Are we always affraid by the "right" beasts?

Question

I imagine myself feeling safer in water along hypopotames than crocdoiles.
Also wolves and lions inspire some fear, while horses or elephants do not. Bears are maybe somewhere in the middle.

I cannot think of any better examples, but I believe many of us have a misconception in appreaciating the real danger factor. Or is our instinct generally on par with reality?

Answer 1

Appearance has a lot to do with it, of course. A tarantula just LOOKS much scarier than a brown recluse spider...which is much more deadly.

Answer 2

The greatest fear most people have is of spiders. Most of this, like any fear, is based on ignorance. You are afraid of the unknown. Generally your fear is reinforced by people with the same fear. It seems ignorance is shared. So, no, human instinct, if it exist, is not "on par" with reality.

There are two species of spiders that have the potential to be a health risk. The rest, some 1200 species in the USA, are harmless. So, as you can see the fear, in this case Arachnophobia, is generally baseless, and unreasonable.

Answer 3

I think much of the fear has to do with whether you are surrounded by herbivores or carnivores and whether you are a predator or prey. If I were a water plant, I'd worry about that hippo. Being a person, the wolf scares me much more.
Hopefully, I am smarter than all of them and will either just stay out of their way or find a way to "get" them before they "get" me!

Answer 4

All animals are dangerous in the right situation. Even if you do not fear an animal, a healthy respect is called for. If you notice, a lot of pet owners get bitten or mauled by their pet, and not know why it happened.

Answer 5

Deadlier than all those?

Deer kill more people in the US than any other animal. Bambi goes kamikazi, and jumps in front of a moving vehicle.

But insects are still worse. Bees kill even more people in the US than deer do.