Spinoff from Bat Thread: Why Are Some Animals So Scary?

swampwitch

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Why are bats, spiders, mice, rats, etc. so scary? I can't quite grasp it. Don't get me wrong, I have a very healthy respect for venomous creatures, especailly those who attack unprovoked!

But those little creatures, where is the threat? We are like King Kong to them! Most would much rather run and hide from us, but so many people go weak in the knees at the sight of a mouse, spider, garden snake, whatever. Some people are even scared of cats.

If I rated scariness of animals, I would put humans at 10, and everything else would be a 1 or 2.

If the little critters scare you or creep you out, do you mind if I ask why?
 

white cat lover

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Eww...ewww....eww! I had a bat go after me when I was little. Spiders feel gross crawling around on my skin. Rats & mice, they aren't too bad. Rats are ugly, though.
 

carolpetunia

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Hmmm... good question...

Snakes
As long as I don't feel threatened by them, I think most reptiles (including snakes) are beautiful -- if not the whole animal, then at least their color and pattern. Garden snakes are small and pretty and they don't scare me. But I'd rather not encounter anything larger unless he's on the other side of some good thick glass!

Spiders
Whole different matter. Spiders are just so bizarre, with their eight of everything and their cannibalism! And they're so hard to get rid of, too... you can drench your house in pesticides and the spiders will just stroll around like nothing ever happened, defying you to find a way to stop them. Also, I was once bitten by a brown recluse, and I once found a black widow with her egg case in a storage closet at my old apartment. Those were all the spiders I ever need to meet.

Rats
Well, I just saw Ratatouille last week, so I'm in a fairly tolerant place regarding rats right now. But that won't last long! I'll get back to ya on this one.


Mice
Okay, mice are cute. And two apartments ago, when there was a lot of construction in the field across from my building, I had a few mousy visitors. One day I was standing barefoot in my bathroom, drying my hair after a shower, when a tiny brown mouse scampered at full tilt from the linen closet to the tiny space he had come in through under the cabinets, and he ran right across my left foot! I was supposed to panic, but doggone, he was just so cute and so scared... "wee sleekit tremblin' beastie"... I had to laugh.

However, mice can carry hanta viruses, so you have to get rid of them -- cute or otherwise.
 

diego

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In my own world, its much nicer there
Spiders, yuck.
Mice, not too bad.
Rats, gross.
Bats, interesting, I've seen some floating around for the first time in my life, they look interesting.
Snakes, I love them, beautiful creatures and I love their tongue when they hiss.
 

cairo

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I'm only afraid of one of the mentioned items, snakes. I used to be completely OK with snakes, and even learned how to handle poisonous ones at a young age. I don't really know when I became creeped out by them, but I do know the first time I really feared them.

Up until this one point, every time I handled a snake it was calm and slow. One day as I was riding my bike, I accidentally ran over a little snake. I stopped and went to have a look, and the thing was wriggling out of control. It was moving so fast, and even though I didn't think it was poisonous, the thing was being so erratic I just ran as fast as I could, got on my bike and left. Since then I've never been able to handle a snake.

Over time, it's gotten worse. But like most things I fear, I'm completely fascinated with them. I could watch them all day long on TV, but I still can't bare to be in the same room as one without a glass between us.

With everything else, if it has four legs I love it. It's true people are more scary than animals. I've come across bears, wolves, moose and more suddenly in woods, but there is no fear like coming across another human when you least expect it. I've been frightened nearly to death by humans.
 

kaylacat

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I'm not afraid of snakes, mice, bats, or spiders (as long as the last 3 don't come on me LOL).

Wild rats scare the heck out of me. The biggest reason is because they can and will kill or hurt pet birds and I don't want my babies getting hurt (yes even pet rats will do this and I have had it happen to me...probably a big reason I am afraid of a wild one getting in now). And they just creep me out.


Snakes I grew up around so I have never been scared of them.


Mice arn't that bad...just pick them up by the tail or cradled in a paper towel and send them on their way outside if one manages to get in and the cats catch it.

Bats are kinda cute but I have never seen a wild one.

And spiders are kind of good to have around as long as they don't come near my bird room, Charlies cage, or where I sleep.
I hate other bugs though. Ewww
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by SwampWitch

Don't get me wrong, I have a very healthy respect for venomous creatures, especailly those who attack unprovoked!
That's the funny thing, they do not attack unprovoked.
I'm not sure where people get this image that snakes, spiders, scorpions, etc are out looking for large inedible animals to bite or sting. Crazy Hollywood movies maybe? About giant spiders, sentient spider colonies, and 60 foot snakes.

In the case of snakes (and many lizards), the reptile brain is very simple. Fight or flight. There's no room for complex emotions like anger. Who knows, maybe because it's generally harder to anthropomorphize a snake people fear them?

There's not really any animal I'm afraid of, though given if in the woods I would be worried about potential dangers. I have had to make a quick exit from a bear and her cubs several years ago.


I do however have a strong dislike/disgust of parasites, particularly bot fly and similar larvae (the post about cuterebra in kittens gave me the chills).
 

muttigreemom

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I thought on this a bit and here's what I've come up with.

