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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is anyone else slightly traumatised by the recent spate of escaped snake stories?

123 replies

AliTheMinx · 06/08/2018 20:55

I am terrified of snakes and the recent story about a man finding a snake in his bathroom in Exeter and then the boa constrictor on the East London street has put the fear of God into me. I fear I shall never sleep again...

OP posts:
bluescreen · 06/08/2018 23:10

Severide08 I appreciate that you are a responsible owner and I don't think this thread would exist if all pet owners were like you. Flowers

However, and I say this as an ophidophobe, I have slight moral qualms about keeping in captivity any animal that wants to escape.

Gacapa · 07/08/2018 00:15

I find them repulsive and am terrified of them. I’m also really upset about hearing this stuff. Apparently someone was out taking a great big fat long fucker out for a walk in a park near me. That shit should not be allowed.

dippyeggsandsoldiers · 07/08/2018 01:13

They're my absolute worst nightmare. Last year someone's pet snake 'escaped', there was a picture circulating around a local Facebook page. I don't know what type it was but it was bloody mahoosive. It was found on the playing field next to my house 😭😭

HelenaDove · 07/08/2018 01:16

Minx the owners in my case didnt notify anyone either.

IJustHadToNameChange · 07/08/2018 01:17

The warm weather isn't helping.

All sorts of exotic animals will be in their element. 😱

Trazey · 07/08/2018 04:51

I've lived in Africa and Asia. You're being unreasonable to be traumatised even slightly.

I feel sorry for the animals who are unlikely to survive in the wild in the UK.

RoadToRivendell · 07/08/2018 04:57

I got attacked by an escaped pitbull yesterday

I'm so sorry to hear this, are you OK? This has happened to me before, I still have an itchy scar on my bum.

I've lived in Africa and Asia. You're being unreasonable to be traumatised even slightly. OP apologise to Trazey immediately Wink

I hate snakes, YANBU.

treeinthedistance · 07/08/2018 07:06

I love snakes and have been keeping them for many years. These escapee stories upset me as well because these owners give the rest of us a bad name. Please be assured that most of us snakey people keep our animals responsibly and would never dream of abandoning them in the street or allowing strangers to be frightened by them!

FurryDice · 07/08/2018 07:09

Only that lots of people are keeping these poor creatures captive. That upsets me.

minisoksmakehardwork · 07/08/2018 07:16

I didn't realise there was a trend for escaped snakes. One was found in a town near me, next to a reptile shop. Except all theirs were accounted for so no one knows where it's comes from.

I wonder if the very warm summer is just bringing them out of hiding.

Revakah · 07/08/2018 07:22

It's worrying me because it made me very paranoid about the locks on my two vivariums!

HerRoyalFattyness · 07/08/2018 07:28

Having read this thread i can say that snakes do not bother me.

The escaped tarantulas though...what the fuck?!

smurfy2015 · 07/08/2018 07:54

I havent read this thread but am adding my bit on the end hoping it makes some sense to fellow phobics.

if something contains the "S rhymes with rake" word all the time, I can't even bear to hear it as I have such a phobia about it, friends and family.

If something comes on tv while we are together, have been known to dive and cover my eyes with the words "thing you can't mention" on screen" and that's how it is referred to generally around me, as an accidental mention and I go pale

The disarrono ad from roughly 2010/11/12 was a nightmare for me (mainly on comedy central)

While I was gifted a full set of HP films, I waited a while till friend realised and I asked her if was OK if I passed on to another friend as she hadn't realised they were in it seems a lot, it was her 2 sons who got the box set at the same time that alerted me before I could venture into it. She took no offence at all. In return I gifted the approx cost of it to her favourite charity so something good came out of it.

If I happen to come across a pic, I lose colour from my face, hit the cold clammy sweats and the room starts to spin like about to pass out, I have no hope in a dystopian world

Sharing in case other people even get freaked by the S word like I do and letting you know you are not alone. Flowers

Schroedingerscatagain · 07/08/2018 07:58

The tarantulas are still on the loose in Alfreton

Itchytights · 07/08/2018 08:01

I wish I hadn’t read this thread... am absolutely terrified of snakes.

Thirtyrock39 · 07/08/2018 08:03

Why oh why did I open this thread

bluescreen · 07/08/2018 08:29

Astonishingly, this article hasn't been cited yet (complete with usual unresearched Graun statistics).
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/06/who-let-snakes-out-what-to-do-find-one-in-bed

SugarIsAmazing · 07/08/2018 08:30

@Severide08
The ball pythons are a little bit fussy, one in particular called Ruby did not eat for just over a year. The corns literally eat anything!

I'm not sure why people are scared of snakes but it does seem to fuel the scaredy-cat woman stereotype; the same as being scared of bugs and spiders and anything flappy.

And yes put bulls are in the UK. They can be exempted when they're found to be of sound temperament. The whole of Part One of the Dangerous Dogs Act is Breed Specific Legislation and is based entirely on looks! You could have a beautifully behaved pit bull and a rather grumpy labrador, the pit can be seized and destroyed on looks alone if the owners can't afford the court case, whereas a lab could bite someone with no action taken.

SugarIsAmazing · 07/08/2018 08:37

I agree with @Trazey

ajandjjmum · 07/08/2018 09:12

Bloody hell Helena - have you moved house?

groundcontroltomontydon · 07/08/2018 09:46

I'm not sure why people are scared of snakes
It's a context thing - I have no problems being around snakes in a suitably snake-y environment but I'd struggle to suppress my surprise at finding two and a half metres of random python in a Devon bathroom

Trazey · 07/08/2018 10:31

"I'm not sure why people are scared of snakes"

I think it's due to evolution / instinct (almost all modern humans came from places where snakes kill) combined with no influence to teach us that this is illogical.

I've had very dangerous snakes in my garden but learnt that they want to escape from us even more than we do from them. I've also learnt that the chance of accidentally being hurt by one is so much tinier than other dangers we ignore (dogs, falling branches, lightening) that you can stop giving them head space.

DGRossetti · 07/08/2018 10:37

If the stories are real Hmm I wonder what the chances are that escaped snakes could breed and become extant ? Especially if we're going to have more long hot summers, and milder autumns and winters.

(You can tell I'm a keen Fortean Times cryptozoology fan Grin)

After all, we have scorpions somewhere ...www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2009/07/09/scorpion_sheerness_video_feature.shtml

mydogisthebest · 07/08/2018 10:42

I quite like snakes but if someone keeps one they should make sure they can't escape.

I am terrified of spiders. If someone near me had a tarantula escape I honestly think I would live somewhere else until it was found.

I was friendly a few years ago with someone who had a tarantula. I just could not go to her house at all even though she said the spider lived upstairs so I didn't have to see it.

Like the poster above with snakes, I can't bear to see spiders in films or on tv. It's surprising just how many times spiders are on tv programmes. I think a warning should be given. They gone on and on warning about violence, scenes of a sexual nature etc