Most extreme reaction I have EVER gotten...

[jkobylka]

There is a lot of fear out there... I have a friend who if she sees a snake crossing the road she turns around and drives a different way... afraid that if she runs over it, the snake will climb up her tire and get in her car.

Rationality has nothing to do with it!

Justin

[Clear]

Anyone can be educated and "converted" they might not run out and buy a snake, but they wont have the initial fear. Education and time is the key.

[Jenn]

Anyone can be educated and "converted" they might not run out and buy a snake, but they wont have the initial fear. Education and time is the key.

I couldn't disagree more. That's why they call it irrational.

[Vypyrz]

cockroaches and clowns...

[Jenn]

I have been terrified of heights since birth. I decieded to do something about it so I jumped out of an airplane, then I took up hang gliding, then I got my pilots license. I have dedicated my life to aviation and have spent every day of my life for the past 25 years at an airport. Am I still afraid of heights? YES, terrified! "Education" does not work.

[PaseQB]

One of my sister won't even come into my houes if the snake is out... My grandfather is a tough old man. One of the old school "manly man" type of guys. I can't think of too many times that I've seen him visibly afraid of anything... Until I showed him one of my baby balls. He ran... and I mean that literally. He ran from me made even more impressive by the fact that my grandfather was in his early eighties at the time. This is a man that has been to war and all types of stuff. Was raised on a farm in rural mississipi has been to war and ran from a baby ball python. To this day its the only instance in my lifetime that I've ever seen him move so fast.

By contrast I got my 3 year old son "his" first pet. A ball python and he was so fascinated by the thing that it blew my mind.
go figure.

On another note I know someone who has a fear of people on stilts. I thought he was BS'ing until a buch of us went to a haunted hay ride one holoween and a some characters came out in stilts and dude freaked out and balled himself up in the corner of the haywagon...

[p3titexburial]

cockroaches and clowns...

Used to be my worst fears too! Clowns still are--they are not to come within visual distance of me or I will freak out and possibly run them over with a car.

Uhh, the past summer my neighbors were doing work on their house and a large amount of GIANT FLYING COCKROACHES somehow made their merry way over to our house. Our cats had a ball catching them but the first time I saw one (no one else was home) I just stood there for ten minutes screaming wordlessly and soundlessly--I was so scared I lost my voice... the second time they got one it was 5 minutes and less and less as time went by. Now I've got no problem with them. Talk about flooding.

My grandmother was deathly afraid of snakes and she refused to come over to our house after she found out I got one (we lived like 2 blocks from her.)

(I didn't realize so many people thought all snakes are venomous--that kind of blows my mind.)

[MiniJ83]

Yeah, I don't see why people take it so personally when someone else is afraid of their snakes. It's a phobia.

I'm afraid of spiders. VERY afraid. The last thing I want is one of my friends explaining hoe harmless they are, and showing off their pet arachnids. I know they can't hurt me, but I want nothing to do with them.

[adam_degel]

most of the people i work with and even some friends and family think i'm a freak for having snakes.. its all just lack of education.. i hate spiders and creepy crawlers but i would still look at them at the zoo or pet store and not run out screaming like a little baby...

[angllady2]

Speaking of being afraid of snakes...

My mother in law is terrified of snakes, always has been. Which is why I could not for the life of me figure out why she took us to the big Reptile Gardens or whatever in South Dakota for vacation.

We were on our way to Mount Rushmore, and she decided to stop at this Reptile Gardens. Now, my husband and I were of course fascinated by all the different snakes and lizards and what not. To her credit, she spent a lot of time looking at alligators and so forth.

We decided to take in a show before we left. The handler did all sorts of things with smaller snakes and even a few venomous ones. The last snake he brought out was a 22 foot albino burmese python that was almost too heavy for him to lift.
At the end of the show, he walked around the edge of the ring, inviting people to pet her. Now, I was not about to turn down that opportunity.

I had my 4 year old daughter in my arms and walked up to the ring to see her. Imagine my amazement and delight when my tiny daughter reached out to the snake with both arms and just started stroking it. She was completely enthralled by that snake whose head was bigger than the upper half of my child's body!

When the handler walked on to let other people pet, my daughter sat staring after him as if to say, " I was NOT done with that!"

I went back up to hubby, who was standing with my two older sons who wanted no part of the Burmese. A little while later my mother in law came up to us looking kind of white. It turned out that after having seen my daughter pet that giant python, she made herself go down and touch it, because she said, " I'll never live down my 4 year old granddaughter petting a snake and I was to chicken too."

To this day, mother in law wants nothing to do with snakes, and my now 13 year old daughter thinks the bigger the better!

Gale