Your Turn
I would love to know if you are scared of any animals. Yes, obviously if you are alone with a lion you are going to be scared, but I'm talking about things that freak you out like spiders or snakes or anything you would do to avoid certain animals. My mom freaks out about caterpillars. Won't go near them.
SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS I'm so scared of sharks.
ReplyDeleteAny flying insects if I can't see what they are.
ReplyDeleteHmm...not really. I'm scared of the ocean because there are animals I can't see which could potentially kill me :/ but I will still swim in it.
ReplyDeleteI'm with EmEyeKay.
ReplyDeleteI don't like owls. At all. And there's one who lives in a tree by my window who 'hoots' all night just to spite me.
ReplyDeleteI do NOT like water I can't see through.
ReplyDeleteAlso, possums. I fucking hate possums.
Omg I LOVE possums! Sometimes I'll put catfood out on my patio to lure them in so I can look at their cute little ears up close.
DeleteI love working in my yard and while I'm not scared of snakes or bugs it freaks me out when they jump out at me or catch me off guard, then I scream like a girl and compose myself and go back to work.
ReplyDeleteSpiders disgust me the most, roaches, lizards, mice etc.. do not bother me.
Gators only bother me if they seem to be moving towards me otherwise I just ignore them.
Where the heck do u live, lol?
DeleteBirds, it's the whole flying thing. & Ferrets. Some animals are cute from afar, but I don't want them near me, although cats & dogs are fine.
ReplyDeletei dont like big moths, scary when they flutter about. creepy crawlies! uh, bugs, stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm under great stress, I have this nightmare: canoeing over water as slowly and calmly as I can, and watching great white sharks circle in the lake below me. It's AWFUL.
ReplyDeleteCockroaches! I lived with them for too many years as a student. The horror...the horror...
ReplyDeleteBirds and bats ::shudder::
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loathe worms.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have any animal phobias, but I recently watched my mother-in-law go hide in the bathroom from an inch long millipede. I tried not to laugh. Really.
ReplyDeleteI have an insane fear of frogs. I know it is irrational. I can hardly stomach a picture of a frog, and the real thing freaks me out. I once wrecked a car because a frog jumped in my window. I was only going at a snail's pace. That thing jumped in and I jumped OUT. Car kept going and crashed into some mail boxes. Why yes, I was a mail carrier at the time.
ReplyDeleteRoaches/palmetto bugs. TERRIFYING.
ReplyDeleteWorms or anything worm like.
ReplyDeleteJohn Travolta.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only worm hater!
ReplyDeleteBees and wasps. Also tarantulas. Other spiders don't bother me, we've had tons of black widows around the house (all outside). It's the "hairiness" of tarantulas and the fact they jump when they catch flying insects. I know being bitten doesn't hurt much, and I know they eat bugs in my garden, but they make me wanna run inside and cry.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because of the really bad William Shatner movie I saw as a child. A horror movie involving pissed off tarantulas.
Oh, reading Florin's story about millipedes reminds me that yes, I do have a fear of one bug: SILVERFISH.
ReplyDeleteGoogle image search if you don't know what they are. You'll have nightmares for a month. The last place I lived was craaaaawling with them in the final few months I lived there. I shudder even thinking about them ugh
Oh we have them too. They are really horrible. Impossible to get rid of.
DeleteI read that you can put out bowls of borax in dark corners and that will supposedly kill them off. Didn't read that till after I moved, though, so I can't say whether or not it works.
DeleteI love possums, too. They get such a bad rap, they're really sweet animals.
ReplyDeleteRaccoons, on the other hand, are terrors. Don't let that sweet face fool you'll, they'll cut a bitch.
Earwigs.They crawl into your ears when you are asleep and eat your brains.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels - I wrote a paper on them in college. Rats with fur, that's all they are.
ReplyDeleteThe only animal i fear and give a wide bearth to are humans. There are cockroaches iris borers and spiders I don't like but I'm not afraid of them (anymore).
ReplyDeleteI might be afraid of fischers, I worry about my small dog at night when I let her out.
