Gay Guys Pose With The Animals They're Most Afraid Of

Snakes, birds, lizards, rats, OH MY!

Hello BuzzFriends! We're Stephen, Fernando, Ryann, and Sam. As four gay men living in a big city, we don't spend a lot of time around wild animals — unless you count all those otters, bears, and cubs at Pride.

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That's why BuzzFeed gave us a challenge: Do a photoshoot with the animals that terrify us most. If we survived, we'd have a cool story and a cute Instagram (all that matters, TBH). If we didn't...well, we were hoping it didn't come to that.

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Anyway, watch the video to find out exactly what went down:

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Stephen posed with a snake:

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Stephen's Thoughts: Let's start with the FACTS: Snakes are the most terrifying animals on the planet, hands down. I can barely even look at them, let alone have one slithering all over my body. To make matters worse, the boys kept telling me the snake was poisonous. I actually didn't know that was a lie until I watched the video later. Thanks for that, friends.

The snake's name was Stacy, and OMG this gal had it IN for me. She kept twisting herself around my neck, and I was SLIGHTLY horrified to realize how freaking STRONG these animals are. They're solid muscle, like I'm honestly jealous. Despite all that, I managed to channel my best Britney Spears at the 2001 VMAs, and the snake did not murder me!!! So overall, I'm considering this one a win.

Sam posed with a bird:

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Sam's Thoughts: Listen, I get it: my bird didn't look terrifying at all, but more like a contestant that gets eliminated in the first episode of RuPaul's Drag Race. But pigeons have ESPECIALLY terrified me since I was a kid. Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing as a man — and particularly as a gay man, when society challenges your masculinity from Day One — to be running away in terror from a little flapping bird.

But somehow (maybe it was because I was SO focused on getting a good Instagram, PRIORITIES) I got through this photoshoot. Do I have a sudden newfound appreciation for birds? HELL NO, I still think they're just assholes with feathers. But I am proud of myself for stepping outside my comfort zone and coming out of it alive (and not covered in bird poop). As for the bird...Shantay, you better fly away.

Ryann posed with a lizard:

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Ryann's Thoughts: Pretty much all reptiles terrify me, so for this photoshoot I just asked for the biggest, scariest lizard the crew could find. And boy, did they DELIVER. This thing was monstrous, muscular, and that skin...let's just say this poor lizard was in serious need of some moisturizer. I did NOT want to touch it.

But I'm not gonna lie — as the shoot went on, I actually started to bond with her! Sure, I could have done without her constant licking (with that big forked tongue, ewwww) but honestly, she was a total sweetheart. I had a lot of fun and I think you can see that in my photos. I'm glad I did this challenge!

Fernando posed with a rat:

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Fernando's Thoughts: Rats are gross. They're rude, evil, and probably homophobic. I recently had one in my house and it was by far the worst experience ever — finding their droppings on my table was something i have yet to recover from. That's why I knew immediately that rats would be the worst fear I could pick for this shoot.

The rat I posed with, Oreo, was evil at first. She had no respect for my body and walked all over me like I was a rug. But as the photoshoot progressed I became less afraid, and less grossed out. I realized I may have developed emotions for this animal when I thought it fell off my head and I was ACTUALLY WORRIED FOR HER. So I guess Oreo is cool. Still hate all her cousins, especially the one who got into my house.

OUR FINAL THOUGHTS:

Stephen: I'm still kinda mad at the boys for lying about my snake being poisonous, but I couldn't have gotten through this without them.

Sam: Honestly, I'm proud that we all got through an experience that we were thoroughly dreading. Let's just say the score is Gays 4, Terrifying Animals 0.

Ryann: I still hate reptiles, but me and that lizard could definitely hang.

Fernando: We got some good Instagrams out of it, and that's all that matters.

Honestly, we did pretty well. Not bad for some gays with no talent!

E!