Arodash Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Why do snakes get so much hate? Snakes are great! They are cute creatures with a fascinating form of movement and will leave you alone if you leave them alone, so, why are they seen as evil? I mean come on! Look at this cute noodle Link to post Share on other sites
Ennis Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Erm... you've heard of poisonous snakes, haven't you? That's a good enough reason to dislike snakes, but not to kill or harm them. I agree that they are beautiful, just like spiders. Edit: apparently it's 'venomous'. Get it. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I've never even seen a real snake, but I agree they are great (even the poisonous ones as long as you are able to respect their space and hopefully not stumble across one by accident!). However I'm one of those people with extreme arachnophobia who also thinks spiders are awesome and has no wish to hurt them or restrict their habitat in any way, so life in general is just a very confusing thing for me. I disagree with hurting or hating any animal that isn't literally putting you in immediate life-threatening danger. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 We may not see it easily but snakes have been used as a symbol of evil in many things from movies to media and so forth especially with Christianity. People may not notice it even. If we look at what J.K Rowling did with the snake symbol a lot of people begin to associate snakes with evil. Some it is fear and others well society likes to use snakes as an evil symbol so people begin to pick it up from that. Yeah snakes are cute though, dealt with a lot of venomous ones as well. Dont have many issues with them. I like snakes more than spiders but thats cause my blind ass doesnt notice the big ass spider on the floor next to my bed in the middle of the night. A snake I have a chance xD Link to post Share on other sites
Luftschlosseule Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Western Christianity. Snakes are evil, animals of satan, yadda yadda. I prefer animals with fur, but that doesn't mean I dislike snakes. Yesterday my father was watching a documentation about a giant snake that lived eons ago. protoboa or something like that? That was fun but I had to leave as they got to the giant rhino. Link to post Share on other sites
crucis Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Seems like most cultures demonise 'serpents', which encourages a practical avoidance of them because it can be hard for the general public to tell if a snake is dangerous. I don't feel that it has anything to do with Christianity in particular. I'm aware some cultures celebrate them, particularly if they help to remove vermin from crop fields. Pit vipers are revered and attributed a spiritual significance in certain temple traditions in my part of the world. I've always loved snakes by the way You don't need to be able to cuddle an animal to respect and like it (plus many smallish pythons and boas are very open to being handled). Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 @Luftschlosseule, @DarkGloomSquid, interesting comments about Western Culture. Things like The Medusa of Greek mythology predate Christianity, Roman Catholicism and other popular belief structures. Druidism (and Judaism (I'm not sure and am happy to be corrected)) predate the rise of Greece. In what we now call Europe there was only one native venomous (not poisonous) snake. In Africa there are more. Maybe the cultural dislike came from Egypt. I cite Druids because they don't have a cultural dislike of snakes, indeed more the opposite. Before cats colonised almost everywhere humans do, a couple of grass snakes were a welcome sight to a farmer with a mouse problem. Maybe it's because snakes have been portrayed as underhand. Didn't want to kill someone face-to-face, then a poisonous snake to do the deed has been used in stories, fables, myths and maybe facts, from Cleopatra to Sherlock Holmes. They really are friendly. Ask any python and it'll form a crush on you 😋😋 Link to post Share on other sites
Homer Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I think that the biggest factor is not being familiar with them. Mix in that some of them are poisonous and/or really good at hiding, stir and boom... dislike stew. Personally I prefer animals who have more feet than I do. Link to post Share on other sites
