By: Rachael Komulainen (written June 2007)

Fear is something we all have to some degree. Most people carry a certain amount of fear of circumstances like drowning, losing a loved one, getting in a car crash, or contracting an incurable disease. While most of these probably won‘t happen, they are still possibilities and do actually happen to people we know. Unnatural fears occurring, however, have a slim-to-none chance of actually becoming reality. For instance, growing up in a land-locked state like Iowa and being deathly afraid of sharks. The chances that this person would ever even see a live shark in an aquarium is very small, let alone being put in a situation where he/she was attacked by a shark. While it could happen, the odds of: being attacked by a shark, being abducted by a serial killer, crashing in an airplane, being stuck alone on an island, falling off of a very tall building, being buried alive, being attacked by thousands of spiders, or the parachute not opening up when skydiving are almost incalculable. Yes, we’ve all heard the stories where it has happened but it’s not usually someone we know, and it is usually such a unique occurrence that it is newsworthy.

Like most people I know, I had (notice I said “had”) an unnatural fear. I have had an unnatural fear my entire life of: snakes. Thinking about it logically, the whole idea is preposterous and absurd. I hadn’t been bitten by a snake as a child, and I didn’t grow up in an area of venomous snakes. There was absolutely no good reason to have this crippling fear. For someone like myself (who has a fear of almost nothing), it really weighed on my mind. Actually, for someone who had spent a lifetime around a large variety of animals, it was absolutely unacceptable and detrimental. So… I made a very conscious decision to overcome my fear.

The first step with overcoming any fear is to really analyze the real root of the fear. What exactly was I afraid of? I thought long and hard about that question and I realized it was a multitude of answers. Snakes were slippery, they had no legs, they were aggressive, they would strike and bite if you got close, and, even if they weren’t venomous, the impact of the bite would send me into shock and I’d die of a heart attack. Okay, for all you snake people out there, I know, it is absolutely illogical and stupid thinking. What can I say: that is exactly what an unnatural fear is. So now that I had gotten to the root of the problem, the next step was going to have to be… what to do about it.

For the last seven years, I’ve been around a huge variety of wild and exotic animals at several different facilities. It wasn’t until one year ago this month that I had the opportunity to actually start working with snakes. At the first meeting, I got up the nerve to touch a couple of snakes. The second time, I actually held a snake -- although I’ll admit I was very aware of where the head was located at all times. By the third and fourth times, I was actually picking up and putting back a couple of the snakes in their enclosures. The larger the snake, the more comfortable I was with it. The smaller and quicker, the least comfortable I was with it. This meant that the snake over eight feet long was no problem but the small California king snake was my biggest challenge. California king snakes are very quick and they actually ‘musk,’ meaning that a yellowish-type smelly substance comes out of the snake -- it’s part of their defense mechanisms. To be honest, the musk didn’t bother me, though. It was the quickness and the fact that the head was the same size as the body, so it was hard to determine the head from the tail when it was moving so quickly. It is equally important to mention, however, that it wasn’t just the handling of the snakes but rather it was getting educated about snakes that was going to help me conquer my fear.

I’ve found in life that educating oneself about the things you are afraid of is the very best cure to the situation. I learned that snakes aren’t slimy at all, in fact, they are very smooth and soft and supple. And, most snakes don’t strike unless they feel threatened or they think there is food to eat. The most important thing, for me, was learning that snakes have poor eyesight. They basically see shadows. Furthermore, they can’t hear -- they feel vibrations. And, they don‘t have a sense of smell. Instead, snakes have forked tongues and a Jacobson’s organ. This means that when their forked tongue comes out of their mouth, it collects air molecules and they bring them back into their head. From there, the fork inserts into two holes in the roof of the mouth, from which point a signal is sent to the brain telling the snake what is in it’s environment. Is it food? Is it a predator? Is it nothing important? Learning all of this, and actually feeling the muscles work under the skin when holding the snakes really taught me to appreciate them. Once I was able to hold them and educate myself about them, it opened up a whole other world to me. I was now able to really admire their beauty and the place they have in the environment. They are amazing animals, and quite frankly, it’s a shame that I spent so many years not having them be a part of my life in the animal world. Right now, we only have one snake resident at PV but that will change in the future. Our girl, Cleopatra, is a really special snake. She has a neat personality and is on the shy side, which is quite cute to watch.

The moral of the story is: so much can be gained by taking the initiative and overcoming an unnatural fear

-- whatever your particular fear is. I’m a stronger and better person because I forced myself to face my fear. And, I’ve had a whole new world (the snake world) open up to me. When kids come on our fieldtrips, I really encourage everyone to look at/touch the animals that I bring around. On every trip, there are always some people present that not only won’t touch but won’t even look at certain animals. The animals it seems that most people have an unnatural fear of are: snakes and arachnids. When, on the occasions, I am able to convince someone who is deathly afraid of snakes to touch Cleopatra, I feel a sense of accomplishment because every time the person has told me afterward that they were surprised at how the snake felt and it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be. I watch the curiosity and appreciation build up in their eyes. Now, they have come from a place of fear to one of respect, like me. And, that is truly an awesome thing.

So, if you come visit us and I’m around and you want to see a snake or an arachnid or a lizard up close because that is your fear and you are working on it, just let me know and I’ll be happy to help. And, for all the other unnatural fears out there: good luck conquering them because it’s a great feeling when you do!