When you mention to others that you have pet snakes

Hello all my fellow Corn Snake lovers,
I'm sure a lot of you have dealt with the same thing I do in that when people ask you if you have pets and you tell them that you own snakes they get all freaked out and tell you how scared they are of snakes. I am curious as to how you all answer these types of people and I will give you the question and answer that I give them that to me at least makes sense. So here goes.

I'll tell someone that I have pet snakes. They usually reply that they are scared of snakes and yadda yadda etc.

I then ask them if they have ever been chased by any dogs b/c dogs are a more socially accepted pet. They usually answer that yes they have in fact been chased by many dogs in their lifetime.

I then ask them how many snakes they have been chased by b/c I in fact have never been chased by someone's pet snake.

I then go on to ask them to use basic reasoning and tell them to explain to me why someone having pet snakes freaks them out or why snakes in general freak them out yet they have never been chased by any pet snakes but in fact they have been chased by many many pet dogs.

To me the basic argument of pet snakes as opposed to pet dogs and threats to the public in general can be solved using simple math.

Have a good day guys and let me know what you think and how you answer this with non snake lovers.

I think it has to do with a culturally or evolutionarily imbued sense of fear rather than logic and reason

I agree with eisoj5 because logic and reason would tell you that a corn snake cannot chase you down(like I hear all he time) and that they cannot really hurt you (burms on the other hand....I digress).I often invite them to come and watch me work with them and see that there is nothing to be afraid of. That and telling them that if they do bite its almost 100% human error and for snakes like corns or kings, it just feels like pissed off velcro usually helps lighten the mood. I have found that even those scared of snakes have tons of questions and myths that I try to respectfully disprove with actual facts.Most have an interest in the animal just maybe not an interest in keeping them.

I agree with Jesserca. I am lucky enough that most people find my animals fascinating enough to want to know more, if not keep them themselves.

Most of my friends and acquaintances find it completely unremarkable that I have snakes as pets. People are sometimes surprised to find that I have as many as 8 or 10, though, because most of my friends and acquaintances don't have that many pets.

I agree with the other posters, I think it may just be human nature to fear things we may not understand, whether it's snakes, spiders, or more common things like motorcycles and firearms. Those of us who are familiar with these things think that other people's fear is irrational, when it may just be, I'll say "uninformed" rather than ignorant. If you can rationally address their misconceptions, they may be able to be overcome their fear, as you did with the dog explanation.

Unfortunately, you probably need to add a portion to your arguement to address the news stories about the "big snakes killing children and pets" and such. They appear to get a bad rap like pit bulls, which many owners will tell you is also an irrational fear of a specific dog breed.

I think I've been pretty lucky in this area. The people in my life who have an innate fear of snakes are often more fascinated by my pets and more accepting of them than those who are neutral about snakes. The ones with no strong feelings either way just seem to think it's "weird" that I keep snakes.

My dad has a history of snake nightmares, usually about falling into snake pits. Neither of us can figure out why he has these recurring dreams, but he has always been uneasy around snakes for this reason. Ever since he came over and met Ariadne he has been doing more field herping than I do, and he is constantly sending me pictures of the garter and water snakes he finds. I'm fortunate to know many people who are motivated to overcome their fears. When they see my snakes and see how calm they are when handled it works wonders.

i have had fun things come from this. i am a college student and when my friends saw the pics on my fb of the little guy i would be bringing home they told me that they would never come to my apt again. my roommate was cool with them which was good though. so little by little when friends were over they would ask about the snake and i would show them little ziggy and they were amazed by how little and cute he was. many people have overcome their fear of snakes in my apt. its to the point when i go home for breaks i have friends asking if i need someone to watch the snakes (i ended up housing another one at my place).

I had a friend who didnt really like snakes when I met her. After I got my baby butter motley and she got used to watching him while I was home, she would actually feed him when I was on work trips.

There have only been a couple people that I havent been able to convert from 'ewww' to 'awww'.

I am part of the Herpetology Club at my college and we will have events (called brickyard day) where we set up a table on campus and bring out a bunch of our animals (snakes and lizards) and we will let people hold them and touch them and what not, we have converted a LOT of people to loving snakes instead of fearing them. A lot of people end up asking where they can get one of their own, we always let them know of the nearest upcoming reptile show. When the club went to the Raleigh Reptile and Exotic Animal Show we came across a couple people we met on campus at our last brickyard day event XD