weird elf Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I think the idea that danger noodles are somehow "magical" comes from the way they move. You can look at one coil of snek and only realizing that it's moving when you notice it getting thinner. And magic = suspicious, so sneks = suspicious ... maybe. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Uh.... As someone who lives in Australia, I hate snakes because I've nearly been killed by them? It's not much more complicated than that. I have a instinctual fear of them. Being trapped in a hen house with a brown snake, when you're a tiny kid, will do that. It's literally one of the most venomous snakes on the whole planet. I hate snakes just as much as I hate blue-ringed octopuses. Which, again, I encountered as a kid. Amazing how fast a parent can yank a child away from something, really. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I was standing in the middle of this chook house, in the height of summer, sweat pouring down my face. I couldn't move, I couldn't run, I couldn't do anything. Moving meant provoking the snake to attack. If there was a lesson hammered into me from my earliest days in school, it was to stay completely still if I saw a snake. It was terrifying. I still have nightmares about it. Eventually the fucking thing slithered off, but by that point, I was dizzy, disoriented, and about to faint. I hate snakes because that kind of experience will sear itself into your brain like a permanent brand. I ended up dehydrated, sobbing, and wouldn't venture into the chook house for ages afterwards. I get that y'all in this thread really like these creatures. That's fine, you do you. But please don't dismiss people's fear of snakes as just being a curious cultural idiosyncrasy. The bloody things are in my nightmares. Link to post Share on other sites
Homer Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Australia really seems to be something else in that regard... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 @Skycaptain as much as whatever happened in history played a role dont forget whats in the present. Where I am from religion is huge so one of the first stories you learn from religion is Adam and Eve and the snake. In history we are taught about evil Medusa and her evil snake hair. Depending what media you grew up with for example (its the only one coming to mind) Harry Potter snakes are a symbol for evil and lies and all that. You slowly start to associate those things you are taught with that hey snakes are evil and liars and that is what they represent. Like snakes start to become a bad omen. We have a whole franchise dedicated to snakes swallowing people...you had snakes on the plane as well... Kai from Mowgli was not seen as a good well anything. Jafar uses his staff to turn into a snake. Villains use snakes in a lot of things as well. The only snake that was good representation I can name at the moment would be the snake from Kung Fu Panda..... Im not a conspiracy nut so I never got into those symbolism meanings and such. Grew up with non-venomous and venomous snakes around me as well. A lot of people I know have had venomous snakes move into their homes and some have had a bunch in their garden. I personally dont really want to run into a black mamba but thats cause of personal feelings and watching one try and break its glass as well as tip its cage over. I swear they are the crackheads of snakes. And they bloody fast. Link to post Share on other sites
Raindrops Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I looove snakes, they're adorable! 😚 I love all reptiles really. Link to post Share on other sites
Ldlelee Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I dislike snakes because my dog got attacked by one when I was younger. It was a garter snake, but it scared me enough that I've been averse to them ever since. I think it has a lot to do with why so many people are afraid of spiders, too. Not all are bad, but some are, so it creates a generalized fear. Link to post Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 It's a natural instinct to fear them, considering so many of them can kill us; we wouldn't have survived long if we went around cuddling black mambas. Fear very quickly turns to hate, simple as that. Link to post Share on other sites
Conscious Cat-Panda Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 @DarkGloomSquid I think the stories are intentionally built so as to spread fear in people. So that they don't go looking for trouble and end up disturbing snakes. @Skycaptain Speaking of positive representation, they are on the symbol of AMA for a reason - many ancient cultures also associate them with healing and medicine. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Serpent_(symbolism) All creatures can be dangerous if they perceive you as a threat, building trust takes patience. But I really don't like that they don't have a spine and need to cling to something - like if they come over my legs I'd shout. Puppies and cats can be removed more easily even if clingy. Link to post Share on other sites
N8ty L3asT Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 7 minutes ago, Anthracite_Impreza said: It's a natural instinct to fear them, considering so many of them can kill us; we wouldn't have survived long if we went around cuddling black mambas. Fear very quickly turns to hate, simple as that. I think I was born without that fear, if I see a snake I’m inclined to pick them up. I keep my distance from the poisonous though I unknowingly picked up a baby rattle snake in a storage unit once he was cold so I think he was happy to wrap around my hand. Link to post Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 15 minutes ago, Conscious Cat said: But I really don't like that they don't have a spine Snakes do have a spine. They're vertebrates, all vertebrates have a spine. Link to post Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 