... I want to hear this story of 'that one time I got chased by a massive iguana.'

But I don't get or really understand the squeamish reaction to... any of those things you just mentioned.

Like, I know they are common in other people, but none of that ever made any sense to me, seems like irrational phobias.

I grew up in the WA PNW with a lot of outdoor and wild life activities... basically in an exurb bordering the boonies on one side , farmland north and south, fucking swamp/estuary on the other with a highway bridge going over it into a bigger town.

Any time I went anywhere new, some new biome... I would just learn about the local wildlife first, learn what is harmless, mostly harmless, and the few things that are actually dangerous.

Far more often it was the case that various damned plants with either barbs or some kind of skin irritant would be the main concern... or just mosquitoes, or sand fleas and mites... don't try to pick up a dead, decaying jellyish...

I used to just play with newts and garter snakes, caught and released different bugs for fun.

Only snake I've ever been 'squeamish' around was a goddamned actual Northwestern Rattler, which I happened to get tooooo close to by accident once, out on the eastern side of the Cascades.

By too close, I mean, I am trudging through shrubland on a hike on a friend's property, and suddenly, from somewhere, yep, can't see it, but I can definitelt hear a persistent rattle, time to freeze, figure out where it is by ear, and back away very, very slowly, hike is done for the day lol.