Behind the Bluff
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Behind the Bluff
Why Are We So Afraid of Snakes? | Aaron Palmieri
Aaron Palmieri from the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy returns to debunk myths about snakes and help listeners develop a healthier relationship with these often-misunderstood creatures. We explore why people fear snakes, the ecological benefits they provide, and how to safely respond to snake encounters in the wild.
• Most snake fears are learned behaviors, not innate reactions
• Palmetto Bluff is home to 23 snake species, with only 5 being venomous
• Copperheads are the most common venomous snake in the area
• Snakes are essential for controlling rodent, slug, and other pest populations
• The safest response to encountering a snake is to simply stop and go around it
• In case of a venomous bite, go directly to a hospital instead of trying home remedies
• Snake bites at Palmetto Bluff are extremely rare with only two documented cases
• Exposure therapy through educational programs can help overcome snake fears
• All snakes prefer to avoid humans rather than confront them
• Understanding snake behavior can replace fear with appreciation and respect
The next time fear shows up in your life, take a breath, check in with your gratitude, and remind yourself that you don't need control to live fully. You just need the willingness to take the next step.
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, jeff Ford, and I'm joined once again by Aaron Palmieri, educator for the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy. You may remember Aaron from past episodes because he helped us see birds and alligators in a whole new light. That's right, Don't be a chicken tender. But today's topic might just make your heart race a bit more, not from fear, but from fascination. They're stealthy, they're essential to our ecosystem and they often show up when we least expect them to. That's right, folks. We're talking about snakes, aaron. Welcome back. Glad to be back. Snakes are definitely a fear of mine, so I am hopeful that you can change my perspective and, I assume, a lot of listeners perspectives out there. Let's go ahead, jump right in. They do seem to inspire more fear than most animals in humans. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2:So a lot of it's taught, learned behavior or taught behavior, and that's, I mean, that's been the case for a couple millennia. Um you, I mean think back to the Bible, the garden of Eden. What is the creature used to represent Satan? Serpent A serpent. Yeah, we've been raised to fear snakes and actually it's from the time that we're a newborn that those start to be put into, put into us. So, for example, there was a study where they took newborns and had them in a room with a non-venomous snake and in a natural setting.
Speaker 1:I'm glad it's non-venomous, yeah, non-venomous.
Speaker 2:And they would. I mean, they just kind of sat there. There's no, there was indifference to the snake. But then they had some newborns where when the snakes were present the researchers would play like a loud or startling noise and that started to create a fear response. So now, even without the noise, those infants in the presence of snakes would be unhappy. Wow, I even witnessed it with a guest here at the Bluff back in June, I believe A grandmother was here with her granddaughter and we had a corn snake and I bring out the corn snake and the granddaughter at first was fascinated. The grandmother deathly afraid, like she turned around she was hiding in the corner, she wanted nothing to do with that corn snake, nothing to do with it. And the granddaughter instantly was picking up on that and started responding the same way Okay.
Speaker 1:So it's definitely environmental, it's we are taught that to fear snakes, and so that's just kind of over time stayed with us. Yeah, you know what I don't like about snakes? They don't have legs and things without legs make me a little bit uncomfortable. What about dolphins? I love dolphins. They don't have legs. Yeah, you've smashed my fear connection.
Speaker 2:The way they move can be unsettling for people. I understand that A dolphin has that very graceful arching, whereas a snake, depending on the conditions it's having to move through, it, tends to have that serpentine S formation. Some species might move in a very straight line.
Speaker 1:They're more unpredictable. Almost that could be partly why we fear them, and they seem faster than they are. Okay, so they're not as fast as we might assume no.
Speaker 2:So one of our fastest species in this area is the black racer, and on a flat highway they only get up to less than five miles an hour.
Speaker 1:And when you say a black racer, that's a type of snake Correct.
Speaker 2:That's a very common snake species. If you see a long, slender black snake here at Palmetto Bluff, it's a black racer. Okay, Non-venomous black Non-venomous.
