DAILY LEADER (Brookhaven, Mississippi) 18 September 08 Man's best friend leaps to owner's defense (Bill Jacobs)
I have always heard that one will easily recognize a cottonmouth water moccasin by its actions, and if one can see the distinguishing "cottonmouth" you are way too close.
Man's best friend, of course, is that lovable dog that wants nothing more in life but to please its owner. Ginger is our lovable 12-year-old chocolate Labrador who does what most Labs do when not watching over the house: sleep and eat!
Early Wednesday morning a week ago she was on duty. The morning was a little dark with the cloud cover of Hurricane Gustav still in the air.
Our driveway was still covered with debris left over from the weather of the prior two days. Amy had left an hour earlier to help serve breakfast at the shelter at Faith Presbyterian Church.
I was left to get daughter No. 2 off to school.
Growing up, my older brothers always told me that snakes always bite the last person, not the first. So naturally I was always placed accordingly at the back of the line when the three of us were out and about in places snakes might roam - the old "second man" rule somebody reminded me upon hearing my tale.
On this particular Wednesday morning, Meredith had already gone to her car and I was quickly retrieving lunch money from inside the house.
As I came out the back door Ginger was making a bit of a nuisance of herself - hungry for breakfast I assumed. Still a bit pre-coffee bleary-eyed, I was making my way to the driveway when Ginger bolted past me.
I remember hearing our other dog's bark and Ginger grabbing what looked like a large limb and slinging it in the air.
It was from the hood of my truck that I saw the distinguishing white mouth gaping wide open as it struck. It must have jumped at least 5 feet in the air.
Ginger yelped and I yelled at her to get away. The snake slithered under the truck and I hurried Meredith off to school while at the same time keeping an eye on the snake's whereabouts.
Ginger spent the night at the vet's office and is now home and back to her old self.
The ole girl did her job that morning; she protected me. As I reflect on the incident, she could see that I was about to walk directly on top of the coiled-up water moccasin, which was apparently startled when Meredith had passed by moments earlier.
Ginger now gets to sleep wherever she wants, and receives a little extra food in her bowl at mealtime. The snake? Let's just say, it's now resting peacefully in the woods.
Man's best friend leaps to owner's defense