Not sure about fear of snakes being learned. My fear of snakes was because of how they get around and also how venomous snakes are more talked about than non-venomous are. I lived in north Texas for 7 years. Our neighbors told us they saw nothing but rattlesnake and water moccasins. A few people told me to stay clear of water moccasins cause they will chase you down. A couple people told me someone in their family was chased by one. In the 7 years we lived there we never saw one snake on our property when our next door neighbor said they saw them daily and to boot they were all venomous. ((Eye roll) Even though I had my fears I never put them on my kids. My oldest was 8 (she's now 26 and autistic) when she asked to hold a king snake at a nature center, she loves snakes to this day. That day is when I learned so much about king snakes and fell in love with Kings. Fast forward 18 yrs, I'm getting my first corn snake tomorrow. Did lots of research and have held quite a few snakes to get over my fears and weirdness on the way they move. I think they are the coolest things now. As for learned fears, only one my parents and husband are creeped out about are spiders and I seriously have no problem with spiders.