Why are so many men scared of snakes??

[Marks]

This is something I've never understood. Grown men that turn into little girls around a snake. Now don't get me wrong if I look down to see an unexpected and unidentified near my feet I'm liable to cuss and remove myself at a high rate of speed but as soon as I'm a safe distance away I'll turn around and come back to get him. I don't catch venomous snakes but I play with the nonvenomous types.  I've seen grown burly manly men squeal over a garter snake. I hear often the only good snake is a dead one. I disagree. I always let nonvenomous ones go.

So tell me, why are so many men afraid of harmless non venomous snakes.

[mullet]

I've got guys that work for me will squiel like a little girl. We spend most of our time drilling in the serpent "Club Med". Never could understand it. Then I have neighbors from the Northern states that will kill every Glass, Garter, or Black snake they see. They scream and beat them so bad there's not much left for the ants.

[Ifrit617]

I'm not as afraid as some, but I'm one of the ones that will swear up a storm and jump a good distance if I see one. For me I think it comes from the traumatic experience of running around barefoot as a 10 year old kid and stepping on a 3 foot garter snake. Just that feeling of stepping on it is something I won't ever forget, and I have nearly stepped on a good number of them since. I have killed a few, but I mostly let them go on their way.

I'll be completely honest, that snakes are one of the only things on this planet that does scare the crap out of me.

Jon

[Poggins]

Snakes don't bother me , if I'm noodling I pitch those brown water snakes out of my way.
The copperheads get about two feet of clearance till I get something to take care of them , just haven't had the chance to get some copper for my bows this year but have gathered up some black, everyone with chickens around me have kep me supplied with them just need to get them out of the bait freezer and skin them ( they bring them to me in a plastic sack so I just throw them in the freezer).

[Dalton Knapper]

The fear of snakes is something learned, likely at a young age. Find a man or a woman who is afraid of snakes and you will find a parent who is afraid of snakes. I am sure there are exceptions, but most irrational fears are learned behaviors. By the way, if one is phobic about snakes, they have Ophidiophobia.

I even let the poisonous ones go free and on their way unless they are in my yard or around a place where children play. I see no reason to kill them just because they are a pit viper.

Just be glad we don't live where there are really scary snakes like the African continent, much of Asia and Australia.

[Gus]

I hear ya...

Was on a job outside of Live Oak, Florida rebuilding a Pipline bridge over the Suwanneee River.
I was up on the pipe when I saw a nice big Black Racer go cruising by under the line.
I jumped down and scooped her up. She was at least a six footer.
A real beauty...

The Company Man that was on site watching over us, pulls up to the small group, gathered around to check out the snake, and gets out to see what's up.
The group parts as I turn around, snake wrapped up on my arm.
The man pulls up short, about two feet away, gets an eye full of snake and takes off running.
Screeching like the Devil himself is after him.
He runs about 30 yards into the woods smack into a swarm of Honey Bees.
Which OF COURSE he was allergic to.
Gets stung numerous times, goes into anaphylactic shock.
He had to be airlifted out as we were in the Boonies.
The guy did recover, eventually.

I let the Racer go on the opposite side of the clearing...

This same guy, a week earlier, had killed, chopped up, the Largest Coral Snake I have yet seen.
The part of the skin I kept is 36 inches long.
In molested the snake would have pushed four feet.
It was cut into six or seven pieces.
The nearest building was ten or twenty miles away...

Poetic Justice?

I love snakes...
Don't get me wrong I will kill a snake here or there at need.
But I also try to conserve snakes in general.

-gus

[HoBow]

My boss is an ex division 1 football player... Big burly guy.  I've seen him nearly jump out of his shoes because of a worm on a sidewalk.  I don't get it because I love snakes.  I'm that way with spiders though.  I had a roommate in college that had a tarantula that I was terrified of. 

[JW_Halverson]

We used to have a nearly 6 ft bullsnake named Joon at the Black Hills Raptor Center.  She easily had been handled by 15,000 kids in her lifetime.  Sweetest temper you ever saw in a wild caught snake, miss her terribly. 

