Hick got home from Saturday's auction after dark. Of course I had the porch light on for him. When he came through the kitchen door, he issued a warning.
"I'm not tryin' to scare you or nothin', but you might watch when you get home from town. There was snakes on the sidewalk by the garage door. They was just black snakes, and they slithered away. But they might come back."
Well. Good to know. When we built the house, we found baby copperheads along the driveway area. Haven't seen one in many years. I'd like to think my little dog Jack would warn me of snakes. He's a yippy thing. Jack usually greets me by barking his fool head off as I pull T-Hoe into the garage. Then he stands by the front bumper, waiting for me to open the people door and let him out. So he'd get to the sidewalk snakes first.
Way back when Genius was five, and The Pony was two, they were playing in the side yard while Hick and I were doing something at the basement door. Our dog then, Grizzly, a half lab/half beagle, was romping around with them. He went over past the picnic table, in the area that later became the goat pen, and started barking his fool head off. Of course we went to investigate.
Hick found a big black snake slithering into a nest of baby rabbits. He grabbed a hoe out of his original little shacky work shed. He scooped up that 6-foot snake with the handle, and flung it down into the woods. Hick won't kill a black snake. They eat rodents. And baby rabbits...
Anyhoo... Grizzly stopped his barking and started wagging his tail. With the excitement over, we started back to the backyard area. Then we heard Genius holler:
"Dad! Grizzly is eating the baby rabbits!"
Mother Nature is a harsh taskmistress.
That cheeky Grizzly making sure no snake gets any of "his" snack foods! I haven't seen a snake in years except on TV.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I suspect it was Grizzly's beagle half that had a taste for rabbits. He was good at finding and chasing them. While his lab half was probably responsible for alerting us about the snake, while the boys were playing in that area.
DeleteMartha, the boy cat had a taste for rabbit. He did share with the doxies, he other dogs not interested in that particular cut of meat! Black snakes will kill poisonous snakes. Having one around is a good thing. King snakes, too. I had one living under the boardwalk at the kampground, though I did not share this bit of info with my guests who regularly used the boardwalk to get to the pool. It was on a need to know basis and I was the only one who needed to know.
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