Saturday night we slept out in the tent in the backyard. Sunday was another beautiful warm day and we were playing outside. Bella was checking out the shady bushes (where she has chased baby bunnies) and startled backward, dropping a tiny dead froggy in the grass, and then tentatively exploring the bush again, this time leaping backward and nursing a front paw.
(damn, damn, damn - I'm thinking, as I press the branches aside to look into the shadows...
double damn! I spot a small brown snake with a brown diamond pattern.)
A very fearful and hurt puppy continued to nurse her paw.
Jeff and I grab a couple long handle tools and go hunting.
Sure enough, its a baby rattle snake.
We opted not to go the full medical emergency animal hospital route...
Bella's foreleg did not swell; she was sore and sleepy, but seemed to have bounced back enough by the end of the day to be everywhere under my feet and chasing the kids around.
Bella's foreleg did not swell; she was sore and sleepy, but seemed to have bounced back enough by the end of the day to be everywhere under my feet and chasing the kids around.
And now, several days later, you'd never know. Running, playing, basically: 100% puppy.