Fear of reptiles exceedingly common

By Daniela Piteo

Posted 1 year ago

Between Jennifer's paralyzing fear of snakes and my unease around birds, there was nary a pavilion we could enter at the Toronto Zoo. Happy Birthday, Sebastian.

Back in October 2008, Jen and I decided to take Sebastian to the Toronto Zoo to celebrate his second birthday. We thought it would be a fun day for all of us and for the most part, it was.

We only encountered one problem ¬– each time we walked into a pavilion we had to turn around and leave.

If it wasn't the giant anaconda that caused Jen hysterics, it was some sort of condor that thrust me into the throes of a nervous breakdown.

Into the pavilion we would go, squeal in horror, and leave straight away.

All the while, Sebastian had his own look of horror on his face.

"This is my idiotic pedigree," his brow screamed.

My fear of birds pales in comparison to Jen's phobia of snakes. This anxiety she feels, according to my mother, has been with her since infancy.

And of course, I knew this, so I would exploit it.

I was a bit of a tyrant as an older sister and I would find cruel and unusual ways to torment Jen.

My favorite shenanigan involved a library card, of all things. We had gotten into some sort of squabble and I wanted to come out the winner, in a Machiavellian sort of way.

I had found a picture book of venous snakes at our school library. I signed it out, brought it home, surveyed the book and found the creepiest looking Serpentes Linnaeus. I left the book open, placed it under her pillow and gently atop her pajamas. It would be the last thing she saw before she went to bed. It was evil genius, I thought.

First there was the screaming. Then tears, hers, followed by laughter, mine.

Jen may be alone in having an awful sister, but her phobia is shared with many people, in fact, according to an article published in LiveScience, it is the most common fear.

Research has discovered that humans have evolved an innate sense of fear – a mechanism of the psyche that has enabled the human species ability to survive.

"Psychologists found that both adults and children could detect images of snakes among a variety of non-threatening objects more quickly than they could pinpoint frogs, flowers or caterpillars. The researchers think this ability helped humans survive in the wild," Clara Moskowitz wrote.

Well Jen, we are surviving. Jen might also be pleased to discover that with age, my fear of reptiles has increased tremendously.

What has been said about payback? Right, right, the very same word Jen often uttered when describing her mean older sister.

I was recently sent out on assignment to interview Mike London, of London's Reptile House.

London, very kind and well educated in the field of exotic animal rescue, sat with my in his shop to field a few questions.

Caiman lizards, snakes, an alligator, turtles and even a monkey surrounded us. I was terrified. I could barely breathe. I felt a cold sweat building from beneath my clothing.

Behind me, a overzealous iguana, Luigi, kept tapping on the glass trying to get attention. I wouldn't acknowledge him. He was relentless and kept tapping, tapping and tapping.

I wanted to turn around and scream at him, "You are an ugly, creepy little freak," but that would have meant I had to look at him.

Who knows, maybe he wanted to yell the same thing at me.

My chest squeezed tighter with each question I asked London. All journalistic integrity was gone.

My hands were shaking and every so often I would drop my pencil. I wouldn't pick it up. It meant something might catch my eye and I couldn't risk it.

I guess I owe my sister an apology.