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Are you afraid of snakes?

#41
giacomini said:
This fear thing is weird. I have no problem with snakes or spiders (sure I won't try to pick one up) but I'm really afraid of scorpions. I get chills everytime I see one on TV or in books; I'd run if I ever come across one.
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My father in law was locked up in an internment camp in Singapore as a young child during WW2. Before she passed, his mother told us that she used to take turns with another woman wiping scorpions off his face and body during the night so he could sleep.
 
#42
I like snakes. Non-venomous ones especially. I used to have a few boas, and my son had a ball python. They're interesting, clean, and very low-maintenance pets. And they freak people out :D

We were friends with the guy who ran a reptile rescue in SoCal. One night about 11 pm we got a call - a wildfire was threatening his house and he was being evacuated. So about 5 of us with vans drove out (he was about 30 miles away) to help him evac the critters, and we housed some of them until he could safely return home.
For about a week we had (I don't recall exact numbers, this was close to 20 years ago - but it's close) 8 or 10 boas, 14 pythons (largest - 10 feet, smallest - about 1 foot, she had a spinal disease and I had to give her injections daily). Also 2 or 3 iguanas (they lived in a roommate's room), 3-4 rattlesnakes (they were in another room) and a handful of other indigenous non-venomous snakes. The rattlesnakes and indigenous snakes were generally snakes that had been injured by people or cars, and were being rehabbed until they could either be released again or given to a museum or zoo.
It was a lot of work to keep tabs on everyone. We also found out that one of our housemates was phobic of snakes - it had never really come up when we just had our boas in our room. He had a rough week...
 
#43
You can have the venomous ones and the really big f**ckers. The smaller boa's are kind of fun to play with.
When I lived in florida I would occasionally come across a blue racer laying in the grass when I was mowing, would give you a bit of momentary rush as it scurried off.
 
#44
Follow-on to my previous post.
One of the most amazing animal experiences I ever had came out of that "time of the many serpents" :D
I saw an amazing demonstration of how animals' awareness is very different than ours, and how sensitive it can be.

A rattlesnakes (a sidewinder) was dropped off at our house - the truck that had it couldn't make the backroads to Julian's place. Julian (the snake rescue guy) was coming by to get it. We had it's cage covered so it wouldn't be disturbed and rattle.

My wife and I are comfortable with snakes. We could come and go in the room without causing the snake to rattle. Once I set something down on the table, and it made a loud noise - the snake rattled.
Our housemate, the one who was phobic of snakes, came quietly to the door of the room. I assure you, he did not make a sound. The snake rattled.
Julian came to get the snake. He breezed into the kitchen, tripped and fell, and caught himself (with a loud bang) on the table where the snake was. Then he picked up the cage.
And the snake, through all of that, did not rattle. Julian picked up the cover and looked at him, and Mr. Sidewinder was very much awake and observing, but did not rattle at all.

It was very, very interesting.
 
#45
kesslari said:
Follow-on to my previous post.
One of the most amazing animal experiences I ever had came out of that "time of the many serpents" :D
I saw an amazing demonstration of how animals' awareness is very different than ours, and how sensitive it can be.

A rattlesnakes (a sidewinder) was dropped off at our house - the truck that had it couldn't make the backroads to Julian's place. Julian (the snake rescue guy) was coming by to get it. We had it's cage covered so it wouldn't be disturbed and rattle.

My wife and I are comfortable with snakes. We could come and go in the room without causing the snake to rattle. Once I set something down on the table, and it made a loud noise - the snake rattled.
Our housemate, the one who was phobic of snakes, came quietly to the door of the room. I assure you, he did not make a sound. The snake rattled.
Julian came to get the snake. He breezed into the kitchen, tripped and fell, and caught himself (with a loud bang) on the table where the snake was. Then he picked up the cage.
And the snake, through all of that, did not rattle. Julian picked up the cover and looked at him, and Mr. Sidewinder was very much awake and observing, but did not rattle at all.

It was very, very interesting.
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He must have been the snake whisperer.

lowsound
 
#49
iamlowsound said:
Oh man, I HATE rats. I was doing work around a place where you had to tuck your pants into your boots/socks, or the rats would run up your leg, inside your pants. I still get shivers just thinking about that.

lowsound
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I used to service the phones at a recycling center. Huge piles of dirty beverage cans everywhere. Were talking 10-15 foot high piles, when the lights were out you could here the rats squeek. The phone system was in a small room next to all the piles. I would tuck my pants into my boots an put duct tape on the top of my boots to keep from being attacked by fleas. RAT FLEAS! :eek: I was always afraid I was going get the plague. When I left I had to brush all the fleas off my pants. One day I was in the phone closet with another tech when I heard her scream. I looked down and a rat the size of a chihuaha was poking his head through a hole in the wall. I threw my largest screwdriver at him, but I missed. He never came back.
 
