Phobias

         Most people have them, don't they?  For my Mum it's rats, my cousin, spiders. As for me I've been terrified of snakes for years (ever since my first encounter with one at a Wildlife Centre.)

       These are all quite common phobias. But I think my second, much more recent phobia is more unusual. It lurks at my local pond, has done for years. We spent a long time not knowing if it was real (I thought it was a bird scarer!) It never moved, then one day it did. And the man standing next to us who seemed to know what he was talking about told us it was a mechanical bird.
         But I have since discovered it is a real live heron. I have since seen it in the water and flying over the pond. I am so scared of this bird that I can no longer go to my local pond to feed the ducks. I don't know what it is about this bird it just creeps me out so much!

      I would like to know if this phobia has a name. I don't have a phobia of birds, I like most birds. It's just these awful birds I have a problem with. If anyone knows the name for this phobia let me know.