The only two out of that group that I don't like are snakes and spiders. But I really don't have a problem with snakes or spiders in and of themselves... just that I have a huge fear/respect/whatever for the venomous ones of the group. This makes me afraid of all snakes/most spiders because being that I wasn't raised here, I can't easily identify a venomous one from a non-venomous one. So if I see a snake, unless I know for sure it's a Southern Black Racer (the only one I can easily identify as non-venomous), it scares the life out of me. But when I have come across a Southern Black Racer - which has happened a few times - I just go my way and he goes his. No worries. So I suppose this fear has more to do with lack of education about these species than anything.

As for rats and bats and mice... they don't scare me.. and I've had them as pets (well, not bats)... but I do find them a bit icky... Not in a 'kill it' sort of way, more of a 'don't touch it' kind of way because of all the diseases they carry. But unless its in my house, I don't bother with them.

The only thing that scares me, probably unnecessarily, are bees or anything bee related (wasps, etc). It's a downright phobia for me. And yes, I get made fun of for it.. and DH tries to assure me that they're not interested in me... but the sound of their buzzing sends me into a full blown panic attack. And I know its irrational, but there it is. I can only assume it stems from a very traumatic sting I had as a child.. but who knows. It's just the only reason I can come up with
 

lookingglass

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I'm okay with rats, mice, snakes, and bats. I'm really not fond of bugs in general they are just creepy.

Here's the deal with spiders. When we were kids we had a rose haired taranchula and so they are far less scary to me than other spiders.
 

calico2222

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I normally don't mind any kind of animal...as long as it stays out of my house! I love watching the bats hunt at dusk, and have seen black snakes in our yard (hiding under our siding in fact) and it didn't really bother me. A copperhead or rattlesnake would probably be a different story...not that I would be scared, but concerned about our outdoor animals. But, if I EVER find a snake in the house...well, I doubt I would kill it, but it definitely wouldn't be "cute" at that point.

Spiders...don't like them, but won't kill them if they stay outside. In fact, there was one HUGE wood spider that made a web beside the door of our old house. I would say hi to it everytime I came home. Actually missed it when it went into hibernation last fall.

The one insect I can not stand are centipedes!! I HATE them! That is one irrational fear I do have. They just are not of this world.
 

jujubee

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OMG! I didn't know there was a bat thread, I had a dream about a bat flying around me last night!!!!
 

waxlight

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I have no problem with almost everything if I know they're -there-. I love watching garter snakes hang out around my parents pond, but if I'm walking through the yard, and startle one (and myself), I scream pretty loudly.

Spiders are one of the things I'll let live in my house. They catch other, less desirable insects (those milliped/silverfish things.. *shiver*), and tend to hang out in the corner of the ceiling, anyway (a space I don't occupy). However, I've had them drop from the ceiling (on a thread of silk) ONTO the book I'm reading... they get sqooshed at that point.

I've never seen rats or mice in my house. Like above posters have mentioned, they can carry disease, so if they were in my house, I would have to call an exterminator. However, rats and mice in cages, or in my garage? They don't bother me at all.

Again, I love watching the bats come out and fly around my yard at dusk, and I've been intending to build a bat house. But when I wake up to find an unexpected bat flying five feet above my head in the middle of the night.. I'm a little disturbed
 

katz4life

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I actually had to free a baby bat from our window! I woke up one morning to a screeching sound and all the cats were looking by the window. I wasn't sure what the noise was until I saw a weird looking creature...it was a bat!

This little bat was actually quite cute. Poor little thing flew into our window and got caught in the screen somehow. One of the bats wings had holes in it, I tried to get it to fly but it wouldn't. I tried again but tossed it up higher in the air & the little bat flew back home. It felt good to see a happy ending!


All those little insects & things of that nature are freaky! Although I'll move bugs outside that are in the office building where I work so no one squishes them. Don't know why I do it because there are enough bugs as it is, I just can't help it. An office building is no place for a bug. I at least have to give them a chance at life. Its the insects that sting that freak me out!
 

bnwalker2

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I'm not necessarily afraid of little creatures but I am afraid of being bitten by something poisonous.
I have a very high respect for bats (I leave them alone!), just for fear of potential Rabies. But I think they are beautiful creatures. Rats/mice don't bother me in the least way. We live on a farm and they are just always around. I've "rescued" two from inside the house and taken them back outside. I used to be a little afraid of snakes but hadn't actually spent any time with one. We went to a big flea market/fair thing a few months ago and there was a man there with a snake... I think it was a Boa but I'm not positive. She was gorgeous and he let me pet her... she put her little head in my hand and I seriously fell in love with her, lol. I'm still a little cautious around the "wild" snakes but only because I don't know what's poisonous and what's not.

Spiders I just don't like. The tinier they are the more I can deal with them but we have BIG spiders here and I absolutely cannot stand them.
 

tigerontheprowl

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Honestly I don't have a problem with any of these animals. There is really only one animal that really creeps me out and that's the Duck-billed Platypus. Aside from the fact that they look so weird, their saliva is also extremely poisonous.
 
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