Who's afraid of snakes? Who owns one?

[Barbiro]

Are any of you afraid of snakes? I'm petrified of them, yet nothing has ever happened to me with them to make me feel that way. I can't even stand to see them on TV on Animal Planet. Something about their slimy skin gives me the creeps. I do consider myself an animal lover, but I can't bring my self to like them. Do any of you have snakes as a pet and what are they like?

[Karen]

I don't own a snake, but have also never been afraid of them. You say "something about their slimy skin ..." and that is a complete misconception. Their skin is not at all slimy or sticky - it is just smooth, dry and warm (if they're in a warm place - they're cold-blooded.) I am stuck for something it feels like - but it isn't slimy!

[4 feline house]

I love snakes, but will never have one as a pet, becuase I believe they are better off in their natural habitats. (Sorry snake owners! Everyone's entitled to their own opinion!)

[Logan]

No offense to anyone......but I can't even look at or touch a rubber snake! All power to those of you who can. I'll stick to my furry friends!

[evelyn1157]

i hate snakes..i can't even bear looking at pictures of them. i am not afraid of worms though :eek

[AdoreMyDogs]

I like snakes, but could not handle the feeding of them. When I rescued those two snakes, I had a hard time feeding them, and they were only eating small feeder goldfish I would NEVER be able to feed a snake mice and NEVER,EVER be able to feed snakes rats or any other critter.

I find snakes interesting and beautiful. I have no fear whatsoever, unless I was walking by one and it started to rattle

I am also with Leah...they are better off in the wild, as opposed to a man made enclosure. They really don't make good pets but they make good wild animals.

P.S. they may look like they are covered in slime but they are not at all slimy. They are dry, sleek, smooth. And the snakes that we have here in Michigan are non venemous...at least as far as I know we don't have any venemous snakes. I may feel different about snakes if I were in a state that housed snakes that could kill me if I were walking too close to it

[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: AdoreMyDogs ]

[Pam]

My son, growing up, had a host of reptiles (much to my dismay). In high school he had a snake. He kept it in an aquarium in his room. One morning he woke up and gently tried to tell me that the snake was not in the aquarium. After being picked up off the floor and receiving oxygen (not really.... ) I decided we would just leave the door to his room closed that day and do a thorough search later as we all had to go to school/work. During the day, as I was worrying about this, I remembered that the back of my son's dresser had an opening. Sure enough I went home that night and started pulling out dresser drawers and guess who was curled up in the winter clothes drawer (which wouldn't have been used for a couple of months). You got it! Mr. Snake!

Here's another story....creepy too! My son also had a tarantula in high school. In many ways I am even more afraid of spiders than snakes. It also was in a "safe cage" on his shelf. One morning I was in his room gathering laundry after he had gone to school and guess who was walking across his bed!!! I don't even want to tell you what Mr. Tarantula's fate was!! That was it for our family for pets that Mom couldn't handle!!!!

[Logan]

Pam, you just made me glad I had a girl .
She loves all sorts of pets (as you can tell since we have so many varieties), she had a bad experience at a Science Fair at school once...and witnessed a pet snake being fed a live mouse...that did it for her. I don't think she would ever want to have one and have to feed it!

[jackiesdaisy1935]

When I was a kid in Rhode Island, friends had a cabin on a lake and we used to go there for weekends. They had a raft out in the lake and we would dive off the raft and there would be water snakes in the water, I don't even know if they were poisonous or not, and leeches. We never thought anything of it, just lots of fun, until I came out of the water one time with a leech stuck to my leg. I ran like the wind and somehow the leech fell off. Today I wouldn't go in the lake for any amount of money etc. We do have rattlesnakes here, in fact my cousins little girl got bit by a baby rattler and had to go to the hospital, but they treated her and she was o.k. I have never seen any where we live in the city, but yes I am afraid of snakes and I think they belong in the wild.
We have a teenager who rides around here on his bike with a big snake wrapped around his neck. Not fond of seeing that either.
Jackie

[4 feline house]

Adore - you got me to wondering so I did some research. Michigan has ONE venomous snake, a massasuaga rattlesnake, but it is very rare and declining, and is only found in the Lower Peninsula.

Gee, contrast that with Texas, where we have 15 kinds of venomous snakes, including coral snakes, water moccasins, copperheads, and several different kinds of rattlers! The other 100 snake species native to Texas are harmless.

Everyone still want to come to Texas in spring?

[Barbiro]

I feel so much better after reading all the responses that it's not just me that's afraid of them or do not like them. Thank you for correcting me in saying their skin is not slimy -- i guess it just looks it -- i would never dare touch one to find out if it's smooth and dry

I know a teenager who has a small phython and he rollerskates with the snake around his arm -- uuggghh!!! I wouldn't get near him with a 10-foot pole. Just thinking about makes me feel creepy.