Why the heck did he tell me this?

[Newbie5542]

I can’t sleep and feel really terrified. My idiot neighbour this evening told me there are huge snakes where we live (in uk). I didn’t believe him and he showed me pictures on his phone. We live near a lake and I’ve been here for 2 years but not seen one. I’m terrified and can’t sleep, I know I sound crazy but please help me. I kept checking under my bed and I keep checking in on my kids. I’m a single parent and have no one in my life to help me out of this fear, I’m so afraid to sleep.

You’re a terrier? Bite it!

@Victoriaspo lol! 😂 I’ve corrected my typo x

I’m really scared. I don’t think I will ever be able to relax again. I’ve previously left all my windows open I don’t think I can ever open a window in this house again

Big snakes don’t exist in uk

We do get snakes but it's highly unlikely you'll find one in your house.

And they're not huge.

He’s winding you up

We don’t get big snakes in England

huge snakes in the UK? I’ve never heard of this.
I just checked and there are no dangerous snakes in the uk. There are some harmless grass snakes and adders which avoid humans and their bite isn’t fatal.
Dont worry.

I love snakes, and I’d love to see one in the wild. I’ve been looking for years and have never seen one. The snakes we have here aren’t that huge. And like most wildlife tend to keep away from us humans. You will be fine.

Snakes are generally very shy. I only know of one person who’s been bitten by a snake in the UK and it was a bit painful but not serious at all.

They are quite beautiful, interesting creatures, too. Soft and smooth, not at all slimy. Their muscles are extraordinary and they do weird shit like taste the air to hear (or something like that).

Key thing is to rationalise - you are very unlikely to ever see one, and even more unlikely to come within touching distance. And in the very, very unlikely instance that you were to get bitten, they are not deadly in the UK.

As others have said, we do not get bug snakes in the UK. The small ones we do get are scared of humans & slither away. You're really really unlikely to ever see one, let alone in your house.

just put it out of your mind.

PS never go to Australia!

He said it’s grass snakes and picture he showed me was of an adder. I don’t think he’s winding me up, I’m actually 100% sure he’s not. He said he saw one slither away over the pathway

I’ve lived near two different rivers in two different parts of the UK and have never seen a snake or heard of a neighbour seeing a snake or anything. Phobias aren’t logical though so that won’t necessarily help you!
I’m very scared of spiders and I find that after I’ve seen one I can be hyper-alert for a while but then it does die down again. The same will probably happen to you. Just try to survive the anxiety the best you can and you will start to relax again soon.

Friday night is it eh

Adders are not huge

He also said he took a picture as he couldn’t believe how big it is. There’s also pictures in the community Facebook page he showed me. One was by the heat pump of someone’s house and it looked huge.

There are 3 types of snakes in England
1 the smooth snake these are very rare and live no where near people.
2 the grass snake these can live near water, they are small and non venomous and keep away from people.
3 the adder these are venomous but they keep away from people and will only bite if threatened and will not kill you. I have had one crawl under the heel of my walking boot with no intention to do me harm.
All these snakes are quite small and don't go in houses.

Could it be just the picture it looked big then? But he did say he couldn’t believe how large they are.

He did say they’re not poisonous

Like adders are max 180g. How is that big? Like a large letter size 😂

Could you say roughly where you live ? Someone might have some local knowledge that would put your mind at ease.

He’s winding you up 😆
I live in Australia and snakes rarely come through windows anyway!

Do you live in Wales?
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/a63770436/britains-new-snake-species-aesculapian/

Is there some kind of deterrent I can put outside the house to stop them coming in? I hate living here! I’m sorry for people who love wildlife but I’m scared of most things here! I thought having ants coming into the house was bad. I’ve put ant bait stations out and haven’t seen them for a while now I have something else to bloody be scared of.

I don’t believe he is as it’s mentioned on the Facebook page.