I guess that snakes find me irresistible, otherwise I can't explain how I end up seeing them up close anywhere I travel. So far, with a few exceptions, I encountered a snake in most of my destinations, which is quite odd!
Don't imagine that I am looking for them or that I am eager to see one! I am not Steve Irwin's descendant or a snake lover! On the contrary, I have a snake phobia!
When I was living in the tropics and found a cobra on my doorsteps, everyone told me I had to expect crossing paths with a snake at one point. You can read about this snake incident here.
Later on when I saw a boa slithering away on the street only a few steps away from my car or found one on my balcony, I was told that I had panicked for no reason, that it was harmless. Needless to add that my heart went crazy each time I saw a snake close by and that none of those comments were helpful.
Most of the people would think that while living in a tropical location it is normal to see snakes around. Well, some persons have lived there for decades and never saw one, while others met one only once in a way. I must have been "luckier" than all of them!
In the past twenty years I had snakes hanging down from trees and hissing at me from one foot up above my head, just like in the Jungle Book cartoon. I had snakes jumping out of the trees over me and landing in the river in front of me. I had a snake climbing up on my son's stroller.
I had snakes going over my feet while I was fishing. I had a snake falling in love with my paddle and coiling on it while I was kayaking. I had snakes sleeping under my car, sneaking into my balcony or trying to climb into my boat.
I even had a snake escaping its terrarium and hissing at me at the zoo!
The worse experience of them all was when I ended up in a snakes mating area while hiking through the forest. I did not get bitten but it was a traumatic episode which haunted me for couple of years.
After all of these incidents, I can't help but asking myself why is it that all my snake related fears come true? Why am I more prone than others to have this happening to me? How come I get to see more snakes than others? Was I a snake in a past life?
Yesterday I had another snake incident, in a place that usually people do not see snakes. Since it was hot outside I took my son to the beach. The temperature of the Black Sea water was really warm, thus we spent a lot of time swimming in the water.
While we were pretending to be whales and sharks, all of the sudden I heard him saying: "snake". I did not realize he was for real, until he pointed in my direction and said: "real snake". When I turned I saw its head above the water only one foot away from me.
Obviously that I freaked out and within a second I stood up, grabbed my son's arm, picked him up and ran out of the water as fast as I could. I don't think it was a venomous snake, but I did not wish to stay around and find out.
Meanwhile two or three children who were playing around us noticed the snake and followed him closely to the shore where they grabbed it by the tail and started to play with it.
I asked them to free the snake and let him be, not to stress it because it could get more aggressive but they did not care. They walked away with it on the shore, dropping it and picking it up couple of more times, until they were out of my sight.
As I was talking with the locals I have been told that they never saw snakes coming on to the shore before. I even spoke with a fisherman who was shocked when I told him that I just saw a snake in there.
Now I have to add Romania on my list of countries where I have to be aware of snakes! If this would have happened in the Danube's Delta, then it would have made more sense. Therefore I must be super "lucky" to have had the chance to see a snake on Constanta's beach.
Throughout the years I tried to conquer my fear by learning more about them. I tried holding a snake toy, feeling the texture of a snakeskin, watching documentaries about them but I was never able to do the ultimate step of touching/holding a real one.
I imagined that my Ophidiophobia would go away if I would become more savvy about them. Though each time I encountered a snake I felt I went back to square one.
How do you feel about snakes? Are you afraid of them or no? Did you ever see or touch a snake?
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