At the end of programs, kids always want to pet something, so we used to bring Joon along to classrooms.  We don't let 'em pet the birds, it throws off our feeding schedule.   

I kept an informal count of those that were unwilling/unable to touch the snake.  It was easily 2:1 boys over girls.  More boys were unable to deal with a snake than girls.  AND of the girls that were scared, most of them would circle around the other kids handling the snake until she was the last kid, then she would dart forward, touch the snake and dash off.   

[lesken2011]

I have never been scared of snakes though I have a healthy respect for them. My oldest son was bitten by a copperhead at a campout when he was 11. After we got back from the hospital, I made him pick the snake up and hold it for a pic hoping it might break him of any future fear he might have from the experience. I was wrong. We rode over one the other day in the road in my truck and he was so scared he lifted his feet. He doesn't look too happy, does he?

[osage outlaw]

I'm the guy that catches the snake and chases the scared sissy pants with it.  Especially at work    

[Marks]

Maybe using the term 'little girl' was not the best way to get a response from somebody with Ophidiophobia. I'm getting responses from all the snake people.

The fear of snakes is something learned, likely at a young age. Find a man or a woman who is afraid of snakes and you will find a parent who is afraid of snakes. I am sure there are exceptions, but most irrational fears are learned behaviors. By the way, if one is phobic about snakes, they have Ophidiophobia.

I even let the poisonous ones go free and on their way unless they are in my yard or around a place where children play. I see no reason to kill them just because they are a pit viper.

Just be glad we don't live where there are really scary snakes like the African continent, much of Asia and Australia.

I like this explanation though. My wife is this way real bad. She is scared of everything.....like water and puppies. I'm working on her slowly. We have 2 dogs that she loves now.  Her and her brother have picked up every single fear that each of their parents have and multiplied it. Her brother once sat on the counter in their kitchen for 2 hours because a mouse ran across the floor. 

I have few fears. One is I have a fear of public speaking. I still do it from time to time at church but I hate it. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it but like I said, I still do it some.  If I were to compare my fear of public speaking to many peoples snake fear it would be like this.....I'm so scared of public speaking that I don't even like to look at or even be in the crowd much less in front of them.

[Hillbilly]

I have never understood the unreasonable fear of snakes that many people have.

[Marks]

True. 'Unreasonable fear' might be a better way to say it. I don't fault people who don't like snakes. I understand.  I'm talking about the ones who don't like to hear the word or can't be within sight of one.  Another analogy would be like someone who is scared of the water not being able to look at a swimming pool.

[Gus]

I have Sought out my fear and Persued them with a vengeance.

I've always had a terrible fear of heights.
So I took a job working the High Iron, building Pipline Bridges and Towers.
Chasing this fear down ended up with me Skydiving.
What a Rush...

I discovered along the way that I'm an incurable adrenaline junkie...

There are worse addictions out there...

I have yet to tackle My fear of spiders...
I leave them alone, as long as they leave me alone... 
But then I have been bitten twice by Brown Recluse.

My wife's best friend has such a Strong fear of snakes,
She will Faint dead away at the sight of one.
Even on TV...
I have to admit testing her several times to see if it was real...
By placing a photo of a snake where she can see it by Accident...
It really works...
I stay close each time to catch her before she hits the ground...
But this never gets old...

 

-gus

[Ozzy]

I have Sought out my fear and Persued them with a vengeance.

I've always had a terrible fear of eighths.
So I took a job working the High Iron, building Pipline Bridges and Towers.
Chasing this fear down ended up with me Skydiving.
What a Rush...

I discovered along the way that I'm an incurable adrenaline junkie...

There are worse addictions out there...

I have yet to tackle My fear of spiders...
I leave them alone, as long as they leave me alone... 
But then I have been bitten twice by Brown Recluse.

My wife's best friend has such a Strong fear of snakes,
She will Faint dead away at the sight of one.
Even on TV...
I have to admit testing her several times to see if it was real...
By placing a photo of a snake where she can see it by Accident...
It really works...
I stay close each time to catch her before she hits the ground...
But this never gets old...

 
Lol I would do the same thing

-gus