Recently,
my youngest daughter has taken up running and hiking to stay fit. I’ve been coaching her on how to keep her
eyes open for rattle snakes, how they hide, what to do to not piss them off,
etc. One of the biggest tips I shared is
how those snakes love to blend in with mottled shade tree patterns cast on the
ground or how they adore laying the length of their bodies along the tops of
cracks in the road or trail, no doubt because the coolness coming from beneath
them is pleasing.
Ever
since I rescued my two dogs, Sadie and Foster, I’ve taken them with me on runs
and hikes and have been impressed with how wonderful they are when we encounter
rattlesnakes. Some dogs have an innate
ability to piss off snakes just by being there.
Others act up, making the snakes coil into nervous striking poses as
they rattle away. Sadie and Foster have
always taken note of snakes and yet have never done anything to irritate
them. In fact, it’s almost uncanny how
calm they and the snakes we encounter are when face-to-face.
Yesterday,
I was quick walking Sadie and Foster along the streets of a hilly area by my
house. This area has no sidewalks, the
hillsides slope directly off the edge of the road and trees line the street,
casting their mottled patterns on the ground.
Also, the pavement is old and crisscrossed with a heavy patchwork of
cracks. All these conditions make it
prime area for rattlers to hang out.
We
three walked on a downward slope, Sadie on my left, Foster to my right, each of
their leashes held with no slack. All of
a sudden, Sadie made an abrupt stop and sat down. The next second, Foster took her cue and held
back, though didn’t sit. I was still
moving forward, unable to react yet, and was pulled back, right foot hovering
midair as the leashes tugged against me.
Still frozen in that pose, I looked from Sadie to Foster, each of who
were perfectly calm and looked back at me as if silently counting off in their
head how many seconds it would take for me to process what they’d done.
Looking
at my right foot, still raised above the ground, I noticed a four-foot long
rattlesnake directly under it! Had Sadie
and Foster not stopped as they had, my foot would have landed squarely on the
snake!
Geez!
Knowing
not to make any sudden moves as the snake lay there, watching us three, I took
a step back to join my dogs and coaxed my heart t slow to a more normal beat as
I remembered to breathe. Taking a closer
look, I was stunned at how well the snake blended in. The entire length of its body was stretched
over a crack in the pavement, which just so happened to fall in and out of the
edges of a mottled shady pattern cast by the trees above. This was the exact circumstance I’d warned my
daughter about. And though I’m quite
accustomed to encountering snakes, it never ceases to amaze me just how well
they can blend in, despite my looking for them.
Thank
goodness I had Sadie and Foster with me, for their keen senses and calm actions
no doubt saved me from a nasty snakebite!
Giving
the snake a wide birth, I led Sadie and Foster around and away from the
snake. When we were a safe distance, I
leaned down and wrapped them both in an affectionate group hug, praising them
for their actions. Their tails thump, thump, thumped the air as they
sank into my hug, pleased they’d saved their mommy from harm.
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