject.

A phobia is an irrational fear that is very hard to fight, and often the result of a traumatic experience. (Until 2 years ago I was experiencing a real phobia of water (pool,lake,sea) and even though I knew it was irrational I could not help it, to the point I was physically sick)

I think people who have a phobia of snakes can overcome it however it takes time and it is not easy and you have to keep in mind it is an irrational.

Here are my 2 cents...i agree people just don't understand snakes

for example my mom and grandma hate them because of the bible aka the devil...but i have a little 5 year old and 7 year old brother and at first they were very hesitant to pet it because my dear mother told them that it'd bite them and it was poisonous...ignorance...slowly they started petting sanchez more and more and now i just hand sanchez to them and they play with him like it's nothing they're very gentle with him and know how to treat him. my mom holds him as well :D

also people that are afraid of snakes wont educate themselves because to them it's something that's not important and that they won't ever need to know...it's just like a conversation i had with one of my friends last night, i absolutley love exotic cars and my friend doesn't know that much about them...we were talkin about if we were millionaires how much would we spend on a car and he said no more than $50,000 and i said atleast $300,000 for a lamborghini :) ...this is just an example...i care for cars he doesn't so he doesn't take the time to learn about them...same with snakes, people that don't care for them wont learn about them they're not going to go out of their way to study about snakes and learn which ones are harmful and which ones aren't so they just put them all in the same category

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

They think it will bite you, turn on you, eat you while you sleep... all the media images, and myths they've always been told.

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That is exactly what my mother told me... My mother loves snake but she won't have one in her house. She said they are sneaky and can't trust them. That they could "eat you while you sleep". And I tell her how can my big ol' head fit in that cute little mouth.. Anyways, she always finds a way for a snake not to come to her house.

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Originally Posted by KYSHA

That is exactly what my mother told me... My mother loves snake but she won't have one in her house. She said they are sneaky and can't trust them. That they could "eat you while you sleep". And I tell her how can my big ol' head fit in that cute little mouth.. Anyways, she always finds a way for a snake not to come to her house.

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That's interesting. The whole reasoning behind my parents' not allowing me to have snakes in the house is fear of the snakes getting out of their cages. Neither of them like snakes overly much, but they have a decent respect for them and have pretty much accepted the fact that this wayword daughter is not going to change :)

What I find the most interesting, however, is the fact that my mother allows me to keep a large six foot constrictor in the house, but not the tiny bull snake. Reasoning: "If she gets out, I feel like I'll be able to see her or find her." Not that my mother would ever go looking for the snake... but, at least she would know what area to avoid. If the bull snake got out, he could hide anywhere... and thus my mother would probably have to move out of the house. Along this line of reasoning, it seems that the fear of snakes---in connection with my parents, at least---seems to be more of a fear of the unknown. If she can see where Kinky is, can see the big girl in the tub and know that she's not going anywhere, she's totally fine with it.

Going along with this, I find it interesting that more people are afraid of the small, fast snakes than they are the big constrictors. Again, my parents much prefer having Kinky crawl around the yard rather than the little bull snake when Kinkers could do quite a bit more damage than Tris who would barely leave a mark on your finger-tip.

Perhaps it's an element of control? I think if people can see and touch something, they feel they have a certain power over it. Seeing a six foot snake crawling along slowly in the grass, you feel like, if you had to, you could either get away or have the time to protect yourself. You are in control of your surroundings and what happens to you. Something that's small and quick, however---that's not mammalian, but eats, hears, smells, even MOVES differently---is something that you cannot control. If it's small enough, you can't see it until it's right up on you, and then it moves so fast it's startling. Few mammals move as fast as a snake striking---and, let's face it: as creatures that used to be prey, humans REALLY don't like to be startled. Things that startle them are not under their ability to control.

Personally, I steer clear of small, fast snakes in the wild. They're TOO fast... they startle me, and I don't like it ;)

You know why they are so scared of the slow ones.... because they know that these snakes can move really really fast. :D

i could type the same thing i think about ophidiophobic people but it'd be too long. i'll just sum it up to the point.....

i hate ophidiophobic people, period.

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Originally Posted by Snakeman

i could type the same thing i think about ophidiophobic people but it'd be too long. i'll just sum it up to the point.....

i hate ophidiophobic people, period.

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How can you hate them? How can you hate people that honestly have a fear of snakes? That would be like me saying that I love to fly and hate people that are afraid of heights.

It's the people that are ignorant---that do foolish, careless things---that you need to fight. Someone that has an honest fear of snakes... can't really help themselves.

Fight ignorance!!! :D

on the whole bible thing, it doesn't say the devil is a snake. It said he took the form of a snake. (Because its one hell of a paint job duh!!!) But still, that's what happens with the biblical text. It gets warped in its interpretations.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

How can you hate them? How can you hate people that honestly have a fear of snakes? That would be like me saying that I love to fly and hate people that are afraid of heights.

It's the people that are ignorant---that do foolish, careless things---that you need to fight. Someone that has an honest fear of snakes... can't really help themselves.

Fight ignorance!!! :D

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I understand what he meant, it gets very hard when they push their opinions on you over and over and over. Ok, I get it, you don't like snakes... blah blah blah...