Speaker 1:That's one thing I do know about snakes. But I know we're going to dive deeper. I was actually walking into the Moreland gyms this was last week and I saw a I can't be sure what type it was, obviously, but it was like crawling through like the doorway a little bit, and that's that's kind of what I equate this fear to is like they're sometimes in places that you're not expecting to see something moving around.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. Yeah, I mean there are some species like the rat snake. They love to eat rodents and so if a rodent can get into a place, the rat snakes figure out how to get to that same place it's like a uh dinner table for them exactly that tends to be the species that winds up in people's homes the most is rat snake, okay, which people then put their animosity towards the snake, but really they should be going.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've had a rat snake trying to be in my house. Maybe I should go check out if I have a rodent issue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's almost a warning sign because I know we're about to dive into it. The ecological benefit of snakes is much far reaching than we give it credit for, absolutely Okay. So let's go ahead and dive into species. How many snake species live at Palmetto Bluff we could generalize to South Carolina and how many are actually venomous?
Speaker 2:So at a state level we have 38 species of snake. Six of those are venomous. At Palmetto Bluff we have documented 23 species and we've documented five of the venomous snakes. Now, five out of the six in the state. Correct, correct? Okay. Now, some people might not like those odds. However, of these 23 species, a lot of them are really rare or uncommon. I still like some of the ones that we've documented I have not gotten to see, or they haven't been seen in years, um so where, on property, do the majority of snakes or like to be?
Speaker 2:I'm away from us okay okay, I mean they are going to be in natural habits. There are some that are more generalist and adaptable than others. So, like, black racers are going to be a bit more common around the house. Um, in the case of venomous snakes, if you're going to encounter a venomous snake, it's probably going to be a copperhead. They're the most adaptable of the venomous snakes. Um, but areas that have a lot of road traffic tend to start seeing a lot, a lot fewer uh snakes okay.
Speaker 1:So like any other species or animal, once there's more people around, more movement, more action, like roads, they tend to stay away yeah, and it's not because they're going, oh I don't want to cross, that that's not safe.
Speaker 2:It's a case of they get run over and so they just their populations decline that way. And that's not because they're going, oh I don't want to cross, that that's not safe. It's a case of they get run over and so their populations decline that way. And that's not to say you can't find them in the middle of development. Just yesterday afternoon I went and got a rat snake from the Wilson Village post office.
Speaker 1:No way. Did someone give you a call?
Speaker 2:Yep Allison. Over at the post office she called saying that she had a scaly friend trying to get some mail scaly. So I shot up there and it was right between the post office and real estate at the time and scooped it up and everyone that was there that was like oh, I'll just start talking about them. And then I took them across the bridge to a wooded area and let them go there nice.
Speaker 1:Are you the catch and release expert for snakes when found?
Speaker 2:and on property. So everyone on the conservancy team helps with these calls and we do train security to also help with calls as well. So we do a wildlife training class for security on property. Now they tend to be first line of contact because they have a 24-7 presence, but in situations where if you have our direct line or if it's something that they don't feel comfortable handling, then yeah call us Makes sense.
Speaker 1:That's great to understand that security is involved in this as well, since obviously there's animals coming out of the woodwork at any time of day. Oh yeah, what's the easiest way for someone to tell if a snake is dangerous or not?
Speaker 2:So to tweak that a little bit so to tell if it's a venomous snake or not. So to tweak that a little bit so to tell if it's a venomous snake or not, the best way is just learning those five species I mean of all the species, as long as you know. All right, these are what the five venomous snakes on property look like. You're going to make it a lot easier on yourself In terms of dangerous. These snakes want absolutely nothing to do with us, so most danger comes from us running and hurting ourselves or attempting to pick up or kill the snake okay, so a snake will only be dangerous if we do something we're not supposed to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a great saying from the 50s that snakes are first, first cowards, then bluffers and last of all warriors. Cowards, bluffers, warriors, yep, because if we put ourselves in the snakes, I'd say shoes, but they don't have them. If we put ourselves in their shoes, us coming up to a snake is like King Kong or Godzilla coming up to us, right. And if King Kong comes and picks us up, we're probably going to be a little freaked out, right? Yeah, or King Kong comes over us with a giant metal blade, we're probably going to be a little freaked out.
Speaker 1:It's great to understand that from that context. And just FYIs of what to think about when seeing a snake and if you're going to approach one. Now, if someone does encounter a snake in their yard, we know that the pitchfork shovel is not the approach. Maybe they come across a snake on a trail. What's the safest response?
Speaker 2:Stop. You can pull out your phone, take a picture and just go around it Like River Road. Preserve that main trail you should have, even if that snake's in the dead center of the trail going along the edge, that's plenty of space. And if you go on the tail side, I mean that snake's probably going to continue slithering in the direction it was going okay. And because also in that case of them first being cowards, one of their first instincts is kind of freeze and assess the situation, because some are relying on camouflage, others are just trying to figure out do I need to go fast? Do I need to defend myself?
