5/13/09

And y'all thought I was paranoid!

A few months ago I mentioned in a post that a life long fear of mine, has been a snake coming up into the loo. Or to be more precise, I sit down on the loo and a snake coiled in the bowl bites me on the butt! And yes this was a fear long before I ever moved to a country where it is actually feasible.

And so I quote the following story directly from the 'Oddly Enough' section of Reuters.com:

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A Taiwanese man became a sitting target for a snake, which bit his 'peter/john thomas' as he sat on the toilet at his rural home, local media reported on Monday.

"As soon as he sat down, he suddenly felt a knife-like pain and reacted instinctively by standing up," the China Times said. "When he looked down, he saw the big snake."

The 51-year-old man, from Nantou County, was under medical care with minor injuries, a director at Puli Christian Hospital said.

"As soon as he has passed the risk of infection, he can go," the director, who declined to be named, said. "A snake's mouth isn't always clean."

Local television images showed the black and yellow reptile, reportedly a species of rat snake, being uncoiled and plucked slowly from the toilet bowl.

Snakes regularly enter rural homes in Taiwan and other sub-tropical regions of Asia.

And so I rest my case people, I will continue to glance into the loo pan before sitting down just in case, and you can think I'm nuts if you want to!

BTW apologies for seemingly turning into 'snake central' this week, but I saw this story and just couldn't resist!

35 comments:

Ash said...

Oh no, this has been on my list of quirks for a very long time. I ALWAYS have to turn on the light when I visit in the middle of the night just for this reason.

My Hubs thinks I'm nuts.

I'm totally showing him this post when he gets home. Thanks!

And glad I'm not alone :-)

Peggy said...

Sarah;
I hear you "sister sledge"
That's one of my fears too...and not that many years ago there was a story in the paper about a snake found coiled up in a women's apartment toilet, I think in Florida...now she didn't get bit anywhere but I am still afraid to go potty with the lights off!

Daryl said...

Ummm ... I dont have this fear so much as a fear of a monster reaching up and dragging me down into the loo .. but only when I get up to pee in dark of night .... I think that came from reading too much Stephen King before bed.

LHA said...

This is one of my fears, too! When I lived in Spain at times as a child it was a frequent occurrence for rats to pop up in the loos in our apartment complex. Thank God it never happened to our flat - I'd never have weed again!

Anonymous said...

Well, in Kahala (a rich suburb of Honolulu), rats sometimes appear in the toilet bowl. This is due to the aging sewer lines. Don't know if the City has fixed the problem.

Pat said...

How horrible! One's worst nightmare come true. But I don't think a snake could get into your house unless you leave a door open for a really long time.

The thought of a snake in the toilet had never even crossed my mind until I read this post; now I'll look before sitting down!

Jill of All Trades said...

Oh I have that fear too but it comes from using a real outhouse for YEARS at my great-grandmothers. She didn't get an inside bathroom until I was a senior in high school!

Bella Foxx said...

O.K.

*Get's out notebook entitled "Reasons to not move to the country in a foreign land"
#74. Snakes in the loo.

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Sarah, one of the clients I do work for, is an attorney on the town square, in an old building.
The sewer system has problems, it is connected somehow to the town creek, or at least at one point, and now capped off. Anyhow, last year, we had a new junior partner on board, he was on the "John" and a snake came up through the pipes, and wiggled past him, onto the floor and into the bathroom.
The city regularly "smokes" the pipes to rid of such intruders.
My friend lived in the Phillipines, and she said they had to keep the toilet lids closed, because snakes and rats would enter their house....eeew.
Oooh, hope I haven't added to your phobia ;)

Sassy Britches said...

VINDICATION!! I always keep the lid DOWN when it's not being used, but I stopped checking INSIDE beforehand awhile back. Now I shall assuredly being doing so!

Flea said...

I don't worry about it as much here in Tulsa, but in Orlando I always looked, especially if I had to go in the middle of the night.

George said...

Your blog may be 'Snake Central' this week, but it is never dull!

Expat mum said...

Well I was going to point out that the story was about Asia and not the US, but a look at a few other comments has educated me. Ugh!

Expat mum said...

BTW, I enlarged the wrong picture on your previous post at first. I couldn't see anything rude but I'll certainly recognise you in Chicago now! (And did get the one in the first photo eventually!)

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Look before you sit, especially at rural houses in Taiwan.

Unknown said...

Some great and funny comments here thank you, George you made me LOL, I try to oblige!

Jo (Brit TN) OMGG woman what are you trying to do to me, that is unbelievably horrifying that poor man!!

m said...

very funny. reminds me of a story my mother tells of a huge hairy turantula that chased here out of the loo on awful morning. she's the same way now--always checks all the way around it! hmmm...turantulas in Norfolk? Hardly.

Nancy said...

I have always had the same fear. Especially at night with just a night light in the bathroom!

Winifred said...

Oh always turn the light on in the loo! You can find a snake in the loo in any country if looneys put them down there.

There was a 10 foot boa constrictor called Keith found in a block of flats in Manchester about 3 years ago. The tenant had left it there 3 months earlier and it had been living in the sewers eating rats. Apparently they are good swimmers and can hold their breath for 10 minutes. It took 2 weeks to catch it and people had to put bricks on their loo lids to stop it popping up.

Don't ask me how they knew it was called Keith though!

Anonymous said...

I'll never pee again!

Lynn said...

Ewww. I feel reasonably safe at home but sometimes unfamiliar toilets make me a bit nervous. Now I have another reason to worry. Thanks. :-)

Anonymous said...

I have the same fear, but it is also with poisonous spiders ever since I read about a type of spider in Australia that will hide under the rim of the toilet bowl and will then come out and bite your bum. It's posionous too. But thanks for the story. I was clutching myself while I read it.

Marguerite said...

Hi Brit' Gal, I found you through Lover of Life and just love your blog. I am the same way about lizards, so I understand. Great post!

Fred said...

One of my cats recently brought a snake in the house to show us her prize. If I see one, I quickly become the world's fastest runner.

Sherri said...

Wow Sarah that is some snake story!! That poor guy!

Wendy Hill said...

I must always check the loo before I go, but that is because I live in a house full of boys (who routinely pee on the seat). I suppose I am probably a bit naive (or perhaps this is a British expression) but I had never heard "John Thomas" as the equivalent of "Peter." My husband's name is JT. Now I will always laugh when I think of that, and I will secretly be so glad that we never decided to name one of our sons after their dad. hee-hee!

Unknown said...

Wendy! Yes John Thomas is one of many Brit expressions for male tackle! I work with someone who has a cousin named the same and he spent a day laughing when I told him what it mean't to me!

Pam said...

Check your outhouse before you go potty ;)

We think the right person went home on AI. Drat a bit, we loved him, but it was his time to go based on the previous night's performance

Maggie said...

My mom grew up on a farm during the Depression. Yes, outhouse and all. Even as an old lady, she often looked into the toilet before she sat down. There are reasons.

Anonymous said...

OMG!!! Unbelievable. How absolutely horrifying. Yikes! From now on, I'm looking in before I sit!!!

Kay said...

Ai yai yai! Thank goodness we don't have to worry about snakes here. I do worry about cockroaches though.

LadyFi said...

YIKES!!

Anonymous said...

I did not need to read this. I HATE snakes and almost stepped on one yesterday while taking a walk. Gives me shivers all over.

Anonymous said...

HOW FUNNY! That is a fear of mine too and I was just thinking about it yesterday! Glad to hear I'm not the only one out there :)

DeniseinVA said...

You know Sarah, I remember our first trip across country and going through New Mexico. I still remember vividly the shock when I saw warning signs at a rest stop about looking underneath the rim of the loo before sitting down because rattlesnakes liked the cool porcelain. I will never think you are paranoid and I bet that chap in in your post wouldn't either.