Copperhead Road

We kept the dogs in all weekend. With all the traffic back and forth to the marina, we felt it too risky to let Moose and Josie-beagle out for their night-time romps and made them make-do with outings on the leash. Once things calmed down around dusk on Sunday, we decided it was safe to let them out -

We fully expected them to be out and running for hours, but shortly after letting them out, Josie scratched on the front door and wanted in - badly.

She ran to her bed and began frantically rolling around. At one point she jumped to her feet, and swelling was evident under her left eye.

We'd seen it before - snakebite.

She paced and cried. She moved from the dog bed to the middle of our human bed to the crate, and she did NOT want anyone anywhere near her.

Having been through this before with Jimmy, Jack and I knew she needed a dose of Benadryl as soon as possible, and a dog-bite (Jack) later, we made it happen.

Luckily enough, our dear friend and veterinarian, Dr. Scott Little was available in "Facebook Chat", so I hit him up to let him know what was going on...

First thing the next morning, they were waiting for us at his office.

By that time, Josie's head was as big as a pumpkin, and she was in a lot of pain. Merely making eye contact with her was enough to elicit screams and howling. The staff at the vet clinic had to reassure everybody that no, a dog wasn't being skinned alive in that back corner treatment room.

The snake, likely a copperhead, bit through her left upper lip.

Two shots and a bunch of humiliation later, Josie was ready to come home with a prescription for the swelling, which has almost completely resolved, and something for pain.

The other dogs were anxious to check her out, but she quickly let them know that she wasn't in the mood to talk about it and after a long drink at the water bowl, retreated to her crate.

She's been hanging low and resting, but this afternoon we saw some tail-wagging, and she piled up between Jack and me on the couch for a short love-in.

Itching has started, so we know she's healing, and that's a good thing.

Snake Day on Sink Creek

Greetings and happy weekend, blog readers!

I am happy to report that Jack and Pam at the Lake have actually spent some time on the lake this week.

Our first trip was a short one - 3 miles round trip - from the base of Potts Camp Road, which is really near the house here, as far up Cedar Creek as we could go. We spotted herons, geese and a couple of families of ducks, but I was so busy soaking in every moment that I barely took my camera out of its case.

The second trip was longer and more involved. We paddled from Pates Ford Marina upstream as far as Sink Creek would take us, stopping on the way back for a creek-side picnic of ham sandwiches and potato chips. We had a marvelous time and enjoyed the whole adventure. This is the same trek we've paddled before and seen American Bald Eagles, but we didn't spot any today.

We didn't spot much of anything today. Except snakes.

At several points during the trip, either Jack or I would spot a tiny head sticking up just above the water, checking us out as we slid by...

This one was sunning on a warm rock and appeared to have just eaten lunch, given the significant bulge in its mid-section.

As we approached the cooler water upstream, there were several more to be spotted moving along the bank-line and hanging out in sunny shallow spots.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of snakes at all, but when I see them before they see me and I have a chance to get in the right mind-set to encounter them, I'm OK with it. And when I'm in the kayak and the snake is in the water, it's totally cool. There's no possible way for one to get in the boat with me, so I feel comfortable getting closer than I do when I'm on foot.

A really good zoom lens helps, too.

Sunday Afternoon

Dudley and I made a journey to visit with Mom & Dad for a little while this afternoon. I needed to tend to my violet-children, who are doing great in their foster home, by the way.

Mom and Dad were just hanging out, enjoying the beautiful weather - today was fabulous!

Dudley is never quite sure what's going on when we go anywhere, and today was no exception, even though he's been to 7SR before. He was mostly interested in exploring the great outdoors and playing with Kookie just a little rather than doing inside-visiting.

During our meanderings, we admired Dad's jalapeno peppers, which seem to be no worse-for-the-wear given our heat and drought this summer. They're as tasty as they are beautiful, and I brought home a couple of handfuls to go with our grilled shrimp for dinner tonight. We'll probably stuff them with cheese, put them in a foil-pack and stick them on the grill - YUM! Served with a dollop of sour cream, there's nothing better!!!

Dad spotted a little snake in the middle of his dinner that we watched for a few minutes. Snakes eat slowly, and his mouth was so full of frog that I was able to get close with the camera and not worry about getting bitten. No doubt the frog was too far in to be spat out...

The visit was great - no place is more relaxing than Mom & Dad's back yard on a Sunday afternoon, for sure.

Lassie Who?

Too much excitement this evening...

Jimmy got bitten by a copperhead, and we're anxiously watching the situation as the evening progresses.

Life in the boonies is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse...


Jack and I planned for a simple, grilled meal with pork kebabs, fresh veggies, and a baked potato for Sunday evening.


Our rosemary from last year lasted through the winter and has done great in our drought. It's one thing that's thrived throughout the summer, and I suggested that we use some of the woody portions to skewer our pork chunks and veggies.


Since it was dusk and we ALL know about snakes, I grabbed a flashlight before heading down to the bed where the rosemary grows.


Jimmy had been outside for several minutes and was scampering around in the yard like usual...

I checked the rocky edges of the raised bed where the rosemary is and felt that I'd done a decent job "checking the area"...


I'd snipped probably a dozen twigs of rosemary when Jimmy darted through the bed and snatched up a snake that was less than a foot away from me. He thrashed it furiously for several seconds, and I caught enough of the silhouette of the head area to be "concerned"...

Being Jimmy, he refused to respond when I said, "No", "Come", "Drop It", or "Dammit Jimmy", so I elicited Jack's help...


Jimmy was SO proud of his catch that he brought it close enough for identification --

"Damn, that's a copperhead, and it's still alive!" Jack said after a quick flashlight check.

Jimmy took off with it behind the neighbor's house to the pond in their backyard. He frolicked with this thing like it was a toy for a good half-hour, and there was nothing we could do...



Jack drove the Explorer to the neighbor's house and left it running in the driveway for long enough to coerce Jimmy to "load up" for a car-ride. Jack then took the hoe and the flashlight to the edge of the pond where we'd last seen Jimmy with the snake. Dead already, Jack retrieved it to Frank and Teresa's driveway where we confirmed copperhead-ness and realized that it was bigger than we first thought.



Jimmy prevented me from being bitten by this thing, ya'll - and he got bitten himself in the process.



The bite is under the left side of his jaw - there are two bloody places, it's swollen HUGELY, and he won't let either of us get close enough to look at it closely. The picture where one puncture is visible was taken early on -- the swelling is 20 - 30x now what it was then, but Jimmy refuses to face the camera, and considering what he's been through, I'm not going to force it. He saved me from a bad snakebite...

We talked to the emergency vet in Cookeville, have administered 50 mg of Benadryl in a piece of cheese, and plan to have him at our regular vet's when it opens first thing in the morning.



Please keep Jimmy in your thoughts and prayers -- He's a hero dog!