Alligators and crocodiles. I have had nightmares where I am trying to get my kids, my cats and my dogs safe from these speedy monsters.
ReplyDeleteRodents freak me the fuck out. There's so many critters running around these parts that not much bothers me anymore. Except the damn rodents.
ReplyDeleteSpiders.
ReplyDeleteI am terrified of spiders. After reading Momster's tarantula post, I am so glad to live in the Midwest where we don't have those. Sweet Jesus I think I'd die if I ever saw a tarantula in the wild.
ReplyDeleteI'm also scared of monkeys. Spider monkeys are the ultimate! Freak me out.
Pit Bulls and Rottwielers terrify me. I do know that they aren't all scary, but I've had too many incidents with the bad ones and they scare the shit outta me now.
ReplyDeleteIrrationally hate possums. Hate hate hate. Made my husband kill like 12 of them once in our yard. It was a horrible insane bloodbath. I was so ashamed.
ReplyDeleteHubby and youngest son are arachnophobes. Hubby is a burly, gun-toting GMan, so it's totally hilarious.
Another frog hater here. Toads, too. Mice, too.
ReplyDelete*Rottweilers
ReplyDeleteSpiders and dalmations. Spotted dogs be damned.
ReplyDeleteAny type of bug that appears to have fur or a ton of legs (tarantulas, caterpillars, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of dogs.
ReplyDeleteMy mum hates moths.
Spiders and Centipedes!!! And I too would die if I saw an actual tarantula in the wild. Just recently the story of the Australian community that was taken over by Wolfspiders almost gave me a heart attack! That's what nightmares are made of. Blachhhh
ReplyDelete@ susanb I had a squirrel bark/huff at me yesterday. Thought he was gonna run up on me. It was crazy.
ReplyDeleteMy son is seriously afraid of spiders, so I get the honor of removing them. I hate rats and cockroaches.
Big dogs Been bitten. Stitches. Not good
ReplyDeleteSharks. Absolutely. I don't care if I sound like a wuss, but _Jaws_ pretty much has kept me out of ocean water since I was about 12. And I live right next to the beach.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason tarantulas don't bother me as much as little spiders. I think it is because they are furry so it reminds me of animals haha.
ReplyDeleteAnyways I hate gorillas and killer whales. They both really freak me out for some reason.
Anything with more legs than I can count at first glance. And spiders.
ReplyDeleteIt's not so much that I am AFRAID of animals per se. I just think most of them are a bit gross...*L*
ReplyDeleteAnything wiggly like maggots totally skeeve me out. And I'm scared to death of pit bulls after a relative's little boy was attacked by one.
ReplyDeletePitties, actually, it's mostly some owners I'm afraid of... I had a bad experience with a pitty & a mastiff.
ReplyDeleteCan't stand earwigs or millipedes, especially those freaky ones that look like feathers. It just ain't right to have that many legs...
Ooh, and my other son hates monkeys, which I think is so weird. They freak him out because they're so human-like.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Maja - I'm not scared of anything, but there are some I'd prefer not to be in the company of... I love to draw insects (such amazing, diverse body structures) but I still shudder every time I try to draw an earwig. Blech!! Maggots and flies are things I'm not fond of either.
ReplyDeleteI concur with discoflux as well, the unknown beneath water I cannot see through freaks me the hell out! Snorkeling and seeing the huge drop off from shore to deep ocean is terrifying! =|
Laughing out loud at @judyg8or's story about the frogs and hitting the mailbox! And you a mail carrier, haha! Bet you had some 'splainin to do! ;-P
ReplyDeleteThere are these flying wombat beetle things that I have never seen in my life before moving to KY last yr. The first time I saw them they were swarming in masses around our outside garage light. I broke the lrg light bulb trying to kill them but they were EVERYWHERE.
ReplyDeleteApparently they are only around in the Spring for a short time, but they freak the crap out of me.
Zero fear of any animals or insects. Maybe I should, but I don't. Not even of the bears that mosey regularly through our yard.
ReplyDeleteIrrational fears - most bugs, especially spiders, also flying bugs that sting like bees & wasps.
