Ophidiophobia

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=152565

Ever wonder why snakes made the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Or why you start shaking when you see a snake? Studies suggest that you have a good reason to be afraid of these reptiles. There is a documentation stating that a small tribe in the Philippines was the first to notice how dangerous these creatures can be. For the Agta Negritos of Luzon Island this is still true. Anthropologist Thomas N. Headland went to this island to interview those who had been attacked by pythons. The ones who lived to tell the story bared scars from the encounter. "This amounted to one 'traumatic python incident' -- either fatal or nonfatal -- every two or three years, the authors stated." According to reasearch an adult man was little over half the mass of a large female python, which wasn't a big meal according to snake standards. But the natives of the island too feed on the snakes. It was recorded that a 23ft long python was killed and provided 55 lbs. of meat. "And modern-day psychiatrist Dr. Bryan Bruno, acting chairman of the department of psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, agreed that the lingering fear people have today may indeed date back to human ancestors who were even more vulnerable to serpent attacks." It is said that "The fear, is 'human universal'."

This is quite shocking to me because personally I love snakes and the thought of one eating me isn't all that pleasent. I won't just be terrified of snakes after I read that but some people could be. For example ones that don't like snakes to begin with might classify this as one of the reasons. It's kind of like a food chain. The natives eat the snakes and the snakes eat the natives. I could understand this to be something tramatic especially if I saw it happen or a snake actually attacked me. Then perhaps I would be afraid of snakes, but only that specific type of snake. Others might hate snakes all together and would be those to shake or whose hairs raise.