Today's award goes to a herpetophobic couple in Houston, TX.
A small lizard has been safely relocated after a concerned Houston-area residency called Texas wildlife officials about an alligator above their door.
The nearby residents informed Kroboth that their reptile-squeamish neighbors had "freaked out" about a garden snake the previous week.
There's more at the link.
I've heard of herpetophobia, but this is ridiculous!
Peter
8 comments:
City people, no more needs to be said.
I always wonder how folks like this manage to go outside. Now I have my answer - They call the police when they glimpse something that freaks them out.
Now that's a cute baby alligator, if I may say so myself.
I used to entertain the kids when they were small by catching garden snakes, and then holding them like that and presenting my finger to be harmlessly bitten. They inevitably had a more powerful "chomp" than expected, but the kids learned to respect, but not fear, the nice reptiles.
If these people are indeed genuinely phobic, then I sympathize with them. OTOH, there is a vast gulf between full blow phobia and simply being a nitwit.
As kids we would stick our earlobes in their mouths to make lizard earings.
Which makes me think of a Robert Heinlein quote:
"This sad little lizard told me that he was a brontosaurus on his mother's side. I did not laugh; people who boast of ancestry often have little else to sustain them. Humouring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is always in short supply."
Obviously, the lizard self-identified as a gator.
Well, they are nasty tempered little guys. Alligator lizards will bite you for all they're worth, and even attack if you provoke them. I recall one night when my beloved kitty cat brought one into the bedroom, and I found it under my pillow as I was getting into bed. I did not acquit myself well, and it didn't turn out good for the lizard either. I have the raw courage to admit this: They give me the damn willies.
JWM
+1 C. S. P. Schofield
+1 Javahead "Obviously, the lizard self-identified as a gator."
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