Speaker 1:They're thinking through their next move Exactly. Now let's go back to copperhead. We know that that's the most common of the venomous. I'd love for you to describe a copperhead more, so that listeners can not only go online, do their research, really understand what this snake looks like, but give them some kind of key takeaways from a safety perspective.
Speaker 2:Right. So copperheads are a member of the pit viper family. Most of our pit vipers are kind of fat and chunky body-wise, so you're going to have a head, a notable neck, a fat, chunky body and an itty-bitty thin tail. A notable neck, a fat, chunky body and an itty-bitty thin tail. Pattern-wise, their coloration tends to be tan and brown and they're going to look like they have either Hershey Kisses or Hourglasses on their back.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's very descriptive. Yep, Now have you come across a lot of.
Speaker 2:Copperheads on property. I mean again, that's our most common venomous snake. This year I don't think I have actually I've personally seen any copperheads. We do have a resident who seems to be the snake whisperer and she sees snakes all the time. I have a feeling you probably even know who she is. I keep telling her I need her to join me on snake walks, but she hasn't taken me up on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but if there's a snake, she seems to find it.
Speaker 2:Yep. She joined me on a turtle program and we saw three different snake species, including a gorgeous timber rattlesnake. Wow, I mean like gorgeous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that homing mechanism. That's pretty cool. Now let's get into seasonality. One of the big things that I think is important with these types of episodes is providing listeners to put up their their guard when they're more likely to see an alligator or a snake. Could you walk us through when we're more likely to see snakes?
Speaker 2:so probably the two most common times of year tend to be spring and fall. You can absolutely see them in the summer and absolutely see them in the winter. So during the winter time I mean for anyone that's been here in the winter you know we have mild winters. If we have some warm days, you'll, you might see them out and about, probably not eating, because you never know when the next cold spells come in. But that's the first time I saw a red-bellied snake on property.
Speaker 1:I was in the winter time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was doing a walk in december and it was a mild enough day and I only did. I see one, but we saw two at a distance. They weren't together in the summer. Even the reptiles say it's too hot, and so snakes do become more nocturnal in the summer because, and to get the heat, they'll just go on to paved roads or any other type of bare surface that built up heat during the day, and that's how they'll help make sure that their bodies um functioning properly. But the reason why spring and fall, spring tends to be when most of our snakes mate, and then the fall is when majority of them either give birth or the eggs hatch, because some snakes lay eggs and others give life birth now are there different genders with snakes?
Speaker 2:um in what sense? Like male female?
Speaker 1:oh, yeah, yeah, you have male snakes.
Speaker 2:Female snakes um, as far as I'm aware of, none of our species have been documented asexually reproducing.
Speaker 1:Okay, um, there are some lizard species that have in the world, but I don't know if any snake species have I knew there were some creatures that didn't necessarily need the mate, but sounds like snakes. Springtime, that's when it's happening. Courtship, let's move forward off of some of the safety FYIs. I'm sure we can at the end just kind of reiterate some of those tips for folks. Why are snakes important for the balance of nature?
Speaker 2:So they are a limiting factor for a lot of other organisms. So we have our snake species that feed on rodents. They keep mice, rats, even squirrels, in check, sometimes even rabbit populations in check. But then we also have species that control certain aquatic animal populations. So all of our different water snakes feed on different fish and frogs. You have snakes that eat almost predominantly slugs and snails, which, if you're a gardener, that's probably your best friend, um yeah. And then you have snakes that eat other snakes no way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some of the species we have here on property eat other snakes yep racers eat them.
Speaker 2:The most notorious of it's the king snake, and they're resistant to rattlesnake venom wow yep, um, but then also, too, they're a food source for a lot of animals as well. Um, in the case, going to birds, because you know I'm a bird nerd uh, the swallow-tailed kites, those beautiful birds we see in the summertime. They feed predominantly on insects, slizzards, but if they can catch a rough green snake, oh, that's like the holy grail for them. That is bringing your spouse a ring with a rock bigger than your head.
Speaker 1:She's going to be quite stoked. They're set. Wow. So snakes are. Important is is the essentialism behind this, where they help control some of these pests and rodents and and even the slugs for our gardens, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Now let's do a fun one. If snakes could talk, what do you think they would say about humans?
Speaker 2:I mean, they probably have very colorful descriptions of us, of these huge, scary monsters. I mean, just think about how we describe large predators to ourselves, like, oh man, that shark is very terrifying, or things like that. So, um, if they're in the present of us, they'll probably just be screaming like ah, now do snakes make sounds, Some species. You'll hear an actual hiss sound.
