Phobias anyone?

[zippy-kat]

While calming down from my worm scare (see: I've got worms! help! (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&postid=104036#post104036) ) got to wondering...

does anyone have a phobia of any certain kind of animal? (or maybe not a phobia per say but a real scare/dislike)

Mine would be bears, particularly black bears. I'm not sure why...I'm just absolutely terrified of bears. Koalas are ok but anything else and I'm outta there! Last summer Mom came to stay with me a bit, we went to the El Paso zoo--I couldn't even go near the bear area. She took pics but I can't look at 'em. I don't even like Teddy Bears! :eek:

I've never had a 'meeting' with a bear other than a zoo setting...so I'm not sure what triggered this dislike/fright.

Anyone else, willing to admit to a phobia/etc of a particular animal?

[zippy-kat]

(Needless to say, I didn't watch Gentle Ben...lol):rolleyes:

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

I don't really have a phobia to any animals but I am scared of bugs (not very original huh?) espically spiders!!!:eek:
I am deathly scared of tornados (i know that is not an animal) but every time there is a documentary about tornados I watch them all the time..... I don' t know why I am so scared of them they just seem to hypnotise me and I have to watch about them..... every time there is a thunder storm I get real scared, not of the thunderstorm, but that a tornado might come (heart pounding scared) I just sit by the window so I can keep looking out to make sure one isn't coming and I keep the news on too. Weird huh?!?!?!

[Former User]

Spiders scare me to death! Casper and Kitty will take care of spiders if they see them but still, I scream like maniac... The other night I was loading the washmachine up already, to be ready to put on in the morning. There was a spider in our sheets and I said 'iiiikkkkkk' and took off so fast! My husband was next to me and almost got a heart attack because I yelled, got up so fast and took off. :rolleyes:

[shais_mom]

I am with the others I don't like spiders at all! icky

[zippy-kat]

Bugs aren't very fun either but I'm not terrified of them like I am bears.

Hmmm....what is the phobia of bears called?

[LoudLou]

Phobias--- RATS/MICE!!!! Wild ones. Peoples pets don't scare me but the ones that think they should live in MY house--- SCARE ME!:eek: :eek: I think maybe the movies "Ben" & "Willard" did me in when I was little...... Spiders, too....oh, and earth worms:rolleyes::o

[Gio]

Snakes. I'm absolutely petrified of them, real ones, fake ones, pictures, snakes on documentaries... the lot. I was on holiday once and almost jumped off the roof of the hotel. There was a party there and there was a snakecharmer with two ( teethless:rolleyes: ) cobras. They were harmless and if I think about it ratinally I must laugh but I can assure you it was not funny at the time!

I'm not too keen on wasps and bees either.

And I hate mosquitos, it's not a phobia, with them it's survival :D I'm fine with everything else. :)

[Former User]

Originally posted by Gio

And I hate mosquitos, it's not a phobia, with them it's survival :D

Oh yes, isn't it nice now that summer is coming and mosquitos with it? So annoying when you have a mosquito in your bedroom when trying to sleep.... :mad:

[Pam]

Definitely spiders!!! :eek: :eek:

[AdoreMyDogs]

I always used to play with bugs when I was a kid, including bees and wasps, but I was stung in the eye twice, once when I was about 5 and once when I was in high school, and they did a number on me. I am purely terrified of bees and wasps, but all other bugs I still like, although I am rather grossed out by cockroaches.

I think my fear of bees may be classified as a phobia. I do know that I have a true phobia of needles, but that's not animal related.

I don't think I am too fearful of any animal that I can think of, although some make me nervous like bears! Whenever I go backpacking in the U.P. of Michigan I always sleep with a pot and a pan to scare the bears that get too close. I remember going camping with my mom shortly before leaving for college and it was at this very remote place in a heavily forrested area. I remember hearing something strange outside of the tent and it got louder and louder. As soon as I realized what it was, it was scary! Mom and baby bears were calling back and forth to each other and they were so close that I could have reached out and touched them, I could hear them breathing, and I could hear the leaves under their feet crackle. I was afraid to pound the pans together because if I spooked those babies, I was unsure of the reaction I would get from mom bear...I didn't know if she would lash out at us for scaring her kids? So my mom and I just lay there as quiet as we could until mom and baby bears were far enough away that we could breath :)

[Ann]

Bees and wasps scare me.

The main reason for that is that a blind relative of mine was outside drinking a glass of juice once, and a bee sat down on the glass. She didn't see it and got stung in her throat and died :(

Whenever I see a bee or a wasp I run (I'm not kidding), and during my 18 year of life I have never been stung by one and hope to keep it that way.

