by Zoe

I’m having a bad day, last night was my people’s night out. I was busy entertaining myself in the kitchen (that seems to be the only room available to me when my people are away from home). Anyway, I have a new peanut butter bone and time flew by.

Sure enough mom arrived home and undid the dogie door so I could wait outside for dad. That’s when the trouble started. Honest, I was minding my own business when I heard a funny rattle sound. Seems like I’ve heard that rattle sound before and it meant something bad would happen.

I thought about running to the house but the rattle seemed to be calling to me. I’ll just look around and see what I can find, I found it, all coiled and shaking his tail at me. That guy definitely does not belong in my yard, I barked but he didn’t move, maybe I need to be a little closer. The next thing I knew the vile serpent had me by the face. I swear he had eyes like glowing coals and blood dripping from his fangs.

I barked, as best I could and ran for the house to warn my people. I ran to mom and sat on her feet so she couldn’t go out there. When dad came home he grabbed a flashlight and headed outside. I was worried about him, that snake must have been at least 12 feet long and those eyes, it makes me shutter just thinking about those eyes. Did I mention the fangs? I’m not feeling very good, the slobber is running out of my mouth, I know that is icky but I can’t stop it.

Mom is calling the emergency vet and dad is on the phone to Rural Metro Fire District. A nice fireman came to help dad find the monster. When they finally found the vicious serpent, the fireman said he was about three feet long. Well, that may be in fireman feet but trust me, I know he was four times that big in dog feet.

To make a long story short. I spent the night in the emergency vet center, they shaved my leg and put in all sorts of needles. This was almost as bad as the snake bite. They had to do a special blood test to double check if there was indeed a snake bite. Like you couldn’t tell from my swollen nose, duh. The nice vet said I was lucky because the beast couldn’t get a good hold on my woolly snout.

I thought mom and dad were going to faint when the vet said the anti venom was $800 a dose. Luckily I only needed one dose and then ‘just’ all the blood work, fluids, pain killers and a night at the hospital, three prescriptions and instructions to see my regular vet in a couple of days. I heard mom say she something about using my college fund to pay for this.

I just wanted to share my story with you. Oh, and if you see one of those vile serpents, RUN THE OTHER WAY!
Zoe

P.S.:  Mom, here, we really thought Zoe knew better than to mess with a rattlesnake. She has a certificate from snake school that states she knows better than to bother a rattlesnake. I guess the rattle was just too tempting. When we picked her up the next morning, her face and neck were still so swollen we couldn’t even put her collar on .

Arizona is home to thirteen species of rattlesnakes. People learn to be mindful where they step and put their hands. Many people with dogs will take them to a class to introduce the dogs to both harmless and potentially deadly rattlesnakes. Hopefully the dogs learn not to bother rattlesnakes. Overly inquisitive dogs sometimes get bit on the nose and suffer a painful reminder. Mom and dad incurred a reminder also, $2,000 vet bill.

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