Was out gardening today and let the puppies out to play around and mooch. While I was pottering I spotted Fred trying to pounce on something and look confused/inquisitive. I sidled closer to investigate and saw a long dark grey/black scaly body.
Snake! I didn't look closely but instead hurriedly called Freddie over. The last thing I wanted was for Freddie to engage the snake.
I called out to the hubby to let him know and he also immediately helped me corral the puppies and get them back into their pen. We then went back to investigate. Snake had disappeared.
Am now starting to wonder if what I saw was in fact a snake. But it was long, at least a metre or so long, fairly thick, and it looked wavy, as in the shape wasn't in a straight line or curled up. I didn't look for a head. All I did was spot something long dark and scaly and immediately tried to get the puppies out of vicinity.
Fred was closest as he was the one who pounced and it was that sound that alerted me. Elsie was about a metre behind. Fred was probably only about a hand's breath away (again probably about a metre) from that snake (or whatever it was)
Talk about a scare! I'm glad we were calm enough to get them away and that the puppies listened. But I found out fairly quickly despite my calm exterior that I was pretty scared. I was shaking afterwards.
It's not even a super sunny day. It's overcast and the sun had only just started coming out despite all the cloud cover. It's been raining the last few days.
The other scary thing is that the snake was so close to the garden. And the garden is right next door the house. I'm starting to think I was pretty lucky and smart to have cleared up some of the area as it was. Just the other day I tidied up and moved the fallen down shadehouse so that I could use it again.
Did I perhaps simply have moved the snake's hideout? Or was it simply passing through?
I have no idea but I really dislike snakes and am terrified that they will do something to the puppies simply because they don't know any better. The fact that Freddie tried to pounce on it says it all.
I'm just grateful he did it nearby and that I was able to act. The last thing I'd need was for him to do that further away from the house where I hadn't noticed. That could've turned out badly.
Am still a little shaken now and don't really know what else to do about it. We're out in the country, so it really is to be expected that we would have snakes. I guess I just naievely hoped I'd never see one. Especially since everyone else around here tells me that they don't see them often (eg the previous owner probably only saw 3 or 4 in the ten years that they lived there. And they owned a cat!)
The long grass needs to be mown, but we have rocky ground and the whippersnipper apparently won't start at the moment. *sigh*
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