[purrley]

Rats and Mice - I'll take a spider any day or a snake.

[delidog]

reptiles...i.e. snakes!!!eek!!!! scorpions!!!(i guess that is a bug?!?!?!?!),tarantulas...(when i lived in new mexico we had too many of each of these!!!!)
i don't mind frogas...but i do not like touching them!!!
don't love rats either...mice don't bother me...i guess its' the disease that they carry that i don't like...too many years in stables to like rats...thats' what barn cats are for!!!!

p.s.

loud lou...you are dating yourself!!! but i also remember those awful movies...the worst thing was that michael jackson actually had a hit with the "ben" theme!!!!!aaaagggghhhh!!!!!!!!

[Dixieland Dancer]

Snakes are the worst for me but I also hate spiders, rats, mice and cockroaches! I become paralized with fear when I see a snake. I can't even go near the snake exhibit at the zoo and close my eyes when they are on TV.

I don't freak over worms but I don't like to touch them. I still can't bait a hook when we go fishing so I just sit and enjoy being outdoors and leave the fishing to those who don't mind touching those wigglely things.

[anna_66]

Along with everyone else..lol! But I do have a pretty funny story about a spider. It was last summers & there was a medium sized black furry spider on the back of one of the lawn chairs. I knocked it off with something & it fell to the ground. So of course I stepped on it, then looked down to make sure it was dead. When I went to raise my head up, the spider came up after me!!!!OMG! It's still alive! I let out a blood curdling scream & my husband looked over at me & laughed, it wasn't alive, it was just hooked to the web! :rolleyes: Good thing he was the only one around! Spiders coming back to life to attack me, what a dork!

[Former User]

LOL Anna! I know it is funny when we read it, but I KNOW it sure wasn't funny for you! Few years ago I was visiting my friend, and we were sitting on the patio having a coffee. Her fiancee was just coming to bring more coffee when he heard two times a very loud YIKES and saw two blonds running inside. He said that was the most funniest thing he'd ever seen, and to know that we did it because we were afraid of a spider that was walking on the table :rolleyes: . I tell ya, we didn't find it funny at all....

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Does anyone know what Ailurophobia is?

Fear of cats.

[Logan]

Originally posted by Dixieland Dancer
Snakes are the worst for me but I also hate spiders, rats, mice and cockroaches! I become paralized with fear when I see a snake. I can't even go near the snake exhibit at the zoo and close my eyes when they are on TV.

I knew we had a lot in common! I can't stand the thought or the sight of a snake either. Not even rubber ones!! :eek:

[gini]

I am not sure if I can post this without getting the creepy crawlies!

COCKROACHES!!! Years ago, we stripped all of the wallpaper and paint off the walls of our old home. It was in late summer and very hot outside. The house is old and there were layers and layers of paint and wallpaper. We had the windows open for ventilation and we attracted the largest cockroaches I have ever seen. Apparently they love glue and we had certainly stirred up the old glue on the wallpaper.

These guys (two) definitely needed saddles..they were huge!

Where do they come from? YUCK!!

And they just sit there like they are saying "I will be around long after you are gone, Honey!!

[sammi]

Mice make me really afraid! I believe it comes from when I was young and my mom would scream and jump up on a chair if she saw one in the house! But spiders and snakes don't bother me - in fact I found a spider in the house last week (alive in this cold weather) it would freeze if I put it outside so put it in the basement (if you kill a spider it will rain & that we don't need).

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Spiders coming back to life to attack me, what a dork!
LOL Anna......
Here are some of my not so funny spider stories,,,,
When my and my hubby were dating I went to visit him at his and his roommates house, and there was a swing on the front porch. It was night time and me and the hubby were sitting on the swing and his room mate was standing in front of us next thing I know brandon, the room mate put his hand on my head and pushed it down and i fell off the swing onto the ground.... My hubby jumped up at him cause that was mean right.... well he did it cause there was a HUGE SPIDER about two inches in diameter coming down right at my head.... let me tell you I was walking around looking up for a looooooong time!!!

And one time me and my mom were going somewhere and this spider came down right in front of my face (real close to my face) and i leaned over to the left and was screaming my face off...... my mom slammed on the breaks and was looking around all crazy..... the look on her face was priceless.... she though I was screaming because we were about to have a wreck or something.

[wolflady]

Originally posted by gini
I am not sure if I can post this without getting the creepy crawlies!

COCKROACHES!!! Years ago, we stripped all of the wallpaper and paint off the walls of our old home. It was in late summer and very hot outside. The house is old and there were layers and layers of paint and wallpaper. We had the windows open for ventilation and we attracted the largest cockroaches I have ever seen. Apparently they love glue and we had certainly stirred up the old glue on the wallpaper.

These guys (two) definitely needed saddles..they were huge!

Where do they come from? YUCK!!

And they just sit there like they are saying "I will be around long after you are gone, Honey!!

ICK!! I just got the creepy crawlies reading this! LOL Count me in on this one. Bugs and spiders too!
Anna, your story made me chuckle, but I know it probably wasn't funny at the time! LOL Looking back on situations like this at least seems funny after the fact, right? LOL LOL :D
I'll never forget the time I went up to bed when I was in junior high. It was springtime in Indiana, so all the bugs were starting to come out. Anyway, I pulled back my bedsheets...and there...smack in the middle of my bed was the largest garden spider I had ever seen!! ICK! YUK! EWE!!! I screamed and ran to get my dad to get it off of there. Of course, when we got back to my room...it was gone!:eek: I couldn't sleep in my room that night because I knew it was in there somewhere, and I was terrified about it crawling on me!
Oh, and just last night, hubby and I were watching TV and he started fussing, and it turns out there was a spider crawling up his arm...and it bit him!!! Ugh!!! How rude, huh??? eek! :eek:

[anna_66]

Sara*your right, those are not so funny stories about spiders, I think I would of had a cow if a big one was coming towards my head, good thing you didn't know!
Wolflady*I know what you mean about having them in bed! I sometimes have nightmares about the bed being covered in spiders & I guess it's like I'm asleep, but not totally & will find myself throwing the covers off the bed & off my husband telling him to get up because they are under the covers! Of course, he reassures me there isn't any spiders & we go back to bed:rolleyes: LOL!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

SNAKES AND SPIDERS! BURR!
I get the willies just thinking of them. I had a spider bite me on my big toe once. It was not a pleasant experience for either of us. My toe swelled up real big and itched for days. I murdered the spider and don't regret it a bit!:eek:

[Deb Motter]

Salamanders! Yuk! Once I was digging in the dirt and I saw a yellow eye look up at me. One was buried, apparently hibernating.

To make matters worse, my (then) 6 year old daughter was fascinated with them. I found out one morning that she had SLEPT with one in a basket in her bed. I asked her if it could get out and she replied, no it was covered with a tissue!

When I went into her room to see, the basket was empty. I called my husband home from work to look for it. My daughter had forgotten to tell me she had taken it ouside on her way to school that morning!

[jennifert]

Spiders here too. Actually any small critter or large bug INSIDE my home. I am an outdoorsy girl. I can go camping or hiking or things like that and I don't really mind the animals OUTSIDE! It's when they come inside that I mind them! Then it's fair game. I'm allowed to use all means to GET THEM OUT!!!!!


Whenever I see a bee or a wasp I run (I'm not kidding), and during my 18 year of life I have never been stung by one and hope to keep it that way.

This is EXACTLY what I do. I dont' listen to what they say to do which is sit there and ignore them! I run like the wind and I've never ever been stung either. So obviously our way works better!!!!:D ;)

Snakes don't bother me. I don't think I've ever seen a cockroach in real life and I dont' ever want too!! When I lived in NYC I saw more rats and mice than I ever care to see for the rest of my life!!!! I still keep all my food in plastic containers if it's not canned!!! And I NEVER go to bed with any food or dirty dishes left out! I guess I am a little paranoid about mice!!

To be honest, I'm scared to go to states like Texas and Oklahoma and Arizona because they have BIG bugs and BIG spiders there!!!

[LoudLou]

Originally posted by jennifert
.....I dont' listen to what they say to do which is sit there and ignore them! I run like the wind and I've never ever been stung either. So obviously our way works better!!!!:D ;)


I agree Run, Run like the wind. The ONE and ONLY time I did like they say to do and ignore them, I got STUNG:mad: OCHIE!:( ...That's when we learned I am also Allergic to them.:eek: ... So, I agree RUN LIKE THE WIND!!!

[Edwina's Secretary]

One summer when I was in college in Tucson, AZ a friend and I rented an apartment. It was a ghastly apartment in a horrid neighborhood. We were young and stupid. I don't normally have a problem with "disposing" of bugs but one night I went in the bathroom and came out and told my roommate that I had just seen the largest, hairiest spider EVER! I told her that swatting it would be like squashing a mouse! I closed the door and stuffed a towel under it so the spider couldn't get out.

So I decided we would go and get my boyfriend (sometimes feminism goes by the wayside!) We were in the car and I kept saying "the biggest, hairiest spider." Then it hit me....it was a tarantula.

