The Scariest Animals, by the Numbers

Spiders are less scary than snakes, but scarier than clowns. That's one of the findings of a survey of American fears published this week. The survey creators focused on the things Americans find most frightening: government corruption, cyber-terrorism, and tracking of their personal data, for example. But America's creepy-crawlies have surely been waiting, in their drains and dark corners, to find out how they ranked. Chapman University carried out the second annual Survey of American Fears, asking about 1,500 adults across the country how they felt about threats ranging from natural disasters to the paranormal. Last year, in the first version of this survey, they lumped all animals together. "How afraid are you of bugs, snakes, dogs, or any other animal/insect?" the survey asked. Most people answered "not afraid at all" or "somewhat afraid" (36 and 38 percent, respectively). But this year, each of these living things got its own ...