Most of our fear of certain things is rooted in when we were young. Some we can deal with when we are older and we successfully overcome. But some traumas remain. And like me, I'm still scared of such when I see one. But unlike when I was young, all I can do is run. And running was the worst choice ever when I encounter these animals.
Dog
I used to hate dogs. I was bitten more than ten times. And you know when I was young, when you were bitten by the dog, they don't take you to the hospital. They wash the part that got bitten in running water with safeguard(antibacterial soap) and rubs garlic straight into the wound.
And I don't know why I always have this magnetic power with dogs which feels like a curse coz when I was young every time I encounter dogs, it's either they chase me or they bite me or both. I have many fresh memories with dogs and oh they were oh so good to me, I thought I'm gonna die. Seriously. If it will be filmed, the title of the movie will be, "The Chase".
In our place, stray dogs are everywhere, and if your parents told you to buy something in the store and you see a pack of dogs on your way, me? I run back to the house. Because the way they look at me and starting this barking business made me pee my pants. But how inconsiderate my parents are to send me back to the store and tell me, "It won't bite you, just walk slowly." After being bitten multiple times in the past.
I was about 6 or 7 years old and I love to play hide and seek with neighbours of my age. And because I don't want to be found, I hide on the furthest neighbour's I know. I went to a narrow alley and hide at the back of their house. What I didn't know was that they have dogs and that dogs house is in there. And not only that the dog's house is there but the fact that the dog just gave birth. And of course, now I know that the dog aggressive after giving birth is usually the result of a female's protecting her puppies. So she attacked me while I'm hiding there beside his cage. Lucky enough after some bitings the owner came and blame me for it. I shouldn't go in there. But I never knew "trespassing" exist before.
And then there's this time that my Mama instructed me to go to her friend's house from I thought live in heaven as you have to walk on these steps that feel like I'm taking forever to reach the top. Then usually their gate is closed and dogs are in the cage but this time as I'm nearly at the top of the world when I saw the gate opens and here come the two dogs barking, coming aggressively towards me. And what do you expect me to do? Of course, I run. Needless to say, I was bitten so hard that day that they took me to the hospital to get an injection. I'm so lucky!
And this is why I'm scared of dogs. They love to bite me. And I love to run when I see them so that's when I get to chase and bit. My fault! But I love dogs now. I'm not scared anymore.
Chicken
Chickens seem to be nice, rooster or hen. We have a couple of them under our house when I was young. I still can remember our old house, a nipa hut and the flooring was made of bamboo sticks and under that are chickens. My problem with chickens is why on earth they have to attack me all the time while I'm just passing by. Like the fly on top of me, attack me with their beak especially when they're with their chicks. The chickens are everywhere when I was young, so even I was going up to go to the store as soon as they see me they are ready for war. Like I know it's his territory, I just want to pass. Oh, I love to cook them!
Monitor Lizard
We call this "bayawak" in the Philippines, it's like a big lizard. You know when I was young, we used wood for cooking. And as the eldest and if my parents are not around, I have to get woods in the forest near us. That's not an easy task as I have to cross a small river and we all have this big lizard and every time I will get woods with my big knife (bolo) I will see one, and they scared me so much especially the bigger ones. I don't like the way they look and how they walk as if they are crocodiles. But people in my place and my Papa loves to hunt and eat them. Well, I don't.
Cat
Oh, it is not I'm scared of the cat itself but when I was young we have this cat that always fainting. And she loves to go on top of the roof and she's always at the edge and so when I'm washing dishes or clothes outside I will just hear a loud bang and it's the cat faint and fall from the roof (it's not that high) and you know when we were young I used to say to the cat, "You are so stupid you shouldn't be resting at the roof because you are sick." And sorry to say my siblings and I laugh hard when we see her faint out of the blue.
But I'm scared that one day she will get hurt pretty bad and die. And she's not nice when she keeps stealing our food. She doesn't leave us any most of the time. So one day, Papa take him somewhere far to get rid of her but surprisingly the cat came home before Papa. So we have to just live with her and hide our food better.
Snake
I'm scared of snakes. One day I was at my Uncle's cornfields and I love to climb at the mango tree beside their house in front of the field. I love to jump from the tree to the ground and I enjoyed it. But one time, I didn't know I wasn't alone and the only one that's enjoying it as I jump there's this green snake beat me first. He did a good jump there scared the shit out of me. So I run to my uncle shaking. And from then on, I stop climbing from the tree. Well only for a day or two, I was stubborn anyway.
Then when I was older, one night it was raining hard and I was lying down on our bed I saw a white thing crawling. I wasn't sure as the lights are off. But I was curious and switch on the light and to my surprise, it's a huge snake on the ceiling of our house looking straight on me. I screamed and my Papa came and get the machete. The snake was moving about and looks alert. It was a good fight between him and Papa but Papa was injured after hitting himself with that big knife. But good thing he killed the snake. And so we can sleep that night, but no, I did not as I was thinking the snake family will come to revenge their fallen one. Haha.
Would you believe that there's no snake here in Northern Ireland? Seriously! Well except the one in the zoo or pet shop but that's the only place. Even it's all trees and fields, everything is green, there's no snake. Thank goodness for that!
And that's all folks just thought of that after seeing a huge dog walking in the lane just now. I'm wondering if you have ever been scared of any animals when you were young? Share with us!
Thank you for reading.
When I was young every animal scared me except dogs. We had a dog in the family, so I grew up loving one. Now those fear are gone, but not the fear of snakes and other wild animals.