Have I told you....

that I hate snakes!

Ever since I was a little girl I have not liked snakes. I'm pretty sure I get this from my mother, but there is just something about a creature that can slither across the floor with no legs that scares the crud out of me!

You are probably wondering why I am writing a post about this and here is the answer!

Yesterday, taking JL to pre~school we had an encounter with a rattlesnake.

{not the actual picture of the snake we encountered. Just a picture so you can see what we have here in Arizona}

  

Okay....maybe I am over exaggerating when I say encounter, but with my fear this is exactly how I felt. I know I am crazy....

I parked the car in the parking lot and saw the maintenance man standing on the sidewalk where it turns the corner. He was just standing there acting like nothing was wrong. I didn't think anything of it. I grabbed JL's hand and we started walking down the sidewalk when I heard, " Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to walk around." Umm..."Is everything okay?" I asked.

As laid back as ever the maintenance guy said, "Yeah...I just got a rattlesnake here." "A what?" I thought to myself.I could feel my armpits starting to sweat, my hands and legs getting shaky and my heart about to beat right out of my chest. I'm sure JL could feel my anxiety as he gripped my hand a little tighter.

"I just need you to walk around please" said the maintenance man. Oh I'll walk around alright. I will walk right back to the car and leave with my son. That's what I wanted to do but I couldn't. =[

Grabbing JL's hand a little tighter we walked around. We got to an angle where we could then see the snake. Yep, right there on the sidewalk against the wall, was that darn thing cozy as could be. Really?!? You couldn't cozy up anywhere else? You just had to be at a pre~school? A pre~school where I take my son and happen to go to almost every day? You just couldn't go elsewhere could ya? UGH! Did I mention I HATE snakes.

The police officers had just arrived and as JL & I stood about 15~20 feet away we saw the police officer grab the rattlesnake with the tongs and then you heard that horrible sound......the rattle! It gives me chills just typing it. It was horrible. I wanted to run just because what would have happened if that police officer would have dropped him. We were too close {in my opinion} and that snake could have got to us.

He placed it in the cage and then looked over and asked, "you want to see it?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I saw it alright and I can see it just fine over there in that cage. BUT I had to suck up some of my fear and walk JL a little closer. I wanted him to be able to see what it kind of looked like although you know I was not going to let him get that close.

Police officer took the cage away and someone asked, "what you going to do with it?" He said, "I'm gonna go let it go in a field." REALLY? Can't we just set the cage on fire? One less snake isn't going to hurt anyone. That is how I truly feel and I know there are animal lovers out there but seriously I DON'T DO SNAKES! I almost purposely drive over them if I see them in the road, but then I get too nervous that they might get stuck up underneath my car so I swerve! I'm horrible I know. I don't know how to get over my fear of snakes and it bothers me because I can see that I am passing that fear onto my son. He knows no better and only acts that way because of how I act. Any suggestions on how I can overcome this fear?

Today I went to go take JL to school and sure enough I didn't park where I did on Monday. I parked in a totally different parking lot and walked a different way. Now that I know there was a snake in that place I don't know if I will be able to walk that way again. My husband just laughs at me, but this is how scared I am. I wish they could just come get my son out of the car and bring him to me when the day is done. Is that a little overboard?