[RKDinOKC]

My older brother has an irrational fear of snakes. His oldest son is the same way about spiders. They jump up on chairs and run away like you see women and mice do.

My psychiatrist friend says it's the manifestation of a fear of death and also explains their super fundamentalist christian faith.

Me meh. No worries. Have a healthy respect for things that can harm me, but don't fear them and run away.

I have killed and eaten rattlesnake. Tasted like greasy grilled chicken. Shot it in the head with the 22 rifle I carried on a 50 mile hike in Boy Scouts. The National Park area we were hiking was overpopulated with Bobcats. Wildlife Service was paying $75 a pelt. A couple of mountain lions went through our camp one night, but we seen no Bobcats. Bet we were way too noisy. Also did trout fishing with bow and arrow for our dinner. Had to find something better than the horrible freeze dried dinners that passed for pack food back then.

Would have loved to have some of the tech they have today. Heck, our backpacks were canvas with aluminum pole frames. Nothing like the lightweight stuff today. We couldn't even carry a tent, they were too heavy. We just carried a tarp to use if it rained and that weighed more than today's tents. It's a wonder we survived.