He captured it and set it free outside.

[jennifert]

That is when I would HIGH TAIL it out of AZ! I could not live where the bugs are so big they make that crunchy noise when you try to kill them...you know that ccrrrrnnnncccch YUCK!!!

I once saw a bug so BIG when I lived in NYC..This bug was between me and the front door of my apartment building so I had to go by him to get out. I moved all the way to the right to try to squeeze by him in the hallway and he FOLLOWED ME!!:eek: And not only did he get closer to me, when he walked, I could hear all 6 of his legs tapping on the tile floor!!!!!!!!
I left NYC shortly after that. Someone told me that even though they are big bugs, called clocks?, (maybe Thelma will know?) but they can squeeze themselves into small places. I spent the remaining two months in New York with a towel stuffed around my window and my door. I would not open that window, not even when it got to 110 degrees INSIDE my room!!!! (Someone had also told me that rats can climb walls and I was scared of them too!!!) I just took more showers and had the fan blow on me! I was terrified of that bug! My mom still laughs how I called her hysterical that day from work and told her I was getting a hotel if I ever saw that bug again!!

[Cincy'sMom]

Unfortunatly, the one bug I absolutly despise, I can not identify. The spring after Ralph bought our house I was putting in a garden out front There were the huge black, beetle looking things, that we so awful!! I would be sitting on the ground, planting flowers and hear the sound of them coming up through the dirt. When I would go to kill one with a shovel, it would rise up on its back legs as if it was going to fight me...everyone I told thought sure I was nuts, then, one night that summer we were at the studio where Ralph and I dance, with some friends. One of these bugs was in the garage. I again told my friends about the garden and them fighting back, so one of my firends starting tormenting this bug, tryingto get it to fight him...and of course the bug stood on its back legs and waved its little legs in the air...the stupid things were no bigger then beetles but I am sure someday, they will return to get me!! ( We didn't have any last summer...)

[LoudLou]

Originally posted by jennifert
......I once saw a bug so BIG when I lived in NYC..


jennifert So, I guess you've never seen the movie "Joe's Apartment"? ;) :D ...... I don't like bugs either. My rule: If it creeps, crawls, slides, glides or slithers.... I AM GONE.;)

[zippy-kat]

I was bored in Physics class one day and made a long 'rope' by clipping the aligator clips together. Still bored, I threaded it in and out of the drawer handles. I was squatted down at the very last drawer handle (I believe there were 3 drawers to the cabinet) and happened to look up--right at eye level was an "albino" cockroach--I SCREAMED!!! Of course everyone turned to look at me and I was :o --- the teacher came and caught the cockroach...it ended up NOT being an albino (though it sure was white!!). What we did find out was: roaches are white until exposed to light...a few days in the light, gives them the blk color.

Kinda interestin' huh?

Ohhhh...re: wasps etc...anyone ever seen the tarantula wasps we have down here? Scary, scary, scary guys...and ya don't wanna get stung by one!!!! They seriously look like a yellow jacket on steriods--the Arnold of the wasp world!

[shais_mom]

Ok I think I have a new phobia!
Keegan ran over to the neighbors tonight when I got home from work and came carrying something back. Didn't think much about it. Took her inside and then a little later back out on leash. She went over and grabbed it again, this time I took it from her thinking it was a clod of dirt. It was a dead bird. I dropped it and we are avoiding that end of the yard until I can scoop it up with a shovel. YUCK!

[lbaker]

I'm deathly allergic to bees so I guess that's not a phobia but a life thing. I used to be afraid of snakes but did a Gordon Liddy thing and got one to get myself over it (didn't want to let something terrify me)I can't stand large lizards though, they "scurry" too fast and make me weird. Little ones are OK. Turtle feet make me want to up-chuck if I touch them. I know. I'm basically weird anyway:o oops, I'm telling too much :rolleyes: Laurie

:eek: :eek: I am absolutely terrified of spiders !!
Last wek there was a huge one on the front door of our neighbours ; I saw that because I was about to ring their bell ...
Well , that bell was not necessary anymore .... I screamed the whole street to their frontdoor ..!!
But , even a small ones scare me !!!!
I am also very scared of wasps and bees ; was once stinged in my foot as a child ; will never forget that ; my husband got stinged last year while driving the car on the highway ; my goodness , you should have seen his neck !!Was swollen like a orange !! He had to pull over to the side and I took over , because he nearly fainted !!:mad: :mad: :(

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by lbaker
Turtle feet make me want to up-chuck if I touch them. I

Turtle feet? sorry...had to chuckle at this one! lol ;)

This isn't animal related, but on the up-chucking theme...I can't STAND the smell of canned peaches! ICK! And I can't eat jello or scrambled eggs...ewwwwwww!

[Edwina's Secretary]

I have never....and will NEVER eat peanut butter or jelly ...let alone together. The thought is nauseating to me. It is a texture thing. Sometimes I think I am the only American who doesn't eat P&J. (Not really true -- no one in my family does!)

[Logan]

Sara!! No peanut butter and jelly???? That's not a phobia, I don't think. It is just a food thing.....sort of like me with any vegetable that smells when it cooks. No cooked brocolli (no any brocolli), no cauliflower, no cooked cabbage, no turnip greens, no collards. Heck, I sound like I'm not from the south!!! Mom used to try and make me eat that stuff, but it truly nauseated me. One time, it really did, at the table. She never did try to make me eat it again!! I'll take green beans and corn, any day!!! :D

[zippy-kat]

PB is ok....but I HATE PB&J sandwhiches! ewww....

(and very rarely do I eat jelly at all...once in awhile on a biscuit)

and oatmeal! I like dried oats but not oatmeal...that came up in a hurry!;) lol


Logan~ my, my, my! what kinda suth-uhn gal is you? lol I was always a weird kid--I actually LIKED my spinich! LOL and kale...and ramps...and asparagus...

I'm not big on fungus tho--absolutely NO mushrooms!!

[Logan]

Originally posted by zippy-kat
PB is ok....but I HATE PB&J sandwhiches! ewww....

(and very rarely do I eat jelly at all...once in awhile on a biscuit)

and oatmeal! I like dried oats but not oatmeal...that came up in a hurry!;) lol


Logan~ my, my, my! what kinda suth-uhn gal is you? lol I was always a weird kid--I actually LIKED my spinich! LOL and kale...and ramps...and asparagus...

I'm not big on fungus tho--absolutely NO mushrooms!!

Oh, Tonya, I eat spinach and asparagus, even okra, without a problem!! Just no smelly stuff! And I really, really like mushrooms!! :o I guess we have just found what we don't have in common!!!! :)

[Kfamr]

I HATE snakes, bugs, rats/mice, SHARKS and anything at the beach besides the dolphins.

One time i was sitting at the computer and my dad walked in.. he stood next to me holding something and said "Kay Ann" I turned to him and said "what?" He was holding a shedding of a snake :eek: . I knew it was just a shedding but i jumped up and screamed
i started crying i was so freaked out. I dont care that it was just a shedding i totally freaked... my dad layed it out in the garage and put some spray stuff to preserve it and he was going to save it but i refused to go into the garage until it was in the garbage!

[Kfamr]

Originally posted by Cincy'sMom
Unfortunatly, the one bug I absolutly despise, I can not identify. The spring after Ralph bought our house I was putting in a garden out front There were the huge black, beetle looking things, that we so awful!! I would be sitting on the ground, planting flowers and hear the sound of them coming up through the dirt. When I would go to kill one with a shovel, it would rise up on its back legs as if it was going to fight me...everyone I told thought sure I was nuts, then, one night that summer we were at the studio where Ralph and I dance, with some friends. One of these bugs was in the garage. I again told my friends about the garden and them fighting back, so one of my firends starting tormenting this bug, tryingto get it to fight him...and of course the bug stood on its back legs and waved its little legs in the air...the stupid things were no bigger then beetles but I am sure someday, they will return to get me!! ( We didn't have any last summer...)

Maybe their Mammoth Bettles... We have the, alot down here, Simba likes to get them and kill them and bring them inside...:eek: Simba also likes to dig up the grubs in the back yard :rolleyes:

[Albea]

You can add me to the list of people who are afraid of snakes and spiders. But I do love spider's webs, they are so perfect, and beautiful when you can see them early in the morning,cover with dew, against the sunlight.
The one insect that can send me into fits of terror is a white face hornet. I didn't even know they existed until a swarm of them attacked me two summers ago. They had made a nest in my ivy covered fence, when I went to close the gate I disturbed them and they came after me with a vengeance. I couldn't open the back door to get back into the house for fear that they would follow me inside. You should have seen me trying to get them away from me. I looked like a character in the movie "The Birds." :rolleyes:
The sting of those creatures is horribly painful and lasts for a long time. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[RachelJ]

I have a pretty phobic personality to begin with, but I'd have to say specifically mice and birds and bees/wasps. I had a beautiful stand of Russian sage that I just loved right next to my house in the back, but it must have attracted all the bees in two miles and I couldn't get near my bedroom window to wash it. I had the Russian sage taken out. :(