Thursday, September 14, 2006
Good Stuff
Willow got over her upset tummy and didnt lose any weight.
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Riley found a baby snake to play with. Do snakes have ears? If they do, this poor little thing (?) was surely deaf by the time I discovered it. Riley was in the backyard barking ... I didnt think anything of this. After awhile, I looked out the back window but didnt see him. I looked out another window and still didnt see him, but saw Bailey and Willow lounging in the sun near the fence. I started to wonder where Riley was, and what he was barking at. They had been out doing construction on the drainage ditches and driveways, so he HAD been barking at the workers for days ... but he wasnt at his usual position.
I went out on the back deck to call him, and he came out from under the deck, then went back under and continued barking. "Oh crap!", I thought.
I called the dogs up on the deck and tried to baby gate them up top while I went down in to the yard to investigate, but they had other intentions .. they werent about to let me in the backyard without their accompaniment. I knew I was about to come across a snake, I'm an "old pro" at this now, I figured I could control all three dogs while checking out the snake.
Bailey and Willow, as predicted, gave the snake a wide berth. At first, I didnt see anything. Riley danced around and barked and finally snapped at a little wiggling worm. No ... not a worm ... worms dont slink and coil and arent colored like that. It was about 8 - 10 inches long. Info on Black Rat Snakes Looked like a baby black rat snake. Riley kept trying to pick it up. It wasnt a happy baby snake.
I knew at it's size, I had no hope of letting it slither away on it's own to a safe place. I was going to have to 'help' it. I got my shovel off of the deck and thought, "All it would take is one chop ... I can kill it ...", but I couldnt bring myself to do it. So I scooped it up on the shovel, and with a slight shiver, carried it to the woods behind my house and gave it a good toss. It was an amusing parade ... me with my shovel of slightly squirming snake, closely followed by three dogs.
I couldnt harm it. It hadnt done anything wrong, just because it was born a snake. The rat snakes serve their purpose by helping keep the rodents at bay ... it helps keep Riley from eating them and then throwing them up in the middle of the night ... and I have a respect rule that if I leave something alone, they'll leave me alone. Even spiders. I -TRY- at least.
So after I saved the snake, I gave myself time to shiver and shake ... and then pouted. I miss being a GIRL, and not having to DEAL with such things as bugs and dead animals, and snakes, and fallen limbs, and cutting grass .... it sucks to always have to be strong all the time!!
****************
Riley found a baby snake to play with. Do snakes have ears? If they do, this poor little thing (?) was surely deaf by the time I discovered it. Riley was in the backyard barking ... I didnt think anything of this. After awhile, I looked out the back window but didnt see him. I looked out another window and still didnt see him, but saw Bailey and Willow lounging in the sun near the fence. I started to wonder where Riley was, and what he was barking at. They had been out doing construction on the drainage ditches and driveways, so he HAD been barking at the workers for days ... but he wasnt at his usual position.
I went out on the back deck to call him, and he came out from under the deck, then went back under and continued barking. "Oh crap!", I thought.
I called the dogs up on the deck and tried to baby gate them up top while I went down in to the yard to investigate, but they had other intentions .. they werent about to let me in the backyard without their accompaniment. I knew I was about to come across a snake, I'm an "old pro" at this now, I figured I could control all three dogs while checking out the snake.
Bailey and Willow, as predicted, gave the snake a wide berth. At first, I didnt see anything. Riley danced around and barked and finally snapped at a little wiggling worm. No ... not a worm ... worms dont slink and coil and arent colored like that. It was about 8 - 10 inches long. Info on Black Rat Snakes Looked like a baby black rat snake. Riley kept trying to pick it up. It wasnt a happy baby snake.
I knew at it's size, I had no hope of letting it slither away on it's own to a safe place. I was going to have to 'help' it. I got my shovel off of the deck and thought, "All it would take is one chop ... I can kill it ...", but I couldnt bring myself to do it. So I scooped it up on the shovel, and with a slight shiver, carried it to the woods behind my house and gave it a good toss. It was an amusing parade ... me with my shovel of slightly squirming snake, closely followed by three dogs.
I couldnt harm it. It hadnt done anything wrong, just because it was born a snake. The rat snakes serve their purpose by helping keep the rodents at bay ... it helps keep Riley from eating them and then throwing them up in the middle of the night ... and I have a respect rule that if I leave something alone, they'll leave me alone. Even spiders. I -TRY- at least.
So after I saved the snake, I gave myself time to shiver and shake ... and then pouted. I miss being a GIRL, and not having to DEAL with such things as bugs and dead animals, and snakes, and fallen limbs, and cutting grass .... it sucks to always have to be strong all the time!!
# posted by Elims @ 5:09 PM 
