Snake Bites

When I went digging through my external hard-drive to find this picture, I had no idea how much I missed Buddy. I just loved this big ol dog. He had met with a water moccasin and earned a beauty of a swollen lip. I wish I knew how many snakes he killed in his life. The ones I know about were ones that he was saving me from, and for this, I always loved him. Once, I stepped right over one in the control room at the chicken house and didn't even know it until the fight started. The way he went about killing them was nothing short of heroic and quite ferocious. When he was done with the initial massacre, he would stand there over his kill and stare at it, sometimes with wounds on his feet and mouth, and if the snake even flinched from nerves, he would kill it again.  

This was Eddie a few days ago. We weren't sure what caused his muzzle to become so swollen but assumed it was a wasp or bee. Already, I was proud of him...kind of like when your kid gets a scrape on their knee riding their bike. You hate that they got hurt but you're so proud that they were brave enough to get out there and risk injury. It is just one of those rights of passage to scrape your knee in a bike wreck. And if your a dog, getting bitten by bees and snakes is just as vital to a complete and well-rounded puppyhood. (I hope I'm not the only mother that feels that way)

Then yesterday, there was no denying what happened here. The image of Buddy came flooding back and I knew for sure that this was a water moccasin. The lip was enough to convince me, but given that he was wet and had duck-weed and moss on his belly (looking a bit like the creature from the black lagoon) , it was clear he had been to the pond. I was so darn proud of him!! Another snake killing dog! Don't get me wrong, he got the "oh poor baby" treatment and I even made a call to the vet since he is still such a puppy, but I was having to fight back the urge to lavishly praise him. 

He took a long nap and woke up with most of the swelling gone. I was even proud of the fact that he must have a really good immunity to snakes. It's Eddie, the wonder dog!!