At a Paris train station, the zap of a pigeon getting electrocuted on the tracks was enough to send some jittery people scurrying for cover, in the aftermath of the devastating attacks on November 13.
And in Brussels, the city centre is often deserted as armed soldiers patrol tourist sites amid repeated government warnings that a terrorist attack is "serious and imminent."
Some experts say it will take months for Europeans to psychologically adapt to life after the Paris attacks and warn that certain government measures intended to reassure people may backfire, creating instead the impression of cities under siege.
"We go about our daily lives and every so often they're punctuated by something outrageous like a terrorist attack on an average Friday night," said Dr David Purves of the British Psychological Society. "After that shock, something that is highly statistically unusual may suddenly feel much more likely to happen."
Purves said that measures meant to reassure people, like machine gun-toting soldiers and closed subways, might actually feel like the opposite.
"In a time of uncertainty, we may interpret these signs of safety instead as reasons to be fearful, like why would we need armed soldiers unless there was danger?"
Belgian university student Lotte Achterberg said she could certainly do without the now-ubiquitous soldiers guarding Brussels.
"It's not a nice feeling to see them everywhere with their big guns," she said on a sunny Thursday morning in the capital's cobblestoned Grand Place. "They look like bad guys with their faces all covered even if they are maybe very nice people, she said.
Some said the ongoing maximum threat alert in Brussels - in place since Saturday and set to last until at least Monday - may be counterproductive.
"People cannot be highly vigilant forever," said Neil Greenberg, a professor of military mental health at King's College London.
"If nothing happens - if no huge plot is discovered or arrests are made - people will think it's an overreaction and the government will lose credibility."
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