Snake Bit

Now that the kids are out of school and summer has cranked up, snake season is upon us. My dogs don’t like snakes. Nope. Not one bit. You have heard me talk about my dogs in the past. I will spare you the roll of pictures I can show you of various high points in their lives. Who cares really? I don’t want to see pictures of your kids and you don’t want to see pictures of mine. So we’re even. But, I do have some great tales of danger, near death, and intrigue that my dogs have been involved in.

One of the best include members of the snake family that are capable of injecting enough poison to kill an enormous man, but not one of my badass dogs. Allow me to digress. A couple of years ago we were at the family lake house one summer. Everyone was out frolicking in the water while I was working away on my computer playing the martyr role for my family. The dogs were going crazy in the back yard until I finally went out there to see what the fuss was about. I got there just in time to see mama pick up a copperhead off the back steps and toss it into the woods. I was able to get my hands on a shovel pretty quickly and dispatch it, but not before I noticed several bloody marks on her face. Uh oh.

I threw her in the truck and headed to the vet in town. By the time we got there, she was pretty miserable and was starting to swell up like a grapefruit. I was prepared for the worst. All the doctor did was give her some antibiotics and some steroids and send us home. Turns out dogs can handle a copperhead much better than we can. She looked like forty miles of bad road for a day orso, then the swelling began to dissipate, she could drink water again, and then slept if off for a couple of days.

I remember thinking to myself, “I bet she won't do that again.” Not so much. The same thing happened last summer, only both dogs got it in the face instead of just mama. I didn’t break a sweat this go round. I kept a watchful eye on them, but I was not worried about having to dig a couple of holes either. They both made it through the night and were no worse for the wear. They have a couple of good scars on their noses, but I think scars are cool.

The last time they had a run in with a snake was a rattle snake in the battlefield below my house. Now, I do think a rattlesnake could kill them, so I try not to mess with them if possible. Together they pinned a rattlesnake in a bush but managed to stay far enough away to not get in trouble. I got there in time to see the bush vibrate and hear the rattle. And I managed to get them away before they dove in.

Enough about my dogs for now. Suffice it to say, I bet my dogs are tougher than yours.