ReplyDeleteWe had a spider that was practically as big as a small child in my laundry room once. Even hubby was afraid of it. It was a wolf spider. I live in NJ and we don't have the pleasure of free range tarantulas here! I would also have a coronary if I saw one outside. Exterminator told me bugs such as spiders and millipedes are predators and only come in to kill other things like crickets and ants. I read that baby powder will keep a lot of bugs away I think because it causes bugs to lose the stickiness on their feets.
Animals - not so much, although any of them can turn on you at any time.
Frufra, they really are human-like and it is so creepy! I have to walk past them at the zoo.
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely TERRIFIED of killer whales, to the point that I can't even look at a picture of one without freaking out. It's sort of funny that one of this site's frequent commenters has an avatar of a huge Shamu. I like reading her comments, but that pic is hard for me to look at :)
ReplyDeleteSpiders. Not the smaller ones with skinny legs - fat, hairy ones. Can. Not. Deal.
ReplyDeleteSPIDERS!!!
ReplyDeleteI could wallow in a pit full of snakes and be peachy keen. But the smallest spider raises an irrational fear in me...a true phobia! Outdoors I can mostly deal--they belong there. But inside? I freak.
Bats totally creep me out. My palms get sweaty if I see them on TV.
ReplyDeleteI pick-up spiders and take them outside before I'd ever squash one.
I have developed a fear of dogs. I won't pet a strange dog and always feel like they're looking at me thinking..."I know you're scared, so I'm gonna stare you down."
Ha Ha! Lauren has an irrational fear of Big Mama!!
ReplyDelete(I love here, too, and haven't seen her around lately)
I'm not afraid of most animals, I kinda like snakes, love our ground squirrels,love bats, they eat a lot of bugs. I don't like slugs though.
ReplyDeleteWe were rock climbing by a river in WA., and I placed my hand about a millimeter from a foot long banana slug, I believe I actually became airborn and took flight.
Raccoons are dangerous,we had a pond in the woods next to our house. Three huge raccoons lived there, they drowned our neighbors Lab. A dog in the water with them doesn't have a chance.
flying insects - bees and wasps, especially. Hate it that I can't kill bees anymore. But those freaking wasps better watch out.
ReplyDeleteAlso kind of scared of ants, but I kill them if I have to. Invading my house, etc.
Desperately afraid of deer ticks, but for completely different reason.....DO NOT WANT LYME DISEASE!!
snakes. even dead ones.
ReplyDelete@figgy It only really creamed one of the mailboxes, which I went back and replaced for the understanding homeowner that night. I just thank goodness for the nice man that was working in his yard and helped me. He took every box of mail out of my car and found the frog and removed it. Without him I would have had to call for a backup carrier, cuz I wasn't getting back in that car!!!
ReplyDeleteMOLES! OMG I can't even look at photos of them, they have these ... huge HANDS! Not paws, really. They look like giant clown-like hands and they freak me the heck out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm absolutely afraid of the creature in # 7 on this page. Giant man sized bat? Oh yes, definitely avoiding that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cracked.com/article_19817_18-images-you-wont-believe-arent-photoshopped-part-9_p2.html
Do butterflies count? Butterflies creep me out!
ReplyDeleteI don't like insects, but I'm not phobic about them per se--I just don't want to be surprised by them. (Tarantulas really do gross me out, though. *shudder*) Not crazy about snakes & toads, either, but at long as they keep their distance & don't bother me, then live & let live. I have a healthy fear of anything that could hurt or kill me (moose, bears, sharks, etc.), but again, it's not a phobia, just an extremely healthy respect and need to keep a very good distance away from them. (Yes, moose--my brother was trampled by one while hiking on Cannon Mt. in NH 20+ years ago. He came through it surprisingly well--some bumps, bruises, & a couple of nasty scalp lacerations from the edges of its hooves as it went over him--but others haven't been so lucky. I'll watch 'em from a distance, but that's all. Oh, and hold the Monty Python jokes, please...)