15 minutes ago, N8FALL said: I think I was born without that fear, if I see a snake I’m inclined to pick them up. I keep my distance from the poisonous though I unknowingly picked up a baby rattle snake in a storage unit once he was cold so I think he was happy to wrap around my hand. I'm not unduly scared of them but just like spiders I definitely have the survival instinct type of fear. Only seen a couple of snakes (in the wild) and they've all been grass snakes, which are harmless apart from giving you a nasty bite if you fuck with them. It's certainly possible to be naturally afraid of something but not hate it of course, but it's very easy for it to turn to hate. I'm fascinated by lightning but I still have an instinctive "this is dangerous" reaction to it. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 Because they kill people and beloved pets. With some of them you might just lose a leg, no worries there 😆 The ones that aren't venomous still can hurt like a bitch when they bite, and unlike bigger animals they are hard to avoid because they are difficult to see. I stepped on a ground boa once which was complete invisible until it moved under my foot, it almost gave me a heart attack. I love snakes but many people's fear and dislike is perfectly rational. I reserve my fear and dislike for scorpions 😬 According to the current psychological/neurological research, we aren't born with a fear of snakes, but we are "wired" to gain fear of snakes far more easily than many other things. Same with spiders. With makes perfect evolutionary sense, and explains why these fears are so common. And then of course there's all the Judeo Christian cultural nonsense which those of use in the Western world are brought up with even if we aren't raised religious. Link to post Share on other sites
Arodash Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 3 hours ago, tony the trans man said: Uh.... As someone who lives in Australia, I hate snakes because I've nearly been killed by them? You have a good reason I know of the venomous snakes you folks have Link to post Share on other sites
Arodash Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 42 minutes ago, Conscious Cat said: many ancient cultures also associate them with healing and medicine. the EMS star of life has a snake on it because of this 2 hours ago, Raindrops said: I looove snakes, they're adorable! 😚 I love all reptiles really. Same!!! 3 hours ago, weird elf said: I think the idea that danger noodles are somehow "magical" comes from the way they move. You can look at one coil of snek and only realizing that it's moving when you notice it getting thinner. And magic = suspicious, so sneks = suspicious ... maybe. Boop noodles are best noodles, danger noodles you gotta be careful with because hec they are much venom 5 hours ago, Luftschlosseule said: Western Christianity. Well if isnt only that, you know the Greeks and Romans had Medusa which depending on the culture is a sad tale. One day when I get a snek, Im going to get a hognose (porksnoot) and name it Medusa Link to post Share on other sites
_Neon_ Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I love snakes, and I think they are cute, but I have a healthy fear if I don't know what kind it is, so will avoid wild ones. Link to post Share on other sites
Arodash Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 Just now, Neon Green Packing Peanut said: I love snakes, and I think they are cute, but I have a healthy fear if I don't know what kind it is, so will avoid wild ones. A good mentality to have Link to post Share on other sites
abandoned-account Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I can understand that they can be dangerous and people have had horrific experiences with them (as talked about above) but personally I don’t think that should be a reason to have outright hatred for an animal, especially if it was most likely scared and trying to defend itself. I was even once bitten by a poisonous spider at a young age (got a very nasty area that had to get cut open and drained) but I still now have admiration and respect for the creatures, though it doesn’t mean I would want to touch it. Link to post Share on other sites
GingerRose Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 6 hours ago, Ennis said: poisonous snakes, Planning on having a taste? Link to post Share on other sites
GingerRose Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 I love snakes, but getting bit by those fangs is still a tad of looming fear. Link to post Share on other sites
GingerRose Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 People also have many misconceptions about nope ropes that make them more afraid and more likely to kill them. 😞 Link to post Share on other sites
Arodash Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 16 minutes ago, GingerRose said: People also have many misconceptions about nope ropes that make them more afraid and more likely to kill them. 😞 Nope ropes, danger noodles, spicy noodles. Baby sneks are oodless of noodles or ramen noodles, if baby venomous its spicy ramen Link to post Share on other sites
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