Are you scared of snakes?

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Scared of snakes? Nah. I used to have some as pets. I don't make a habit of trying to engage them when out in nature though. I let them be. But even then they don't stress me out or anything. They're cool critters, imho.

I have a healthy fear of snakes. It was more dangerous when I was a kid and not afraid of snakes. We have rattle snakes and all kinds of weird bitey critters.

I respect them because they can do me a whole lot of hurt.

Most snakes, no. Diamondbacks, maybe a little.

I both love and fear them! I think they're some of natures most fascinating animals plus I love the many things they symbolize in religion and mythology.

But knowing that some snakes can be quite deadly if they bite you, I tend to avoid the ones I see in the wild.

Not at all! I have an anti snake family though... and anti ferret, anti bearded dragon or tegu, and anti rat...

I like snakes (and spiders even more). I just moved to a property near a river and woods, so there will be snakes for certain, including a few venomous ones. So cautious, certainly, I will take measures for preventing an unfortunate encounter. But not afraid.

Some of my fav monsters in mythology are linked to snakes. Like Medusa, Lamia, and Echidna.

I don't like them but I'm not scared of them

I like snakes. They're very interesting and I held one a few times many years ago. I think they're unfairly persecuted.
If I encountered a venomous snake I would be cautious but would probably just stay a safe distance away and take pictures. They'll only bother you if you bother them.

My ancestors are from Dalmatia (Croatia) which always had very dry and way too sunny weather. Also the terrain is a heaven for snakes, almost bare mountains with a lot of stones and sporadic vegetation here and there. While man was soldiers and defenders of Austro-Hungarian empire woman were shepards and they would bring babies and children with them into fields. A lot of them died from poisonous snake bites. Yet they were never alowed to kill a snake easily, for just being the snake. Even more, according to traditional beliefs, snakes were house protectors. When snake was spotted on the road people would say: " Cousin, you go your way and I'll go mine." Also, people would let snake to find a place in earth/soil to build her home. They believed that place has good energy and they would build a house there without ruining snake's "home". So, snake would literally live with them, in house basement. I don't know how smart those beliefs really were, it was happening in times when woman were continuously giving births from the first until last year of having their periods. They were taking their fate as it comes, without too much regret. "God" wanted it that way.

As for me I don't hate snakes, I respect them, I would never kill one, but I would be cautious and keep them away from me and vice versa.

That's really cool. I suspect they liked the snakes for keeping rodents away, thus disease, and it became tradition. Regardless why, it is interesting.

^ That all is really fascinating.

Btw here's some cool videos on youtube of my favorite snakey ladies in Greek Mythology.

Echidna the Mother of All Monsters.



Lamia the child-devouring boogey monster.



And of course Medusa the most famous Greek Monster of all.

Not scared.

Whenever I see a snake on the road, if it has not been run over I chase him off the road. That includes rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes are usually relative docile and move off it readily. I once fought a bullsnake for about 45 minutes to get it off the road.

I certainly don't handle them, though. Just stay away from them. The last time I handled a snake was a bullsnake when in 8th grade or so. It bit me.

Keep in mind that rattlesnakes kill and eat mice that might be carrying hantavirus. If you are bit by a rattlesnake, your chance of dying from the bite is tiny -- maybe about .05% or so. If, on the other hand, you get hantavirus from a mouse that would have been eaten by a snake if you hadn't killed the snake, your chances of death are something like 50% to 90%.

From what I've been told, in some places where rattlesnake roundups are common, the mouse population tends to get bigger and bigger because of the reduced numbers of snakes.

You are probably right, that didn't occur to my mind, but it very make sense. On the other side Serbian version of Eastern Orthodox Christianity was always and still is a pagan one, it stemed from paganism and Serbs never gave up on their old Gods, customs and traditions. These beliefs regarding snakes probably also come from paganism.

@RedDeathFlower13, thank you for sharing these interesting videos. I am also a great fan of Greek mythology. I remember that when I was a kid I was very upset with the story about Goddess named Leta and her children, but loved to read "Jason and Argonauts". I red it countless times.

No problem!

Yeah I'm a big fan of Greek Mythology, and I started lately getting into other forms of mythology too like Japanese and Mesopotamian for example.

Off topic but are you familiar with the myth about lovers Psyche and Eros? It's another one of my all time favorite stories because unlike many Greek myths it didn't end in tragedy. It actually had a very happy ending!

https://youtu.be/Z5QSwZAOtcI?si=2aP4b76J9YtOZRpS

Beautiful , thank you, I enjoyed watching. The animation is amazing, too. And inspite again having Gods (life itself) torturing poor mortals, we can see that when we are dedicated to our goals and led by love, there is always help on the way, making obstacles easier to overcome.

I am obsessed with Japanese culture and estethics. And while I did a lot of research on their traditional arts and crafts, I still didn't dive into their mythology.

As for Mesopotamian one, I also find it fascinating and I do know a little about it. Will definitely look to learn more.