I grew up on a farm on eastern Long Island (New York). It had a large pond from which we pumped water for irrigating the crops. My father told me that I should never go near this pond because there were hundreds of poisonous, copperhead snakes there. Not wanting to be bitten by a copperhead, I always avoided the entire area. Of course, there are no poisonous snakes?copperhead or otherwise?found on Long Island. Yet, even though I now know there?s no danger of being bitten by a snake, going anywhere the pond still makes me nervous.
A childhood belief about water
others believed things like this
- I thought all snakes were venomous and you always die if you get bit by a snake— Elviessa
- My mum used to tell me that you couldn't drink water out of the tap from the bathroom as it was poisonous.Anon
- My older sister told me squirrels were poisonous, and I believed her until I was 9.— Jenni
- My parents always told me at night the sticks we had played with throughout the day turned into snakes.. — Sarahb
- I used to think that Alaska was an island!— Draqula
- i used to believe that 'island' was pronounced 'is-land' instead. I know im not alone on that one! :)
— Da KornMeal