ReplyDeleteI've had a couple of roommates & friends who were totally phobic about spiders, to the point that even photos could make them freak out and leap backwards the length of a room.
(I still can't get over that my parents took us out to the Pittsburg, NH town dump 40 years ago at night to watch the black bears come & eat...at least, we kids stayed in the car, while our mom tried to take photos w/her Polaroid camera...ah, childhood memories...)
Seagulls, horrible, horrible things.
ReplyDeleteCentipedes - too many legs.
ReplyDeleteAt first I usually am....just went camping last weekend up north and the first morning I woke up super early. I walked outside our camp area to pee and BAM! a giant Elk staring at right at me about 5 feet away. It was amazing but scary at first.
ReplyDeleteAs my facebook friends can attest, I just love finding pictures of the grossest, creepiest, ugliest, scariest animals possible and using them as my avatar, lol. (Sorry for the trauma, guys!)
ReplyDeleteThe Lottery by Shirley Jackson probably didn't help, add daily news, revelations on this blog about what happens to young people in Hollywood all for fame and money, all I can say is - people scare the shit out of me. I'll take a spider/shark/bear/earwig over a person, especially one who is psychotic and lacks any empathy. <>
ReplyDeleteCamel spiders - if you have to SHOOT an insect, it's too big for me to like.
ReplyDeleteFrogs & Toads - those f*ckers are unpredictable, they can be sitting like nothing is happening, and then BAM! jump and change direction midair.
Octopus & Squid - I have a weird fear of being in water, but if there are creatures that are stretchy with suction cups, bird like beaks, lightening quick, AND don't blink in it - get me the f*ck out of there!
Now that I officially got my heart rate up, could that count for my exercise for the day??
Large spiders and snakes.
ReplyDelete@ Blankverse, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid of bats, snakes, and German Shepherds. Go figure. I guess I figure with spiders I could always step on them or hit them with a magazine. But I wouldn't want that theory to be tested...
ReplyDeleteWorms. Sad but true.
ReplyDeleteSnakes. Terrified to the point that I try not to go outside in warm/hot weather. Frogs aren't so great, either, for the jumping factor, as LM pointed out above.
ReplyDeleteNot crazy about ROUS, either. Possums are especially creepy.
Oddly enough, I'm totally cool with bugs and spiders.
I'm with Sussique - I will go out of my way to avoid even a snake corpse. Now that I have to do yardwork, I can at least be in the same vicinity with VERY SMALL grass snakes, but still have a serious phobia about anything bigger.
ReplyDeleteAnd rats - God I hate rats! Sleazy looking things!
Too true about raccoons - for being so cute, they sure are mean little bastards!
Pretty much everything else I can deal with.
Dinosaurs. I'm terrified of stupid dinosaurs. I don't even like farm equipment because it looks like a dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteWTF, Frufra?! That's horrible! I'm glad you are ashamed of the oppossum bloodbath! You should be!
ReplyDeleteWhile there are some animals I am not fond of -- rats, snakes, maggots, most insects -- there is only one animal I have a real, terrifying, irrational fear of. Here in Texas we have mutant cockroaches. They are, no joke, 2 to 4 inches long, can fly, and are not afraid of humans AT ALL. I am horribly, deathly afraid of them. If one gets in the house, I have been known to hyperventilate, have a panic attack, and/or faint. I am not kidding. It is a real phobia. One got in when I was letting the dogs out a few nights ago, and I thought I was going to die when I saw it. I started screaming for my brother and stood out in the hall hyperventilating and crying until he killed and flushed it. I hate them so, so much. If I had three wishes from a genie, one of those wishes would be the eradication of roaches.
I know a lot of people are afraid of sharks, but I've literally run into them so many times while SCUBA and skin diving that they are no big thing to me anymore. I will give the side-eye to an octopus, though. Those things are creepy.
@Tex - I know, I know. I was almost immediately horrified at how crazy I got. It was a momma with a bunch of creepy little babies all over her. I feel sick just thinking about it. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteAnd hubby was quick to point out that while I was all about ordering the hit, I didn't want to do the actual killing. So, I'm glad it was just possums that made me get a grip. I've repented :-).
