Sandbox Studios: 52@40: Fear

I had a hard time putting my finger on a fear I could address. Not that I'm fearless, but most of my fears are more complex than a one week project. After some discussion with Kris, I decided to revisit my past fear of snakes. For me, this was a fear I developed over time. As a child, I was fascinated by snakes. I had caught Garder and King snakes as pets when we lived in California. I even built a large wood and screen box to temporarily keep them in as short term pets.

Things changed when I went off by myself to Boy Scout leadership camp for a week in the arid mountains in Southern California. The place was literally crawling with rattlesnakes. All of the campers went through extensive training on how to treat snake bites. This training was of little comfort to me when every footstep down the camp's high grass paths was responded to with the warning rattles of one or more hiding snakes. Many a rattler was killed that week and as much as I cared for snakes I couldn't find much sympathy for these perceived devils.

About a decade later I was doing an internship at a Planetarium on a narrow strip of land between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers called the "Land between the Lakes" on the Tennessee and Kentucky border. This was a land filled with snakes, Water Moccasins and rattlers. It seemed like everywhere I went, hiking, driving, swimming, there were snakes. Some interns told stories of coming upon snakes crossing the main two lane road that spanned both lanes. I had many a "relaxing" swim or float on an air mattress interrupted by a shout from shore to "hold still" as a water moccasins swam within a matter of inches. I wasn't too fond of these very poisonous snakes in the water, but my biggest scare occurred when I was running from the lake to the car in my bare feet and in mid-stride noticed a huge snake, coiled to strike, right in front of me. I think my heart stopped a couple of times as I miraculously sailed over it. It took me at least a half hour to gather the courage to walk back to the lake to get my shoes, towel and air mattress. I don't think my nervous system has ever fully recovered.

As a result of these experiences I had grown to be a bit nervous around all snakes. And since I have not seen many snakes during my 15+ years in Minnesota, I thought that it was time to revisit my nemesis.

Looking for snakes at the Reptile Discovery Center at the National Zoo, Washington DC. Unfortunately the Reptile building was closed. My luck...

While not a snake, the Kamoto Dragon at the National Zoo congered up many of the same emmotions.

Petting the Albino Corn Snake at the Minnesota Zoo's Zoolab. This was a totally non-threatening snake. Definitely more scared of me than I was of it.

One of the Boa Constrictors at the Minneasota Zoo seemed a bot more imposing.

While not poisonous, this snake was strong enough to deserve some respect. After a couple of minutes we had both decided that we weren't enemies. Friends?