A little brag......

Congratulations!! I am proud of you too!!

 I know how hard it is to overcome a fear. I have yet to overcome my fear of mice or any other rodent that has tails like they do. I even hate gerbils!! Even I have thought that they were waiting for me to put my toes on the ground before they ran out from under my bed.

I will wish for an early freeze for you.

--Sara

[sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif] - the best definition I've seen of "courage" is being afraid but doing it anyway.  I try to use that many times in my life and it sounds like what you did today.  Congratulations!!  I know it's hard but so is being afraid, right?  Big pat on the back to you Glenda!

Yeah, you made it!!

Glenda - 1
Snake - 0
 
Courage is the ability to do something, even when you are afraid. Me, I've been ruined. My friend, Lee, had a Ball Python Constrictor who grew to almost 6 feet with lovely black and yellow markings. Sulphur was his name. A slithery sweetheart and I would visit with him every chance I could. That doesn't mean I would pick up any snake. But it allows me a little more calmness around them, which helps, as they sense heat and the scent that fear gives off.

Good for you Glenda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Baby steps, that's all it takes...one at a time too! 

Great job Glenda. I bet you felt so much better.

I am proud of you too, Glenda.

And the thing is, it's the fear that is in our heads that is the WORST! Just *thinking* "there's gonna be a snake, there's gonna be a snake" can make you just freak yourself right out, I oughta know! Though it's not snakes, for me, it's bears. I'm terrified of them.

I get that same scared feeling walking in the woods in the summer. Scott has never seen a bear here in the interior the whole entire 36 years he's lived here. But that doesn't mean they aren't there!! I've seen bear sign and bear scat. And Scott always wants to go for a "walk" (which is always about five or ten miles) on the spur of the moment. No gun, no bear spray, no nothing, no preparation! It makes me crazy!

I do have the satisfaction of Scott having told me HE'S terrified of bears, too.

But I'm getting better about not being afraid there is a bear in every bit of shrubbery out there. Still. It's scary.

The moral of the story is that there ARE bears and snakes and mice and spiders all out there. But you can't let them keep you from LIVING!

As someone who's as phobic about snakes as you are, I know what an amazing feat that was for you!  I couldn't have handled it myself -- I think you deserve multiple pats on the back, several rounds of applause, and a couple standing ovations!  Courage for sure!!

Yesterday I needed to remove several bushels of fur from my van.  Todd stayed outside with me and helped, MOST of the time, but went in the house to get dinner for the crew and I did stay out to finish.  The van was parked right in front of the open garage door...the side where I saw the snake....but by golly, when I needed to get out and move the shop vac, I did it.  I even emptied the waste basket into the garbage can without any "protection".  Oddly I wasn't shaking like I had been in the garage.  But, then again, I guess I knew that I could quickly jump into the van to get away from it should one happen along.  I don't *think* they like gravel, but then again, I didn't *think* that they liked concrete either.
 
With all the woods and long fields around this area, I'm totally stumped as to why they find MY yard so attractive, and why they insist on being so close to SIX BIG dogs.....I suspect that they hang out in the chipmunks many tunnels and just find themselves HERE when they get to the end of the tunnel.  Since our friend the chipmunk seems to have vanished, I'm going to have the guys start filling in the holes that they find with big stones.....or maybe concrete! []
 
Jean, I've gotta say that being afraid of bears is probably a good deal more valid than the terror of a danged GRASS snake.  A BEAR can do major damage FAST....these little....and not so little.....snakes I KNOW logically aren't gonna hurt me.  It's just the illogical side of me that keeps thinking they are plotting against me.

With the shop vac running they are sure to take off. When i have to go in the garden I bring the hoe with me and I pound on the ground when I walk. I hit the ground with the hoe where i want to go. The noise scares them off.

Glenda, you remind me of my sister in law, who is deathly afraid of snakes. Well, my son happens to have a nearly 6 ft long red albino corn snake.She had been living out of state for many years and just moved back this year, and was scared to death to come over to our house because of the snake. It started out she would only come into the living room, she worked her way into the dining room and kitchen on subsequent visits. She finally decided one day that she would like to take a "peek" at the snake. So we made our way through the house, her gripping my arm for all she was worth. We get to the room, and she peers into the doorway at the snake tank(mind you the snake was hidden in his box, you couldn't even see him).She let out a shriek and took off in the opposite direction !  A couple months after that , my son left the lid open after feeding him, and he got loose. After we found him and got him back in the tank, the first thing my hubby told our son was "DO NOT mention to your aunt that the snake was loose, she would probably never come over here again."

I do have to admit that DH turned the shop vac on BLOW just in case someone had decided to crawl up inside the hose!
 
I'm sorry, shorthair, I'd have a very hard time visiting your house myself!