Facing the Irrational Fear of Snakes

Everyone's afraid of something, whether they have a rational reason for it or not. The assortment is incredibly vast and sometimes astounding: including, clowns, spiders, sharks, the dark, mirrors, cameras, lightning, thunder, speed, wind, dogs, cats, birds, and so much more. But one fear that drives me up the wall is the fear of snakes.

Now, if you live in Australia or India, that fear may be completely justified; however, the fact is most people who are afraid of snakes have absolutely no reason to be. People that "hate" snakes are usually the people that have never even seen or handled one outside of zoos, overblown documentaries, or stupidly unrealistic movies like Anaconda and even Harry Potter, where people get eaten or killed left and right. Snakes aren't slimy, or clammy; they can't hypnotize you; they don't breath venomous clouds; they don't suckle off of cows at night; and they won't eat you.

 One line I hear a lot from talking to people about snakes is: "That thing could eat me!"

Snakes don't eat humans; they don't even try. Maybe a few species could eat a child if the snake got big enough and was really, really, really starving, but the fact is, wild snakes really don't like being anywhere near humans. Remember, snakes are not the top of the food chain, and they know it. They know that there are lots of animals (and humans) that could and would eat them if given the chance. Therefore, a snake will run from you long before it will stand and fight. I mean, think about it: if you were weaponless or had only a dagger, would you stand your ground as an elephant charged you? No. Because by the time you get a chance to use the dagger it's too late, and a dagger isn't going to deter something that large anyway. All a snake has to fight with are its teeth, so it isn't going to stand still when you come rushing up on it unless it feels completely cornered. They run and hide before they fight. And if you startle a snake or drive it into defense mode, if you provoke it and egg it on instead of just backing off and giving it space, it deserves to defend itself; you can't blame it.

"What about the venomous ones; venom is dangerous?" someone cries. First things first, if it can't bite you, you can't get envenomed; so just give the thing space. Second, of the 3,000 species of snakes in the world, only about 500 are venomous. For those that are, it's important to remember that venomous snakes don't have claws, or strong constriction muscles like their familial comrades, they only have a short burst of venom that they can employ as a tool for their survival. But, they don't see their venom as a primary go-to defense weapon; it is a last resort. The venom is the only thing that allows most of those snakes to eat, and they only have so much of it to use for any given time period. And when they only eat once every week or month or whatever, they need to make sure they have the venom ready when the time comes. Which explains why of all venomous snake bites in the world only 20-30% are actually venom-full; the rest are called "dry bites" and are simply meant to scare you off for a minute so the snake can have a chance to run--or slither--for its life.

On average in the United States: Less than (<) 1 in 37,500 people are bitten each year by venomous snakes (mostly due to tromping around in the bush in flip-flops or sandals instead of hiking boots while actively hunting to disturb snakes), and only 1 in every 50 million people will die from the bite with proper medical attention. Americans are 9 times more likely to get struck by lightning and die than be bitten by a snake and die; and how many people do you know who have been struck by lightning? Read article: Here.

Why do people believe every snake will kill them? It's because of unrealistic movies, preconceived paranoia over what they don't understand, and overblown news reports. Why do most snake-related deaths make the news? It's because they're so rare. If every death by dog-related injury made it onto TV, you'd see 30-35 reports a year in the U.S. alone. In the U.S.A., spiders, horses, cows, jellyfish, ants, dogs, bees, deer, hippos, and naturally mosquitoes are more likely to kill you than a rattlesnake (the rattlesnake being responsible for nearly all fatal snake bites in the U.S.). Read Article: Here.

Then you have constrictors. These snakes depend on size and muscle mass to defend themselves, and the only way these animals can kill is by literally squeezing the air out of their prey's lungs and suffocating them. There really aren't many of these snakes that could seriously harm us humans unless they got wrapped around our necks just perfectly and were really very upset with us. And to get in that position you really have to tangle with them improperly. Constrictors don't go chasing offenders (sorry, Anaconda lovers) and large snakes aren't very fast on land. For the most part when they hunt, constrictors sit and wait for the right prey to get close enough to them, then they bite on and wrap up. Constriction, ingestion and digestion take a lot of energy out of them, and once the food is consumed they go hide for a while in a warm spot. For them to kill a human in defense would consume far more energy than they care to expend and yield them nothing to eat. You're incredibly more likely to die at the fangs of a small venomous snake than you are to die in the coils of a larger constrictor; and you'd have to be pretty careless to find yourself in either situation. If you don't threaten them, they won't threaten you.

Snakes aren't mindless machines out to kill and eat everything in sight. They aren't evil. They aren't slimy or gross. They are timid creatures with incredible qualities of intelligence and strength. They are often curious little reptiles with silky smooth scales and a love for things warm and cozy. Snakes are important animals in our world, and you have no reason to spend your life terrified of them. If you are scared of them, I suggest you go spend some time around them and get to know them better.