I have one extreme phobia. It doesn’t bother me generally because I rarely need to encounter it in the UK.
So, I didn’t expect to come face to face with it on a dog walk.
Flossie and I were enjoying one of our usual routes. The weather had been kind and we were making our way home along a country lane when Flossie stopped to sniff something on the side of the road.
And there it was.
A snake.
It was around 50cm long.
My response was instinctive.
At lightning speed, I pulled Flossie away, and I ran, Flossie bumbling along beside me, wondering what on earth we were doing.
I had seen enough of the snake to recognise that it was, in fact, long gone from this world. I suspect it had been run over.
But I still had this visceral reaction of sheer terror.
The worst thing was that I realised there must be snakes on our walks. Surely, where there’s one snake, there must be a family, friends, neighbourhood snakes.
This fills me with horror.
Logically, I know that it’s extremely unlikely to come across a snake. I have never seen one before in the 20 years I’ve been walking.
But still. I had seen this one, albeit dead.
I was also bothered that this was a walk I do regularly. So, I was going to have to walk past the snake corpse again.
I gave myself a talking to. Phobias and fears are just thoughts. The snake was dead and wasn’t going to do me any harm.
The next day, I managed to photograph it so I could identify it. I broke out into a sweat, but I did it.
It was a grass snake, so perfectly harmless.
I’ve now walked past it four times. I know exactly where it is on the road.
The adrenalin still pumps but I can now pass it without running.
So, I’ve made progress.
Flossie really doesn’t know what all the fuss is about, of course.
As published in the Bath Chronicle, 26 September 2024
Suzy Pope is a certified copywriter and newspaper columnist specialising in pets, business and lifestyle. If you would like help with a writing project, please get in touch.
