my daughter has been visiting for the past couple of days. last night we sat on the back porch and talked until late. as a result, Maggie Maude (the Shaggy Dog) stayed out with us.
our evening was cut a bit short when Maggie gave her "snake bark."
note: Maggie has been known to fib a bit in order to get what she wants. I thought Mag might be fibbing in the hope that we would open the door and let her in so she could go to bed. (she hadn't found our conversation interesting and did not even participate.)
but she kept barking.
I grabbed my trusty hoe and the new flashlight and DD grabbed another.
copperhead. definitely. but it was on the other side of the fence among thick vines.
Mag became impatient when I could not get a clear whack at the snake, and she got a little too close. she yelped. I gave up trying to sever the head - couldn't find it - and just started whacking. and whacking. and whacking. I stepped back and ask DD to take over. she did, and did, and did.
adrenaline does amazing things.
we took Maggie inside. we gave her several milk-thistle capsules and a Benedryl, lotsa water, and whatever poor comfort we could.
Maggie had a hard night, but she's gonna be all right.
the snake had a REAL hard night.
I returned to the scene of the crime in daylight to make be sure that the snake was really dead. it surely was. each piece was equally dead. it was in many pieces.
*****
I could not find Snake Whacking, Vigorous Effort, on the MFP excercise list.