Quote Originally Posted by jwenker1 View Post
There are many people that are afraid of snakes, a few people mentioned that these fears were irrational. Fearing snakes is not really an irrational fear at all, it is in our genes. It is an innate fear that most babies are born with. I have seen studies where an infant is shown a snake and knows to be afraid of it. Our ancestors were afraid of snakes, because some were venomous and could kill you. This fear goes back that far. As mentioned before this fear can be worsened with classical conditioning.

All of this being said, once someone is educated about snakes: that they are not all dangerous, they are not out to get you, and they have many benefits to us (eg. rodent control), then most people will overcome this fear they have.

If you are scared of a harmless pet corn snake that you actually believe is harmless, then yes that is an irrational fear, but being scared of snakes in general until you learn better is perfectly rational. just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.
Uhh, it's not the fear of snakes that just happens. When you are born, you don't know what a snake is. Their probably just scared of the unknown.