Chase woman gets ssspine-chilling surprise at community mailbox

It was early in the morning when Tamara Friedman-De Jager stopped at the neighbourhood mailbox to pick up her mail earlier this week, expecting to receive mail for her husband who was about to have a birthday. She never did pick up the mail, in fact she ran away screaming. A snake was hanging out of a mail slot and Friedman-De Jager is terrified of snakes. “I saw it out of the corner of my eye and screamed like a banshee, running back to my car,” she said. “I’m from South Africa, if you see a snake, you run. I’m surprised I didn’t wake the whole neighbourhood up.” After sitting in her car trembling for a few minutes, Friedman-De Jager backed up to the mailbox and took a photo of the snake and posted it to a Chase social media group. “I wanted to warn others, it’s a big mailbox that serves many in the community and I didn’t want anyone else to have a scare.” At lunch time that day, June 5, she stopped at the post office to let the staff know but they had already read her social media post. “They were entertained, they said ‘I’m so glad it was you and not me,’” she said. READ MORE: Invasive beetle destroying lawns in Kamloops, Okanagan continues to move east https://infotel.ca/newsitem/invasive-beetle-destroying-lawns-in-kamloops-okanagan-continues-to-move-east/it105095 Friedman-De Jager still hasn't worked up the courage to retrieve her mail. She doesn’t know if the snake is gone or is still camping out in a mailbox. Her social media post drew lighthearted comments from the local community.  “I think a lot of people in the community got a good laugh out of this, many know that I’m terrified of snakes. It was quite the ordeal and unexpected, very eventful for an early morning post pickup," she said. "I’m glad everyone is having fun with this." To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .