Ophidiophobia - The Fear of Snakes

It is reported that nearly one third of adults are ophidiophobic. So if you are in a group of more than three, chances are you are either that one, or someone close to you is that person! Comforting isn't it?
The fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias in the world, and it is no wonder! I mean...have you ever seen a snake? shudder
Here at F & P Explained we want to take a close look at these phobias and give you the information you need to evaluate the threat and decide for yourself if your fear is justified. So how about those snakes!
In the writing of this article we scoured numerous sources of information including websites looking for information. A list of links to some these will be provided at the end of this post.
Lets start with some cold hard facts.

• The types of venomous snakes in the US include rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths/water moccasins, and coral snakes.
• The largest number of bites occurs from the rattlesnake family.
• In the US every year and estimated 7000-8000 people are bitten by a venomous snake.
• Of this 7000-8000 snakebite victims approximately 0.2% are fatal, which means your chances of dying from snakebite are approximately 1/500. One of the sites I visited (The Department of Defense) listed the chances as 1/467, which is still pretty good!
• One interesting fact is that about 3000 cases of snakebite each year occur from the elbow to the hand, which means they likely occurred while someone was trying to handle or disturb the snake. Stop people from doing that and you lower the odds even more!
• More men are bitten than ladies, with the highest percentage of those bites occurring in males between the ages of 18-28 (go figure).
• North Carolina(my home State)has the highest percentage of reported snakebites: 19 bites per 1000 people as opposed to the national average of 4 bites per 1000.
• Copperheads and Cottonmouths make up approximately 35% of all snakebites in the US. The American Association of Poison Control Centers have not reported one death from these bites since they started issuing reports in 1983.
• Rattlesnake bites comprise nearly 3/4 of all venomous bites. There are an average of 5.5 deaths as a result of venomous snakebite each year in the US.( I don't know what half a death looks like, but that is the figure!) The majority of these are from Rattlesnake bites. Incidence of mortality is dramatically decreased with the administration of anti-venom.
• The greatest danger of death comes from the bite of the rattlesnake family. This is probably because their toxin is extremely potent and there are more species of rattlesnake in the US than any other venomous snake.

So What Have We Learned?

• There is a very low chance of death from a snake bite in the US.
• There is a 1/3 lower chance if you just leave the snake alone!
• Rattlesnakes are not your friends!
• Odds are that you will die of old age before you die of snakebite, or are even bitten by a venomous snake.
• With the current US population you have a .0025% chance of being bitten this year. Significantly less if you are not a male between the ages of 18-28!
• Essentially you have a 1 in 4 million chance of even being bitten and an unbelievably low chance of dying from snake bite any time soon!

So Is the Fear of Snakes Justified?

• Probably not, but that won't stop anyone! Snakes just have a way of striking fear into our hearts. Maybe its that whole garden of Eden thing. What do you think?

- Posted for Your Entertainment!

Sources among others:

American Academy of Family Physicians
Alabamaherps.com
The Center for Disease Control
Center for Disease Control