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.

Honestly OP it's an irrational fear. I have one over spiders. I got hypnotised about it and it changed my life . Even though I knew it was irrational it didn't stop me worrying. Get hypnotised and get over it.
In the meantime remember it's just your mind being a twat.

I've never seen a smooth snake, but I've seen a few grass snakes and a million adders where I live in rural East Anglia. I've got a family of slow worms in our garden, too :)

I've never seen a snake in the house 😆

I’ve seen 2 adders at work in the uk. I was asleep on the sea wall on a hot day and the other was in a manhole pit thing curled up asleep. They weren’t scary or big. They just wiggled away. Evidently they can bite but really they stay away so probably only if you prod or grab or step on them

I agree - in the Gower there have been a lot of dogs been bitten by Adders with varying seriousness. Some have died.

Get a grip @Newbie5542 , not snakes in the UK will behave as you are describing. They are just not a threat.

I LOVE slow worms - there aren't meant about atm and cats love to bite them in half, my mother used to keep them (slow worms - not cats) as pets and take them to school - but that was a long time ago - she's almost 80now)

@MeTooOverHere @NoBiscuitsLeftInMyTin

The OP discloses she has a fear of snakes coming into her home and harming her children, which is verging on hysteria, and you think that now is a good time to bring up an invasive species and some urban myth about a snake sizing a child up to eat him? Why would you do that?

Slow worms are beautiful and entirely harmless. They can lose the end of their tails like lizards to escape from cats. My cat unfortunately likes to menace them and I often have to rescue the poor things from her and relocate them 🙄

You obviously know more than me but I would be a lot less scared of a python (constrictor) than a poisonous one - especially at up to 2m long.

BUT Im afraid I don't like snakes generally or spiders - for my own mind reasons - but I couldn't possibly consider living somewhere where they are as common as that. We spend a lot of time in Eastern Europe and there a fair few 60-80cm snakes out after dark but they would never bite a human and run (slither off) at the slight movement but we have ponds there with frogs and the snakes love frogs - my father goes out at all hours when the frogs kick off and will catch the snakes by the tail and put them (manhandle) into a 2litre pop bottle and then release them a mile or so away just to save his beloved frogs. I am sure he's going to come a cropper one day but he is nearly 80 and it keeps him active lol!

Places i know in the uk with snakes.
Gayton near kings lynn there is a lane there full of the fuckers.
And colchester essex fucking full of them.
Ramsey near huntingdon all the back roads there everywhere.
Kimbolton near stneots plenty there.
Bedford priory park.
And many more places.
Thailand county side i dont recommend.

What i think is that people that cant look after there snakes and cant rehome them just let them go.
They mate with others and bang new snake breed.

Its no myth - and it was a PET CONSTRICTOR that is not native to this country.

Read about urban foxes attacking babies in prams in the garden if you want to worry

I grew up rurally in Australia. We have some of the deadliest snakes in the world. Even in remote areas snakes aren't seen daily. We never had one in the house - keep screen doors shut, and screens on windows. It's very easy and also keeps bugs out.

The UK does not have native constrictors ie snakes that kill by "strangling". UK snakes bite to kill their prey, so you are perfectly safe from that type of snake.

As a safe guard, don't leave piles of things around the house and keep lawns mowed. Snakes prefer to be away from people so, if you don't chase after them, they will go on their merry way and leave you alone.

They are very common in the dunes so sand/warm in the sun - out they come - so sea walls etc are their natural habitat - Port Eynon/Horton/three cliffs in the Gower are prime areas - but they do generally slither away - dogs will be OK if they're not TOO nosy and chase them etc. A mongoose on a lead would have a lot of fun!

I’ve only seen one snake in the wild in this country. I don’t know what type it was but it was in grass near a path. It was skinny and not very big, and it moved away when we got near it. I’ve never known anybody have a snake in their house, there isn’t much in a house that would be appealing for a snake, and it definitely wouldn’t slither on you if it did.

Phobias are hard to deal with. But I agree with others that a lot gets exaggerated on social media. Even if there are photos it might just be one snake that multiple people have photographed because they all happened to be in that particular area at similar times.
There is a lot of scaremongering on social media because a lot of people seem to enjoy creating drama.

We get some big eels in the UK, but they aren't dangerous, unless you are a fish.

I think you need some help with your anxiety. Step away when your neighbour gets a bit overexcitable with his tall tales. Perhaps you could visit local wildlife area and go on a guided walk. Talk to knowledgeable people. (We did a bat walk and I felt differently about them after.) Once you know more about the wildlife around you, you might feel more at ease? The UK is a very safe place with almost no dangerous wildlife.

You’ve completely missed the point. It doesn’t matter if it was a pet constrictor or a fucking skipping rope. She’s terrified to the point she needs medical help. So why would you, the other poster and anyone who has posted something similar try and frighten her even more? I can only think of two reasons; thoughtlessness or malice.

And I don’t worry at all. Partly because I don’t have health anxiety around snakes, or urban foxes and partly because I don’t believe your original post.

Ok so right now you need to think of this as is this a real worry or is it a hypothetical worry?
Once you have your answer then think how often do hypothetical worries actually come true?
Another thing would be to write down what’s worrying you, put it away until tomo and go back to it. Do u still feel the same? Probably not, everything is worse lying in bed at night when it’s dark and quiet.

Do believe everything you are told? That is a worry if you are responsible for child/ren

You're asking the wrong question. The question isn't why did he tell you, but what should you do about it? Seems to me the first thing to do is to ask other neighbors.

Excuse me? I shared info on the 3 native snakes in the UK and I asked OP for location and species of alleged snake. I have no idea of the looks or size or location of the alleged snake but I am all in favour of sharing actual info in the hopes it helped reassure OP.
I also shared that I am Australian with a lot more exposure to snakes in the hope my experiences reassure her snakes will NOT come into her home.

This was a snake in the wild so a pet constructor is irrelevant.
Yes constrictors can and do get that large but they aren't living wild in the UK.
I still want to know where this snake sighting was and what species and how big. Esp I'd like to see photos.

I am 52 and bar 2 years of my life I have lived in a very rural village (yes boring, I know). We have got lots and lots of natives snakes here so I am told by local experts who actively search them out (why?!).

I have never seen one. Seriously, I have never seen a single one!

Suspect that this may be more about you feeling that its just you and the kids so you have to be prepared to defend them against everything and you are focussing on this.

OK, you need to pull yourself together and snap out of this one way or another because you’re being ridiculous now.

There are grass snakes and adders in the UK. They are not big at all. Grass snakes can be quite long, but they’re very slender. They are common and are entirely harmless. Adders can bite but are rare and extremely shy.

None of the snakes in the UK can strangle anything, let alone a child. They aren’t constrictors; that isn’t what they do. At all.

You will not get snakes in your house. You just won’t. That isn’t what they do. Seriously, you are massively overreacting and you need to calm down.

Do you know what a phobia is?