The world's second most common phobia is ophidiophobia - an extreme fear of snakes. This fear is anything except irrational in some cases - some snakes can discharge their venom so potent, it can lead to the death of an adult human in 45 minutes.
Fear of Snakes
Whether it be a protective measure that is evolutionary or just that animal slithering without legs freak some people out, there is a possibility that snakes will never be man's best friend.
Coming against this common fear, one man from India believe that snakes are truly docile animal that will attack when it is seriously aroused - and he was determined to prove it in the craziest way possible.
The 28-year-old was a receptionist named Neelim Kumar Khaire, who worked at a five-star hotel in Pune, India, in 1986. Khaire, an avid reptile enthusiast, previously worked at a holiday home close to Bombay, while working there he was exposed to different kinds of snakes who obviously desired to enjoy a holiday themselves. It was Khaire's responsibility to deal with these reptiles as the manager.
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Khaire's Obsession with Snakes
Speaking to India Today, Khaire said: "Reptiles were frequent visitors at my place in Matheran. I hated killing such beautiful creatures - most of them were harmless. So I started catching and releasing them in the Sahyadri hills. I once caught a snake and took it to the Haffkin Institute in Bombay. I was told that it was poisonous and too risky to be carried in this way. The incident boosted my courage and so began my obsession with snakes."
As per Khaire, he bragged a fairly remarkable 25,000 snake catches and just 6,000 bites, though some may dispute 6,000 snake bites in one course of life is a little bit over acceptable levels. Khaire was happy to inhabit a country rife with reptiles in spite of the constant bites, and always sees snakes as friends, not enemies.
So, when this 28-year-old caught wind of a daring South African referred to as Peter Snyemaris who had recently remain in the midst 24 snakes (18 of which were venomous) for 50 hours, Khaire chose to claim the record for himself and also his country, which the young man believed to be land of the snakes.
The Test
Putting up a glass confinement with a chair so he could enjoy his stay, the young man started putting 72 snakes in the new container. These were not friendly corn snakes, either - inside with the young man were 24 russell's vipers, nine Indian cobras, 27 monocled cobras, eight banded kraits, and four common snakes.
For this case, 68 of the 72 snakes were capable of delivering bites with sufficient venom to kill Khaire easily. Currently, the monocled cobra is Thailand's most deadliest snake, whose venom can inflict serious neurotoxicity on the unlucky victim.
Surprisingly, Khaire stayed in the enclosure for about 72 hours. With officials from Guinness Book of World Records supervising this incident, the young man smashed the former record set by Snyemaris and, in his view, proved that this reptile will only attack when aroused.
Related Article: Snakes: The Evolution of their Venomous Bite
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