Confession time.

I'm afraid of snakes. Not like deathly afraid. But sorta afraid. When I encounter a snake out in the wild I have that purely instinctive SNAKE! *freeze up* reaction. Heart starts racing. The adrenaline gets pumping. Occasionally I've been engrossed with YouTube snake videos and the dog will brush up against me and I jump and scream like a little girl.

I've been like this ever since I was a little kid. My dad used to catch every snake he saw in our yard, he'd hold it and make me touch it. If it wasn't a super squirmy one he'd make me hold it. I guess he was trying to help me get over my fear but it didn't really work.

My love of nature and studying zoology and ecosystems really made me learn to appreciate snakes as I got older. Now when I see a snake outside, after I get over that initial jump scare - i can watch them for hours! I even stand guard over them when out on the greenway to make sure no one bothers them. I almost got arrested once for protecting a baby copperhead someone wanted to stomp on its head.

But still... there is that initial 'EEP' moment. I'm ok with having my bps. I know they're in the tub so no I'm not surprised by them.

But it's kinda weird that someone afraid of snakes has them as pets right?

Am I the only one out there?