PHOBIA SERIES - SNAKES

 

Why are we afraid of them?

Snakes. Yikes! Those slithering creatures just lurve to choke you down. That is not it all. Some snakes have really really dangerous poison which can kill you with just a prick. Have you heard of spitting cobras? Those killers don’t have to be close to take you down. They ‘spit’ poison from their mouths and they never miss their target. The fact which fears us the most that most of the snakes live in India. Run for your lives!

 

Scientific facts and ways not to be Ophidiophobia:

Before we jump to the scientific facts about snakes, we need to understand why are we fearful. Fear is an emotion which occurs when we recall our bad moments. For example- If a person just had a experience of drowning, then the very next day the person would be really afraid of water. But after some time, the person forgets about the incident and starts swimming again. But it is not so easy for some people. They don’t forget incidents for months or even years and hence their fear of that thing remains till then. Ha! Another reason why you shouldn’t have a great memory power! They are also some fears which are from birth and cannot be ignored. For example- fear from snakes. Being Ophidiophobic is in built and we can’t ignore or get rid of that fear. Maybe you are confused why some fears are in-build. I will tell you that in the next part.

Let’s jump back to the topic. Being fearless of snakes, as I told you, is difficult. But it can be reduced to a certain extent. Shall we look the scientific facts, huh?

First thing is that, there are tons of species of snakes out there. But do you know that very few of them are actually poisonous? And only a handful of them can kill us in one bite. You may go like ‘Wow! There are only some snakes which are poisonous.’ in a sarcastic manner but if you see this message in another way you would know that most of the snakes are harmless. Garden snakes, which are bit common, are actually very friendly and are not a bit dangerous to humans. Snakes which have poison have fangs which makes us easy to distinguish poisonous from those which are not. One more important thing. Being poisonous does not mean that they would want to jump and attack us. To be honest, snakes are very shy creatures and only attack when they feel insecure or when they are protecting their children. Well, that is what you would do if you were the snake. If you are thinking that human are in the snake’s prey list then you need to know that all the predators now know it is not worth to hunt down a human because we have got guns and live in colonies. Also, we taste sweet meat to all the predators which is not the favourite to any predator. Urg!

 

Fear facts:

1. Snakes have 3 types of poison. One can damage your blood cells, second can prevent blood clotting and the third one can cause nerve damage and make the muscles around the bite rotten and dead. 
2. Spitting cobras mainly live in India and Africa and grabs the 5th position in the ‘Human killer’s list.’ as they are very aggressive. They mainly use their poison to blind the prey or the predator.

 

How can we be safe from snakes:

Simple. Follow these steps and you can stroll across jungles or gardens in a carefree manner.

1. Don’t go near any type of unknown snake. Call a profession snake handler or a vet to remove it if it is inside your house or area. Remember. Snakes are shy creatures but they don’t hesitate to bite if they feel insecure. 
2. If you go to jungles, don’t climb up trees you are unfamiliar. Some poisonous snakes like the green mamba camouflage with the green leaves and might think that you an intruder.

 

That’s all my friends! Stay tuned for more!

 

Glossary:

Ophidiophobia- Fear of snakes.