Fear # 5: Sssssssup, Snake.

Ophiophobia. An abnormal fear of snakes.

The fear of snakes is a widespread phenomenon: about one-third of adult humans suffer from ophiophobia*. But, why? Well, aside from snakes being sneaky, slithery, slimy, scaly, etc… Research has shown that snakes have a way of bringing out our most basic human survival instincts. According to Vanessa LoBue from the University of Virginia*:

"The idea is that throughout evolutionary history, humans that learned quickly to fear snakes would have been at an advantage to survive and reproduce… Humans who detected the presence of snakes very quickly would have been more likely to pass on their genes."

Interesting perspective. As a human development major, I have learned all about the relationship between a social atmosphere and a person's biological instincts. So, how do we humans deal with fear - fight or flight? 

For this week's fear, I decided to experiment with these innate human survival instincts and push my limits to the extreme… Yes. I held a real, live snake.

Meet Cracker Jack,

A Caramel Corn Snake.

See the hesitation in my face?

The instant Zach brought Cracker Jack into the room, my body went into total "flight" mode. Honestly, I almost ran out the door. As Zach brought him closer, I could see CJ's venomous tongue hissing at me. Zach reassured me that the snake was just smelling me, making sure I wasn't a threat. Uhh…. Snakes can smell fear, right?

   

Needless to say, it was terrifying. My heart was pounding, my blood was racing, and every muscle in my body went tense. I took slow movements, and let Cracker Jack wrap his scaly skin around my fingers, wrist, and up my arm… And it was a pretty tight squeeze for such a small reptile. Zach advised me: "He doesn't usually bite. But, in the chance that he does, keep your hand in a fist. That way, he won't have much to hold on to." Comforting!

Clearly panicking from the inside out, I strived to gain my composure as Cracker Jack slithered his way up my shoulder. His beady little eyes watched my every move, and I swear I saw him smirk at me. Ewwwwww. 

CJ got a little too comfy. He wouldn't let go! His grip got tighter and tighter and tighter… Snake-cuffs. The only thing that kept me chuckling through this petrifying experience was the Britney Spears song "I'm a Slave 4 U" running through my head.

Police gotta get some of these. WAY more effective than handcuffs.

After some assistance, I was free of the snake-cuffs. It took me a while to fall asleep that night - as you can imagine the feeling of having snakes in your bed... (Sorry, hope you don't have snake nightmares now).


From this experience, I have learned three very important things:

1) Everybody makes mis-snakes.
2) I will never own a pair of snakeskin pants.
3) We can be pretty brave when we want to be.

Whether our natural instinct towards fear is fight or flight, we can overcome and learn to thrive in the face of fear. Conquering our fears is often uncomfortable, panic-inducing, and may seem downright impossible… But we can do it! So far, I have been experiencing moments and emotions that I never thought I would see or feel… And I feel stronger than ever. So how 'bout it? Let's be brave together.

Thank you for following! Big thank you to my friend Zach for providing this week's fear! If you have any fears you want to conquer, leave a comment. I have some great fears up my sleeve, but fresh ideas are always fun.
Until next week...

-Courtney



*References:

-Statistic from Wikipedia.
-Quote from "Why We Fear Snakes", article by Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience.