My wildlife adventures

Anyone that knows me very well know that I am not an avid fan of the great out of doors.  I am getting better as I get older and have made great leaps since I moved to Virginia due to the fact that my room is so quiet that it really bugs me and I like to see and hear something besides my four walls and silence.  Well, the Virginia wildlife is trying to revert me back to my old ways.  I was sitting out in front of my dorm the other night and looked down and sitting there beside me was this "thing" that looked like a cross between a snake and a worm with antenneas.  Needless to say I freaked out.  One of the reasons I don't like the outdoors is all the scary bugs, insects and snakes.  But, I was trying to overcome my fears and realize that I am like 20 times or more the size of all these things I am scared of.  Back to the story.  I tried to get a picture of the "sworm" (sworm: a combination of the word snake and worm) but it was too dark.  I just let it go and decided to prematurely end my time outside that evening.  A few evenings later I was out walking and came across another "sworm" on the sidewalk.  So I decided to call my mom who lives 1,000 miles away to see if she had any ideas.  She did.....take a picture.  It was too dark to get the true accuracy of this thing.  I was unwilling to go to bed without discovering the identity of this thing that was greatly interrupting my peace.  So mom then asked if I could put the "sworm" into something to ask someone what it was.  I remembered that I had a styrofoam cup in my room.  After leaving the "sworm" strict instructions not to disappear on me I ran into my room and got a styrofoam cup, paper bowl and spoon.  I figured I would be able to get it into the cup with at least one of those tools.  After I got outside I tried to get the "sworm" to crawl into the cup without my help.  Mind you that by now my heart is rapidly beating and my stomach is in knots.  Since the "sworm" simply would not go into the cup without my assistance I decided that I must give it to him.  I got my bowl and tried to push him in.....He stuck to the sidewalk.  I applied more force and in he went.  Off I go to ask the security guards what is in my cup that has a bowl on the top.  It isn't a very far walk to the building where security is but it seemed like 10 miles.  I kept my mom on the phone for moral support until I got to the building.  As I was walking over I barely lifted the bowl to check on the status of my prisoner......He was almost to the top of the cup.  I very quickly set the cup down on the stairs I was climbing and hit the side of the cup until the prisoner gave up his climb.  After hanging up the phone I went to the security desk and told the two officers there that I had something in the cup and that I didn't know what it was.  One of the officers took the cup and very gently lifted up the bowl and said....."Oh, that is just a slug."   Up until this point I had never seen any slug except a tiny little one.  This one was like 3-4 inches long.  After getting my heart rate to slightly decrease I was able to go to sleep knowing what it was that had me so scared.  The next night I decided to face my fears once again and brave the wild.  As I was walking along the sidewalk I saw something and thought to myself "that looks like a snake, stop it you are just being paranoid."  I was not just being paranoid.  It was a real snake.  For those of you that don't know me I'll just share a small fact with you.  I HATE snakes.  They are so awful.  But there was one laying right in front of me.  I am quite proud to say that I didn't freak out.  I sat and watched the snake for about 15 minutes and determined that it was a non-aggressive, non-rattle snake.  No, I didn't go get a cup to put this one in.  My latest fright was a couple of nights ago.  I was walking around the lake.  There is this tiny stream you have to step accross.  As I went to step across I heard this rustling and something pops up.  I just knew I had come across a snake in his lair and I was getting ready to die (I've always just known that if I ever step on a snake or a snake touches me I will die from just sheer fright).....Then I saw the rabbit hop off into the trees.  Stop, breathe in,breathe out and keep going.  After all those frights I am just a little nervous.  I am not giving up though.  I WILL conquer the fearsome wilderness.