When I was a kid I had no fear of any critter, snakes included. I had no worries about them and they had none about me, we got along. The older I got the more the fear crept in. I have no idea when exactly that happened.
The snake in the picture is a local resident, one I named Mr. Green Bean, cuz when he’s relaxed and just going about his day he looks like a giant green bean. Now when he is frightened, he has several methods of self-defense. The one he is employing in the photo is the first in his repertoire, he flattens his head and pretends he is a cobra. (How did he learn cobras are scary, he doesn’t get the discovery channel)
If that doesn’t work, he goes to plan B, a far less frightening approach, he throws up, I know terrifying right. If he is still in danger, he will then employ his last means of escape, he’ll play dead. I had to rescue him when he tried to use that method with the chickens. Playing dead is not a good idea with my girls, I found my whole flock going after the poor boy. They surrounded him and attacked. He just kept rolling on to his back. I had to intervene.
When I was a kid I would have just picked him up and carried him away. Now I have to get my courage up and my motions are anything but confident. That fear is birthed in many ways. For me a lot of it came from people telling me to be afraid. “You have to be careful. Animals are dangerous. You shouldn’t be picking them up.” Letting those thoughts in has an effect.
The worse thing though is when fear turns to hate. Voices telling you to not only should you fear these creatures but you should end them if you encounter them. This happens far too often. Fear turns to hate and hate turns to killing. Perhaps we should take a page out of Mr. Green Bean’s book, less hate and killing and more vomiting and playing dead. We need to see with better eyes and an open heart.
May you never find yourself playing dead in a flock of chickens
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