The Unexpected Visitor...

   Today I had an unexpected workout.  I was in the house when I heard the dogs barking out front.  If you have dogs you know you can tell the difference between a play bark and a warning bark.  They were warning.  I figured someone had gotten lost on the trails in the woods and wondered onto our property again.  So I go to check it out.
   They first thing I see is our dog Blondie staring at the front of the truck.  Okay, people usually come from the other way.  It might be that wild piglet or a rabbit trying to get my garden again.  But no she is not looking straight ahead... she is looking down.  Now what on earth can she be ... OH MY GOSH.

This is what she is looking at...

               A  6 foot long Timber Rattlesnake.  No I am not exaggerating.

      Now I am barking with the dogs, but my bark is more like... SNAKE...  SNAKE .... SNAKE.  Poor Jack is in the office and knows somethings up but can't make out what I'm shrieking.  He is yelling what is it. And I'm yelling Snake.  Then I see the rattle.  I really yell then ... GUN... SNAKE... RATTLE.
   Luckily he has lived with me long enough to be able to understand my shorthand.  He grabs his gun and heads out the door.  Yells at me to keep the dogs back.  Nooo problem, I'm not going in where near that thing and the dogs are trying to protect me.  So while he is going forward, I'm going back.  Carl Lewis couldn't  have caught me.  I'm pretty sure I could have set a world record.
   The snake was dispatched before it got into the house....  But the dang thing keep moving, even after his head was blown off.  I was jumping around trying to keep up with dogs and out of the way of the headless snake chasing us.  Yes I know it couldn't bite with out a head but I didn't want to test that out.  Needless to say my heart got a real good work out before everything settled back down.
   Hey ... someone call Steven King or Dean Koontz I got a great idea for a book.

    Oh and by the way in case you are wondering,  I did not take a picture of the snake.  The camera was inside and I don't have a telephoto lens.  And I really didn't want to see it smile at me anyway.