Getting Over Snake “Heebie-Jeebies”

 

Many of us can’t help it. We look at a serpent and our skin crawls. Our immediate response is fear. Still, being part of a Facebook nature group has softened me a little toward these slithery creatures. Maybe even changed my outlook in certain ways.

Most people on this Audubon thread are as scared as me. Some see a snake and call it a “nope rope.” Although I admit to laughing the first time I saw that term, it stopped me a little. The term “nope rope” puts snakes in a category of “thing.” But a snake is not a thing. They’re living, breathing animals, one of God’s creatures. These critters can’t help that they were born snakes.

I feel the same way when I see python “farms” where animals are raised strictly as product, their skins used for expensive purses and shoes. I also hate seeing Indian snake charmers with their cobras weaving in and out of baskets (whose mouths have been sown shut permanently). Even with snakes, I can’t bear seeing animals suffer.

Then we have the other end of the snake-reacting spectrum.

Some on this Facebook thread look at a common milk or rat snake and say, “That’s a beauty.” Although not my instinctive reaction, it causes me to stop and look at this animal closer. And yes, I guess some snakes have a slinky charm, I can’t get over my instant phobia. Still, I admire people who have a different perspective, who open my eyes a little.

Thankfully, I’ve had few snake encounters in my Connecticut yard. Once I was sitting on my back stoop when I looked to the right and jumped. A garter snake lay coiled next to me, sunning in the warmth. It was small and black and had a bright yellow stripe down it’s back. I guess, as snakes go, it was cute. Still, I couldn’t retreat fast enough.

In our state, we have two poisonous snakes—the copperhead and the timber rattler. When I’m hiking in any woods, I keep my eyes open. I once saw a picture on Facebook that asked, “Where’s the snake?” I had to look carefully before I saw a copperhead coiled on a bunch of autumn leaves, perfectly camouflaged. I would’ve stepped on him in an instant.

Still, I remind myself that these animals have a right to live. They’re not trespassing in my world. I’m trespassing in their’s.

A landscaper once proudly announced that he had killed a snake on our property. (I didn’t want to know how). “I threw it over there,” he said, pointing to a row of bushes. Instead of feeling pleased, it made me sad. The snake was most likely minding its own business. I nodded and smiled but I could tell he understood I was not as thrilled as him.

So, I’ve learned to live in a “snakey” world. I will never love them like some people, but over the years my immediate revulsion has softened into something more humane. They’re just trying to get by like the rest of us.

And although I’ll never look at one without shuddering, I promise, I’ll never call them “nope ropes.”

 

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