Speaker 1:You will hear that hiss.
Speaker 2:Pine snakes, I know, do it Others. A lot of sounds tend to be either because they have a rattle like a rattlesnake, or they vibrate their tail and vibrate in the leaf litter to make you think that they're a rattlesnake and vibrate in the leaf litter to make you think that they're a rattlesnake.
Speaker 1:Wow, so there are certain certain species of snakes who know how feared the rattlesnake is.
Speaker 2:So they mimic that with their tails. Yeah, so non-venomous snakes will do a lot of different um behaviors to make you think that they're a venomous snake. Uh, so, flattening their head which is why just going off of a blocky head is not always reliable Vibrating their tail to make you think they're a rattlesnake. Some will gape or posture, some even have coloration similar to a venomous snake. So our outlier venomous snake is the coral snake. All the tricks of is that does that tell you if it's a venomous snake? Don't apply to the coral snake, because all of our other ones are vipers. They're in the cobra family. Okay, but we have two snakes that look like the coral snake bright color colors. You probably know the saying red touches black. You're a friend of jack. Red touches yellow will kill a fellow. Red touches yellow, it will kill a fellow. So that's the coral snake. But then we have scarlet snake and scarlet king snake that mimic the coral snake gotcha.
Speaker 1:These nuances are pretty important and I'm sure as someone who comes across these species a little more, you start to kind of remember those things at a deeper level. Now one thing I did hear if a snake were to bite you, one of the best things you can do is ensure you take a picture. Is that like step number one?
Speaker 2:That is very helpful. I would not worry completely if you failed to get one, because all of our vipers you're typically given the same anti-venom.
Speaker 1:And that venom will work. Yes, most of the time, the majority of the time.
Speaker 2:Yep, in the case of being bitten by a venomous snake, your best, the best thing to have on you is a pair of car keys and a friend's hand to get you to the hospital. All those snake bite kits, those are a good way to lose a limb.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, walk us through the steps. You know, god forbid. Something like this ever happens to one of our listeners. But let's go through that checklist. If something were to occur, tell us what to do.
Speaker 2:Okay, so there are, as of right now, there are four hospitals in the area that carry antivenom, and I know the names have slightly changed, but you all will know what I'm talking about Coastal Carolina, hilton Head, regional on the island, beaufort Memorial and then St Joseph's over in Savannah. Now I know there's a new medical facility being built in Bluffton. I don't know if they'll carry antivenom, I just know those four for a fact. Do so if you're bitten you. Don't try to cut it. Don't try to cut the wound. Don't try to suck the venom out. Don't try to put a tourniquet on. Take car keys. Preferably have someone else drive you, but if you have no one with you, just get coastal carolina.
Speaker 2:For us at palmetto bluff, that's going to be your closest bet. Um, the snake again, that would most likely be the venomous snake you encounter would be the copperhead. They are the least dangerous, but that it's. You still need to go to the hospital. Now. Something that can be helpful is drawing a circle around the bite wound with a sharpie. So you're going to go to the hospital, they're going to watch you overnight. Drawing that circle is going to help to see if there's venom spreading, because copperheads will a lot of times do dry bites, which means no venom, and if there is spreading, if there's sign of venom, then you'll be given anti-venom Makes sense, but they don't want to give it to you if you don't need it because it can also give you some bad side effects okay, yeah, the dry bite is like winning the lottery.
Speaker 2:I would assume yeah and they're and I'm trying to remember, I believe only at 25 percent. Of copperhead bites require anti venom okay it's still not something you want to go ahead and gamble on, just go ahead. I know that's a hospital visit and a hospital bill, but it it's better safe than sorry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now we're spending a lot of time on safety, and I'm glad we are, because I think that's most practical. That's what this podcast is all about is how can we practically live a healthy, active lifestyle, and one of those scenarios is knowing what to do when an acute accident occurs. How likely is someone to even get a snake bite?
Speaker 2:well, if you're me constantly, but not from venomous, yeah you're out there um, we have, I know, two circumstances where someone's been bit by a copperhead on property. Um, I believe one of them occurred in 2020, I don't recall when the other one occurred. Um, but so I know of two venomous snake bites I've occurred on property within the span of it being a development that's pretty rare.