Bees. I hate em. I'm like Indiana Jones with the snakes. They wig me the hell out. To this day I never did see that Bee Movie with Jerry Seinfeld.
ReplyDeleteI used to work for a wildlife santuary. There was a woman there that worked with wolves, lions, emus (don't laugh. They kick like a mule and they're mean). She was fearless. But let a moth fly into her office and she would scream in fear and hind under her desk until someone removed the offending winged beast.
ReplyDeleteSame place there was a woman who was afraid of june bugs. Not a day would go by without here mentioning it.
all dogs (biten too many times) and crows. crows to the point where i will pick up a stick if i'm walking and some of them land near me. the no arm thing freaks me out. what is that!? put arms on the damn body! and they will eat/peck anything, including each other if given the chance. disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI'm crazy afraid of riding an elephant -- which I found out the hard way in Laos. I was having full on panic attacks and hyperventilating.
ReplyDeleteI freak out at bugs in the house if there is someone else there. If I have no choice, I suck it up, put my big girl panties on, and spray away. Then I leave it to die for a day or two, until I'm 100% positive it won't move when I get rid of it. I seriously left a roach on its back for 3 days once.
Not a fan of any animal or insect that shows up outa nowhere, noiselessly. That wld your snakes, mice, creepy crawlies, rats, god i wld die!
ReplyDeletemice.
ReplyDeleteHere I am from the Florida Tourism Council (is there such a thing?) to strengthen your resolve to never live here.
ReplyDeleteLizards. Little nasty FAST lizards that are everywhere and might run across your foot or jump on you, which sometimes come in the house and the cat plays with them, and once when I was whacking with a broom at one that was in my bathroom, it stood up on its hind legs and roared at me.
Palmetto bugs. Giant flying roaches the size of your thumb that come in your house, especially when it rains, no matter how clean you are.
Sea gulls. Alligators. Weird things that live in the ocean which make me NEVER go in the water.
On the other hand, I lived in Oregon for two years and slugs used to come in the house. "shiver"
Snakes, snakes, and more snakes...I have dreams of Rattlesnakes chasing me down a hill me! I can see a snake in the distance anywhere around my property but if I'm surprised...I freak out.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that is completely irrational is a shark in a pool while I'm swimming, yes a pool. It's my worst nightmare. CSI Miami had an episode once where somebody let loose a shark in a pool full of partiers, I could barely watch it.
I don't think I saw this one in the comments, although i uickly skimmed...
ReplyDeleteI HATE fish. They can hang out in tanks that's ok, but I very rarely will go in to fresh water for fear of a fish touching me. I know they scare off easily but they just freak me out!
Also birds, moths/butterflies and rabbits... they jump so suddenly!
I'm a little neurotic...
My picture is pretty much my nightmare--->
ReplyDeleteI hate spiders, I swear in the night when it is quiet I can hear them walk. I am also dealing with a fear of very large dogs. We had a fantastic Mastiff that we got from a rescue. He died 8 months after we got him of cancer. The rescue then found another for us, but they didn't do any evaluation on it. It tried to attack my sister and I grabbed it and wrestled it out the back door. Didn't realize that it had chewed up my arms. Tore the nerves in my left arm so I can not use my arm. Constant electric shock pain. So now I am very leery of them. True story, when I worked in this one prison the cockroaches would fall from the ceilings and walls on you. At night in the parking lots we would all stand and shake out our coats and then put them in our trunks. We only wore our uniform coats into and out of work. These suckers were nasty.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like a lot of bugs - centipedes cause they move so damn sneaky and fast - spiders etc but nothing I am deathly afraid of ...except CLOWNS. I HATE CLOWNS - I will crawl into a corner, under a desk or just freeze where i am and curl up in the fetal position when I see one...God I need therapy LOL
ReplyDeleteBirds. My damn kids find a feather and attack me with it.
ReplyDeletefrog..those nasty, slimy bastards..I know they have retractable claws and fangs..I know it..
ReplyDelete*FROGS* all logic disappears when the topic comes into conversation..yucky little monsters.