#50
A guitarist in my band back in the 90's was a herpetologist. He introduced me to some very astounding animals. I managed to get up close with creatures you'd have to travel the world to see.
And while the bulk of the collection was based on some of the deadliest of all, Rhino Vipers, Black Mamba's, Fer -De-Lance's Tiapans and the like. There are some hard and fast rules about venomous reptiles that once you know, you're fine.
On average they're more afraid of you than you of them. And truth be told they'd rather NOT waste venom on you as they need it to hunt and digest. So for our US cousins remember if you hear the rattle, freeze, locate and move away, it should do the same, after all it did give you fair warning. If you p*** it off that's a good way to get bit.
Now while buddies rattler is quite abnormal in size, I'm suspecting Photoshop, wait till some of our Australian friends pipe in on what they've got lurking in the weeds.....


:D
 
#53
I'd like to quantify a few things. If you're bit by a rattle snake DO NOT tie off the wound. Viperidae carry hemotoxins, it bassically starts the digestion process, so allow it to work on a greater area and lessen the impact. GET TO A HOSPITAL
The only Elapidae found in the US is the coral snake, if you get bit by one of these in all likelihood you worked for it. They tend to be subterranean in nature and the first line of defense is usually playing dead. This you MUST tie off against as its a neurotoxin. Stops the heart stops the lungs from functioning, never a good thing, they don't carry copious amounts but nevertheless. REALLY GET TO A HOSPITAL
If you're allergic to say bee stings? Stay the f*** away at all costs, the venom base is very similar
The 'cures' you read about like using car batteries and such are for the amusement of your friends. First your envenomated, then your electrocuted, and for the most part the snakebite kits sold in camping stores will work in the snakes favour, you CANNOT suck the venom out in time.
Please for the love of God, be careful around these creatures, they can be EXTREMELY dangerous if you've no idea what you're facing or how to deal with it.

:D
 
#54
slobake said:
I used to service the phones at a recycling center. Huge piles of dirty beverage cans everywhere. Were talking 10-15 foot high piles, when the lights were out you could here the rats squeek. The phone system was in a small room next to all the piles. I would tuck my pants into my boots an put duct tape on the top of my boots to keep from being attacked by fleas. RAT FLEAS! :eek: I was always afraid I was going get the plague. When I left I had to brush all the fleas off my pants. One day I was in the phone closet with another tech when I heard her scream. I looked down and a rat the size of a chihuaha was poking his head through a hole in the wall. I threw my largest screwdriver at him, but I missed. He never came back.
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I lived in a house that was infested with rats... I caught around 10 "by hand" over a few months.
Sometimes using a bucket to trap them, sometimes whacking them with a broom, it was a nightmare.
My best catch was using a frying pan, i was in the kitchen and a rat ran across the floor, i managed to hit it with a pan and stun it long enough to catch it with an upside down bin...
Living there was sport!

I am not really afraid of any animals, but i would not want to handle a snake or a scorpion with my hands...

My cousin has the worst snake phobia you can imagine, if she sees one on television she jumps and starts screaming uncontrollably, she is 39!
 
#55
There are Black Rat Snakes in my area that are big enough to eat squirrels. A large one can be 8-9 feet long and thick as a baseball bat.

Here's a smaller male and large female outside my house two years ago, doing the Black Snake Moan.
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They are excellent climbers. Here's the male going up the side of the house.
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Second floor bedroom window
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My future exwife found this baby one in her bed. It woke her up. She wasn't amused.
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We've found shed skins 6+ feet long hanging from the garage rafters and once in the basement.


.
 
#57
tastybasslines said:
What's to stop it from squeezing when it feels the blood pumping through your neck? My opinion is that you cannot suppress millions of years of instinct.

Small, maybe, but not grown, right?

BTW, I'm waiting for some clown to start a new thread about whether snakes are capable of love.
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I'd imagine if she felt threatened by me she may have, but I think in her perspective I was just a big soft heat rock. If it were a python, I might have thought twice before letting it sleep with me, but boas are known for their "chillness." Also, whether or not reptiles can "love" or not, I have no idea. I do however have a definite feeling that she knew and recognized me. I could play with her and everything, never antagonizing but sometimes I would roll her over or stuff like that, and not once did she ever show any aggressive behavior back towards me. She did supposedly strike at my dad once, but it was as he was reaching in the terrarium with a bunch of paper towels to clean out her water bowl, which is understandable that the paper towels could have looked like a rat to her.
 
#58
EEK, The Snake Who Loved Humans

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#59
I did handle a snake once. A person at college brought his white/yellow snake in. It wasn't allowed but he only kept if one day just to show it off. It was very weird as it slithered up my arm. The body is not one smooth wiggly link like a worm. Internally, it was like there were segmented sections that didn't bend as much as other parts of the snake.
Other than that, I hate snakes. Even if I am at a zoo behind a thick glass wall, a large snake that is like 6 to 10 inches in diameter will give me the hee-bee-gee-bees.
 

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