Specific Animal Phobias?

M

Mbwamwitu

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Anyone here have a strong or even debilitating phobia of a specific animal, especially one that isn't harmful. I'm talking unwarranted phobias that prevent you from looking at the animal, reading about it, discussing it, etc. And, of course, handling.

I'm asking because I've had a highly specific phobia of geckos for many years now. Most non-animal folks can't understand how I'm comfortable (and excited) to handle monitors, iguanas, chameleons, calotes, etc. but act like a bed-wetting three-year-old around this one group of reptiles. It didn't really matter much to my life (besides under-appreciating zoo collections and pets) when I lived in the US, but I'm in India during the monsoon for the first time in 10 years, and came very close to embarrassing myself when I spotted a gecko hanging out 2 feet from my face on the wall at my workplace.

Wondering if anyone else has these species/group-specific, irrational phobias and how y'all deal with it. Or am I the only nut job that's struggling to suck it up and pretend a gecko is a Komodo dragon XD
 
Spiders. Not unusual I know, but for the longest time I can't even look at pictures of them, especially of their eyes, there's something about spider eyes that just freaks me out. I can just about deal with the colourful peacock spiders, but only because they show up on Facebook so often I've had to learn, otherwise my phone would be thrown across the room too often.

Thankfully it's easy enough to avoid spiders in zoos. I've been into the spider walkthrough at ZSL London Zoo twice, somehow, but I'm not in much of a rush to go back!
 
Believe it or not, but dogs :p my phobia has reduced drastically in the last decade or so after Helly's family ended up owning two dogs, due to the simple fact of constant exposure, but it used to be a full-blown irrational terror - to the point that well into my late teens it was not unknown for me to reflexively run into the middle of the road to get away from a dog walking towards me in public. However, even then I didn't have a problem with images or videos of dogs, nor other members of the canid family :p just dogs in the flesh without anything between them and myself.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Believe it or not, but dogs :p my phobia has reduced drastically in the last decade or so after Helly's family ended up owning two dogs, due to the simple fact of constant exposure, but it used to be a full-blown irrational terror - to the point that well into my late teens it was not unknown for me to reflexively run into the middle of the road to get away from a dog walking towards me in public. However, even then I didn't have a problem with images or videos of dogs, nor other members of the canid family :p just dogs in the flesh without anything between them and myself.
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That's a more important reason for you to not go to Asia then! I don't have an actual phobia about dogs, but they are the one thing that scares me when travelling.
 
Harvestmen and, to a slightly smaller degree, daddy long-legs spiders. There's just something about the abnormally long legs and the way they make the animals move that creeps me out. I have no any problems with spiders with normal-length legs.

It's not an extremely strong phobia as I can deal with them being nearby as long as I don't have to touch them. Unlike those who are afraid of tarantulas or snakes, I at least don't have to see the object of my fear in every single zoo I go to. (Well, not in a captive state, anyway)
 
Mice and rats, especially the house mouse and the brown/Norway/sewer rat. I hate them and they really scare me. Once I've seen one - usually scurrying around is a creepy way - I usually have to leave the space or area I've seen them in to remain functional, so I guess the phobia is bad enough. I can however stand watching an exhibit with rats or mice as long as they are behind a complete barrier (a walkthrough with mice or rats I couldn't handle though), but I still don't like these vermin exhibits, as I've explained on this forum before.

Also, wasps (and hornets). I can't stand them near me, and unfortunately for some reason unclear to me during wasp season wasps always seem interested in coming near me at pretty much anytime and even more so when I'm eating or drinking. I haven't been stung before, I'm not allergic, and yet wasps scare the hell out of me and I'm often unable to remain calm and collected when they start bothering me. Nowadays during wasp season I generally carry a roller stick of insect repellent when I go somewhere they might me - which helps in keeping them away.
 
For a small time, I was afraid of Milwaukee County Zoos Gorillas, I no longer have this phobia and it was only the exhibit at Milwaukee when I had this phobia
 
American Black Vulture. Started after getting tackled by a captive one once. Long as there's a barrier, I'm fine. But no barrier makes me edgy...
 
Beetle pupae, and other generally gross looking insect pupae. But mostly beetles. Especially the gross ones where they're all spiky or otherwise gross looking. I much prefer my bugs that start as nymphs and just molt progressively larger. Butterflies get a pass as their chrysalises are generally visually inoffensive.

Also this is no longer an issue for me, but much like TLD and Kevin, dogs (and also small rodents in general). They didn't scare me as animals, nor did I care about pictures of videos of them, or as long as they were behind a barrier, but in the flesh, I was not a fan, to say the least. I am glad to say, however, that I have for the most part overcome this fear. I'm still a little leery around large, somewhat more "in your face" dogs, and particularly shifty looking squirrels, however I feel like this is just normal self preservation, as opposed to any phobias.
 
I know of a couple of people, living in the UK (so little chance of accidentally running into one) who have a phobia of elephants, images and models as well as the real thing -when questioned one of them suggested it was their relatively small eyes that freaks him out.
 
My partner has a real phobia of any kind of water snake or eel. She can deal with land snakes, tree snakes, but put them in water, from an anaconda to an elver in water and shes freaked. I remember the first time I showed her the tentacled snakes at Chester, ..... we didn't talk much for a while after that one.....
 
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