ReplyDeleteOh Syko, I am so with you on the palmetto bugs. I was once driving, and suddenly I noticed there was one huge mother on the inside of my windshield, fortunately, on the passenger side. I was on the highway and couldn't stop, so I opened the passenger window, hoping it would fly out. No such luck. When I finally got to my destination, I swear to God, I jumped out of the car screaming, until some nice person helped me and got it out.
ReplyDeleteSpiders too. They gross me out beyond words.
@old ;ady...how could fish have slipped my mind? I won't go swimming in anything but a clear pristine chlorinated pool for fear of touching a fish. I have in the past owned aquariums and lived in fear of a fish jumping out and flopping itself to death on the floor while I leaped onto furniture screaming madly.
ReplyDeleteI don't like squirrels either. Too...squirrelly. The way they twitch. Ew!
I am not really worried about any. I camp often in remote places, can't really do that in Australia if you're scared of bugs, snakes or spiders. Contrary to popular belief there aren't that many things that kill you here.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a few sharks whilst diving including a juvenile great white, that was a little scary.
@judyg8or - OMG! I totally feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit funny about sharks when I'm in the ocean - we have shark nets surrounding our coastline which actually makes me feel less safe. Sometimes if you're really lucky you can see them just off the coastline.
ReplyDeleteother than that, i love all animals. we have a python that lives under the house and eats all the rodents, a bandicoot and an echnida who seem to have a territory off every few weeks or so, golden crown snakes and blue tongue lizards, eastern water dragons and more bird life than you can poke a stick at.
And i haven't even started on the spiders!
Jellyfish. Got smacked by the tentacles a couple times and now I feel like every time I go in the ocean in going fo get stung. And any jumping bug.
ReplyDelete@ Syko - thank you not !! for the reminder about Palmetto bugs.... some of them are bigger than me, I swear. A disgruntled SoFl resident.
ReplyDeleterats & roaches!
ReplyDelete@zeldafitzgerald where are you living? You're naming Australian animals but your profile says you're in the US.
ReplyDeleteIn Alabama in the early fall, it is love bug mating season. They are literally everywhere, flying around mating in mid air. I drove through it absolutely petrified. I still am surprised that I didn't crash the car, or get stopped for speeding (though in retrospect, the cops probably didn't want to walk outside in them either). When I got to the Florida coast and got out of my car, my fender was covered in dead live bugs. Worst bug experience ever. Apparently it happens every year. I wonder how people are able to survive that month down there year after year
ReplyDeleteany kind of rodent scares the crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteI loathe spiders, anything that jumps like grasshoppers, frogs, toads. Hate insects, stick insects give me the heeby jeebees. In my part of Australia they seem to breed bigger. I have never seen bigger grasshoppers than the ones on my roses in front of our house. Spiders are big, the mosquitoes (which don't worry me) look like they take steroids. For those who hate cockroaches, we have massive cockroaches and ones that fly as well. I still love Australia, but the bugs! The poster who wrote about Emus, yes they are nasty. I also don't like dogs off leads, I hate being barked at walking past someone's house or being approached by a dog in my local bottles hop because the dog park is next to it and they can't be bothered getting their dogs under control.
ReplyDeleteMy husband hates snakes and kangaroos.
I am terrified of whales.
ReplyDelete@feraltart, @texshan, @syko: Giant FLYING cockroaches? I'd die. I couldn't deal with that. I feel sick just imagining it!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of swans. I once had a swan come up out of a lake and chase me. Ever since then I will only watch them from afar. Swans are mean.
ReplyDeletenutria and opossums. tools of the devil both.
ReplyDeleteI can't deal with horses. They terrify me. Can barely breathe when they are anywhere around. I swear they come at me, show their teeth and would bite me if given the chance. Luckily they are not to difficult to mostly stay far away from.
ReplyDeleteUgh, palmetto bugs! That's tops on my list for why I don't miss living in SC.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be easier for me to name the things I'm not afriad of. ;) Worst fear is probably snakes, especially water moccasins.