Creepy Crawlies Are Nothing to be Scared Of

Everyone has something that gives them the creepy crawlies; snakes, worms, toads, spiders. While unique to each individual, they have the commonality of extreme discomfort; sweaty palms, shaky knees, dry mouth, flushing. Kitura Main from the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji came to the KAXE Studios to help us face our fears during the There's Nothing to be Scared of fundraiser. She brought along turtles, birds, and lizards, which didn't have quite the impact as the tarantula spider and corn snake (not to mention the boa).

Doug MacRostie, who has a long history of conflict with spiders, was uncomfortable days before the tarantula arrived, and nervous and sweaty just being in the room to take pictures, faced his fears and held the spider. "I thought the tips of her legs would hurt when they touched me...like pierce my skin, or scratch, or maybe just kill me instantly. But really, she was slow and gentle...and ******* scary looking."

Heidi Holtan, who has long had a discomfort with even small snakes, jumped right in and was the first person to hold the corn snake. "I didn't even think about it, I just did it," she said. Co-host John Bauer added, "It's because she's one of the Iron Range Maiden roller girls now, she's fearless, empowered."

KAXE Engineer Dan Houg noted, "We've all overcome something this afternoon, and I think it's because we're doing it together. That's building community at it's core." And that's what we're all about: building community in northern Minnesota.

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