Speaker 2:Yep, good news um now for me tons of snake bites, all of them non-venomous, but I'm picking up the snakes. You pick them up, yeah, corn snake, rat snake, garter snake. Oh, and then they bite you while you're picking up, because you once they bite snakes, you pick them up. Yeah, corn snake, rat snake, garter snake.
Speaker 1:Oh, and then they bite you while you're picking them up, because I thought you once they bite you, then you pick them up. No, they.
Speaker 2:I mean, when I go to pick up these snakes, get them out of people's yards. I kind of expect to maybe, if not get bitten, at least get musked on. But yeah, but yeah. Now again going back to the comparison of us and king kong godzilla. I mean, if king kong picks us up, are you going to be a limp rag or you're going to be trying to like bite and punch his hand to?
Speaker 1:make him try to get out of king kong's hand. Exactly, yeah, so simple but very helpful. Let's shift gears into some memorable snake encounters. Do you have any that you can key in on that you've had at Palmetto Bluff?
Speaker 2:There's a couple. One of them is a little embarrassing, but so save that one for last. So, memorable will be some of the more rare snake species my first pine snake, which was also the second one in a year, and that year marked 20 years since that species had been seen on property. So seeing a pine snake in person, uh. Seeing a coral snake for the first time, I've only ever seen two in the wild. Our director has only seen about seven.
Speaker 2:So really yeah yeah, and they are, so that gives you an idea that that is not a common species to see. I'm waiting for the memorable moment of seeing an alive diamondback rattlesnake. I really want to see one, and you think that's possible here at Palmetto Bluff? It is. They are very rare. They're critically endangered in the state, so but yeah.
Speaker 1:I really want to see one. Now, what happens when you see these rare species? How do you respond Me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, personally happens when you see these rare species how do you respond me, yeah? Personally. What's the feeling like? Oh, I geek out, I'm taking photos. If it's non-venomous, I'm holding it. Just feeling those like with the pine snake, with how big of a snake it is like, just feeling the muscle as they move around is so cool to me now a pine snake.
Speaker 1:Describe that a little more. Are they quite thick? What's the way that they look? You seem excited.
Speaker 2:They're one of our largest species here. We don't have indigo snakes, that's the largest in the state. But pine snakes can get up to seven feet in length Dang yeah, you're looking at maybe an inch and a half diameter thickness to their body. They have this kind of blunt nose because they'll push through soft sandy soils or push themselves through toad burrows or animal burrows to go catch their prey. But a large pine snake can take a rabbit, a squirrel, it can get some of those bigger species, no doubt.
Speaker 1:Yep, wow, I can just see myself coming across a snake eating a rabbit. I don't know what I would do in that? Situation, but it's remarkable that that encounter happens. So we're getting close to the end of our time. I want to help out those folks who are like me. They're afraid of snakes. So for someone like that, what's a first step for them? Seeing snakes with a bit more curiosity versus fear?
Speaker 2:So I've been working on it with you, but I would say along the lines of exposure therapy, and I don't mean go run out and go find a wild snake. I mean, are you going to put me?
Speaker 1:in a box and throw like 10 snakes on me. Is this gonna be like fear factor?
Speaker 2:no, nothing like that, but um going to organizations that have live animals and meet and greets. So we're trying to get some live snakes to have on property for educational programs. But some places in the area uh, port, royal Maritime Center, coastal Discovery Museum, oatland Island Wildlife Center all of those have snakes that you can see up close without any fear or concerns Watching documentaries around them. There's an old BBC one, life in Cold Blood, that focuses on reptiles. My one thing with documentaries is depending on the maker. Sometimes they go for the suspense, for the views, um versus the education yeah, versus education.
Speaker 2:Like I do not prank people with animals because I don't, that doesn't help my cause in educating people to feel comfortable and safe around them now.
Speaker 1:It's great that you phrase it like that.
Speaker 2:One of your big missions is to help people be more comfortable around animals, oh yeah, and I don't mean comfortable in a reckless level, but comfortable enough where they're not living in fear. And we have people that hurt themselves in fear to get away from different animal species, and you would think it'd just be snakes and gators, but there's people that are terrified of frogs, terrified of snakes sorry, of lizards, turtles, there's. There's even people afraid of birds, yeah, yeah, so we all have fears.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it's part of part of a living, and being exposed to things that make us feel uncomfortable, like me. Holding onto a snake does seem like the antidote to having less fear in the future. We'll get there eventually. Yeah, I've seen you walking around, don't you have a friend like a snake that has a specific name? We?
