My friend Cory is an animal lover. She has handed my ball python. You're like ok where's the Beardie in this story then... well get this. My fearless snake holding friend is afraid of...lizards. Paint me shocked when over phone emails and chats she wants to meet them so I have no idea...she's afraid.
Finally a vacation day later she is at my house. I show her the vivs proudly and her eyes widen. She's HUGE!
I laugh still unaware of the fear rising in my friend. Sad thing when we have known each other for over a decade.
"I'll bring her out and you can hold her it's bathtime anyway." "They can swim?" Now, I'm getting suspisious. Cory is very animal sound with dogs, horses, ferrets, cats and my snakes. I take out Tiantha and she puffs eyes wide and steps back. "Cor are you afraid?" I ask in utter disbelief.
She is. She doesn't know why, but she is and I know she's a child out of CA so they have wild ones there so I suggest it. She nods saying anything is possible but I don't remember anything of one biting me.
So we spend lots of time with Tia out as my broach then I as her stand on my shoulder and then I find Cory tail touching and then stroking her then feeling her back while we are talking about many other things. "You sure you don't want to hold?" "No no thats fine really." "Well Cor your doing great so maybe some day."
So its off to the bath and Tiantha swims, poos hangs out does her burrito and Cory is cooing at her like she's a ferret. I kid you not.
So it's Rex's turn. Out, handled and I tell her he is much younger prone to move fast and jump much more. She says I'm ok with that now. So off to the bath but I have to draw the water. Rex decided crawl up mom and I caution him "Don't jump you, this is hot." And I'm adjusting and rejusting the water in the tub. This is routine for us in the 100+ yr old home. Cory sees him cross my shoulders and out of sight. Again I caution him as routine and Cory... she can't stand it. She reaches out and plucks him from my shoulder like she had handled hundreds of them before. She had watched how I supported when I lifted and did it perfectly. So I turn. "Um Cory your holding a lizard. You have a Rex in your hands. You know that right?" All in the calm tone you use when dealing with an animal you don't really know.
She looks up to me with a grimance and a grin and says 'YES!' intent but quietly spoken then. "Take him please." Which of course I do since the water is ready for him now. He goes in and goes swimming and poos. Meanwhile we are talking...about how surprised I am at what she did. "Well if he jumped he might have hurt himself. This is just so much why I love her like my sister.
She decides to try to find out why the fear. It turns out as a child, a lizard in the wild did bite her and in typical kid manner she pulled back hard and the creature left teeth in her and it died. She had kept journals as a kid and her father made a note in her journal about how devistated she was over the death of the animal.
So there you have it, one fear ID'ed an beat into submission. Cory would NEVER harm a creature like that as an adult and to think...I was close when I said wild lizard in CA. But leave it to Howlin' Rex my Mad Man and her concern for him to pinch out that fear. I have the coolest in friends animal and human sometimes.
Finally a vacation day later she is at my house. I show her the vivs proudly and her eyes widen. She's HUGE!
I laugh still unaware of the fear rising in my friend. Sad thing when we have known each other for over a decade.
"I'll bring her out and you can hold her it's bathtime anyway." "They can swim?" Now, I'm getting suspisious. Cory is very animal sound with dogs, horses, ferrets, cats and my snakes. I take out Tiantha and she puffs eyes wide and steps back. "Cor are you afraid?" I ask in utter disbelief.
She is. She doesn't know why, but she is and I know she's a child out of CA so they have wild ones there so I suggest it. She nods saying anything is possible but I don't remember anything of one biting me.
So we spend lots of time with Tia out as my broach then I as her stand on my shoulder and then I find Cory tail touching and then stroking her then feeling her back while we are talking about many other things. "You sure you don't want to hold?" "No no thats fine really." "Well Cor your doing great so maybe some day."
So its off to the bath and Tiantha swims, poos hangs out does her burrito and Cory is cooing at her like she's a ferret. I kid you not.
So it's Rex's turn. Out, handled and I tell her he is much younger prone to move fast and jump much more. She says I'm ok with that now. So off to the bath but I have to draw the water. Rex decided crawl up mom and I caution him "Don't jump you, this is hot." And I'm adjusting and rejusting the water in the tub. This is routine for us in the 100+ yr old home. Cory sees him cross my shoulders and out of sight. Again I caution him as routine and Cory... she can't stand it. She reaches out and plucks him from my shoulder like she had handled hundreds of them before. She had watched how I supported when I lifted and did it perfectly. So I turn. "Um Cory your holding a lizard. You have a Rex in your hands. You know that right?" All in the calm tone you use when dealing with an animal you don't really know.
She looks up to me with a grimance and a grin and says 'YES!' intent but quietly spoken then. "Take him please." Which of course I do since the water is ready for him now. He goes in and goes swimming and poos. Meanwhile we are talking...about how surprised I am at what she did. "Well if he jumped he might have hurt himself. This is just so much why I love her like my sister.
She decides to try to find out why the fear. It turns out as a child, a lizard in the wild did bite her and in typical kid manner she pulled back hard and the creature left teeth in her and it died. She had kept journals as a kid and her father made a note in her journal about how devistated she was over the death of the animal.
So there you have it, one fear ID'ed an beat into submission. Cory would NEVER harm a creature like that as an adult and to think...I was close when I said wild lizard in CA. But leave it to Howlin' Rex my Mad Man and her concern for him to pinch out that fear. I have the coolest in friends animal and human sometimes.
