Thread by @tjalamont, That's disgusting: a thread. People who follow my #Eddiethetortoise tweets know that [...]

That& #39;s disgusting: a thread. People who follow my #Eddiethetortoise tweets know that I also love other reptiles, insects, spiders... every critter. But I know not all people share my enthusiasms; some folks cannot abide things that slither or scuttle. (Some even get freaked out--

--by birds, although that& #39;s rarer.) People like me get used to our opinions & photos eliciting comments like "kill it with fire" and "nope nope nope." It can get old. But I try to let such comments roll off, because again, I understand not everyone thinks the way I do. Instead--

--I try to make it a conversation, to offer interesting bits of information I& #39;ve learned and a photo or two as a calm rebuttal, an alternate point of view.

If you look for a common thread among the spiders & snakes & bugs & birds, it& #39;s that all of them are "other." They& #39;re--

--not built like us, they don& #39;t move like us, and especially: none of them have our facial expressions. Maybe since we can& #39;t read them, we don& #39;t trust them. And when you add venom & fangs to the mixture, then--

--stir in millennia of misinformation, a dash of cultural & religious myths, plus an all-important pinch of genuine frontier gibberish, these are hard prejudices to overcome.

I will say that a big part of me, the parent part, doesn& #39;t get it. I mean, if you& #39;ve--

--raised (or spent much time around) human children, literally nothing should disgust you. Bugs are gross? Dude, please. Allow me to introduce you to this nuclear accident in a diaper.

One could write a book about animal myths--

--(and @alongsidewild has, in fact; a terrific one about snakes), so I can& #39;t cover them all here. But a lot of what we "know" is wrong. Like, in fact, most spider bites aren& #39;t spider bites. Unless you saw it chomp you or found its squished corpse under your leg when you sat on--

--the tuffet, that red welt is almost certainly something else.

Aside: Do you know how many people have died from a Black Widow bite in the last thirty+ years in the U.S.? None. Zero.

Do people get bitten by spiders and snakes? Yes, sometimes - which may be serious, so--

--caution is justified. A few snakes (fewer spiders) can be dangerous or even deadly, so if you& #39;re not sure what you& #39;re looking at, it& #39;s wise to leave it alone. In places with venomous snakes, there are almost always services that will safely remove and relocate them. If you--

--have Black Widows (most of N. America) or Brown Recluses (only in the South/S.East - so no, my pal in Montana, you don& #39;t have them, no matter what your friend swears) inside your home or around where your children play, you may need pest control help. But literally no snake--

--or spider wants to come at you, bro. They bite in self-defense, if they feel threatened. True, this can happen through no fault of yours - but realizing that they& #39;re not "attacking" you can maybe help you understand the why of their behavior, help you put yourself in their--

--eight (or no) shoes and avoid further conflicts.

Back to fear: In a study, 6-month old babies (so too young to have learned parental lessons) showed a pupillary dilation response to seeing pictures of spiders & snakes, vs. flowers & fish. But while widening pupils indicates--

--heightened awareness, it doesn& #39;t necessarily indicate fear. One conclusion is that we& #39;re born with extra readiness to learn the fear - but not with the fear itself.

Since there are plenty of folks like me, who don& #39;t fear snakes & bugs at all, it makes sense that these fears--

--are not innate but taught, often early in childhood: Don& #39;t touch, it& #39;s icky, that& #39;s poisonous, they bite, etc. We even give "scary" animals their own fear-vocabulary for simply existing: they don& #39;t live, they "infest."

Fears exist on a spectrum, from mild heebie-jeebies to--

--clinical phobias. They can be overcome, but it takes will and work, and I would never suggest that those with such aversions, especially serious phobias, be mocked or dismissed. I admire people who try to overcome their fears; I& #39;ve had some great interactions with people--

--here trying to do just that. So I guess all I would ask is that even if your initial reaction to a creature is revulsion, remember that we don& #39;t all share that opinion. If you can, try to temper your response, and be open to learning something new.

To start a conversation...

...maybe think of it this way: Since insects, spiders, and other arthropods comprise over 80% of the animal species on Earth, being grossed out by them literally means saying "that& #39;s disgusting" to nearly everything that shares our planet.

Look, I& #39;m not saying--

--you need to hug a bug or smooch a snake. But it& #39;s worth asking yourself: Is hating most of life... the best way to live?

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