Speaker 2:very briefly had one, because June was a time when we had a lot of activities around reptiles. So there was a corn snake brought to us and we held onto it for a couple of weeks. But here in Moreland what we see a lot of are ribbon snakes, ribbon snakes.
Speaker 1:Okay, but here in Moreland what we see a lot of are ribbon, snakes, ribbon snakes Okay, go ahead and describe those.
Speaker 2:So they're very thin. They're cousins to garter snakes, same genus, so they look similar. They're this kind of tannish color with a dark brown stripe, with a lighter tan stripe down the center going from head to tail. I love when I'm watching them as they breathe and the scales expand and contract, like in between the scales it almost looks like a gold flex.
Speaker 2:Wow like a kaleidoscope almost kind of yeah like I joke that they're kind of like the prada or michael kors of the snakes there's that really pretty luxurious look? Yeah, um, but they're semi-aquatic. So the wetland and pond right by the classroom. They love being in there eating on fish and tadpoles and things like that okay, so.
Speaker 1:So a ribbon state snake is most likely one that you would pick up and grab and potentially show people around Moreland.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's been the main snake that you've probably seen me walking around here, with occasionally corn snake, um, black racer. I haven't seen any yellow rat snakes in Moreland for a while, um, and then it's been a while since I've seen abandoned water snake but for a while, um, and then it's been a while since I've seen a banded water snake, but got it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, water snakes those are, those are creepy.
Speaker 2:You see them moving along the water. Oh yeah, so every any snake can swim, um, but yeah, the water snakes that's, that's their bread and butter, living around water. Um, now they tend to have a little bit more attitude. Now also, that's the snake that most fishermen always have tales of, and it's always an eight-foot cottonmouth, which one Cottonmouths don't get eight feet long and two cottonmouths don't really care for nice, pristine lagoons. They're going to be more wetlands or stagnant water. But even the conservancy staff, we sometimes have to pause and double to make sure it's abandoned water snake and not a caught mouth. What I always look for and what? Whenever people send me photos of a water snake or caught mouth ID, I always ask for a headshot. Okay, and the reason why is for our water snakes, their lower jaw or their lips, it looks like they have this candy cane striping. It might be tan and black or tan and and red, but that's what I look for sounds like you can clearly tell from the jawline.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, man, the intricacies are fascinating to me for sure. Well, aaron, I have enjoyed slithering into the life of snakes here today. Could you wrap us up with three key takeaways for that average listener out there wanting to be more comfortable living around snakes? What's the big three things that we should remember?
Speaker 2:They're more afraid of us than we are them. They want absolutely nothing to do with us and they help clean up the pests around the house.
Speaker 1:Well, aaron, thanks so much for time spent here again today. Absolutely Thank you for having me. Yeah, what animal are we going to do next? Oh, I don't know, you know what?
Speaker 1:Let's leave the listeners guessing. Feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. Fears we all have them. Whether you're scared of snakes, spiders, heights or public speaking, you're not immune. A few resources out there show that 10 to40% of US adults have what's called aerophobia, which is the fear of flying. Let me ask you when you step onto an airplane, do you take a pause?
Speaker 1:If you're like me, I always take a minute to pray and check in with what I'm grateful for right before my plane takes off. For some reason, I get more nervous flying than when I get in my car to come to work, though you and I well know that driving a car statistically puts us at way more risk. I think what it is is that flying feels outside of my control. Does that make sense? And as I thought about the concept of fear deeper this week, I can quickly tell that when something feels outside of my control, it becomes the inflection point for fear. Funny, right?
Speaker 1:Internally, we all want to be loved. Internally, we all want to be loved. Internally, we all want to make the right decisions. And internally, we always want to say the right things. But that's just fear. We're not in control of people like us, or love us for that matter. We're not in control of each and every decision that we make being exactly right, and we won't always say the right things in every social interaction, but we will always have the choice to keep showing up anyway.
Speaker 1:The truth is, courage isn't the absence of fear. It's deciding to move forward even when the outcome isn't guaranteed and the control isn't in our hands. So the next time fear shows up, take a breath, check in with your gratitude and remind yourself you don't need control to live fully. You just need the willingness to take the next step. That's a wrap on this episode of Behind the Bluff. We hope you enjoyed the conversation with Aaron and have some practical safety tips when you're around snakes in the future, and have some practical safety tips when you're around snakes in the future and hopefully you're not feeling as fearful of those slitherly creatures Until next week. Remember to actively participate in life on your terms.
