Three-zies

Have you ever heard the old wife's tale that bad things happen in threes?

I don't think it is a wive's tale-I think it is just a fact!!

Today was gorgeous! Megan and I headed to mom's to ride horses. I have been needing to just get out and ride. We rode-got some great pictures to show you guys and then fate reared it's ugly head and nailed me for the 3rd time this week...

First-one of the 4-H leaders stayed to visit last Sunday and a tree branch fell on her vehicle and dented the crap out of her hood.

Second-I went to the ranch and found my bay mare injured.

And today...well, look at what happened to our poor Red Dog...

Can't see much?

Is this better?

Look at his poor face!

Mom has been finding these little snakes all over around her house...

I saw one that she had killed the other day. We weren't quite sure what it was. Kinda marked like a bull snake, except for the tail. It is long and whip-like. So last night I looked it up on the internet and it is a newly hatched yellow-bellied racer. Perfectly harmless-except that my mother is terrified of snakes...all of them. So she does not discriminate. She dispatches any snake that she finds in the yard. Megan and I rather like non-poisonous snakes, so when I found this one right along the foundation this evening, I stepped on him and called Megan over to check him out. When she got there and went to reach down to pick him up, I turned and within a few inches of my foot, was this...
Yes, ladies and gentleman...that is about as newborn a baby RATTLESNAKE as you will ever see. Don't worry-his head is gone and buried!! I would NEVER handle a rattlesnake that still had his head attached. Go ahead and click on the pictures-you can see how tiny his rattles are. Actually, they aren't even capable of rattling yet. That is how new he is.

When you put them together, you can immediately see the difference...

I don't really like to kill non-poisonous snakes, especially babies, but mom insisted. We were all a little freaked out about the baby rattler too. And yes, the rattler tagged The Red Dog.

None of us saw it. The snake didn't exactly strike at RD and he wasn't exactly trying to mess with it either. He was stumbling around trying to see what we were doing with the other little snake and I think he ran his nose into the baby rattler's open mouth. When I turned and saw the rattler...you know...you can look at bull snakes and wonder sometimes(until you can clearly see the tail), but when you actually see a rattlesnake(don't matter how small) you JUST KNOW!, I hollered at RD and he jumped back. I sure didn't see him get struck and he didn't act like it either, so I didn't give it a second thought.

We dispatched of the bodies and Megan and I went to the barn to finish the "ever-lasting fencing job"(good lord-that is a story for another day). I noticed Red Dog went to the back of the barn and laid down. He was looking at me like he does when he is pouting. I asked him what his problem was and he came right to me, acting normal. As I was wiring up a wood panel, I noticed that RD's roman nose seemed...well...more romany than normal. So as I was walking past him, I looked at his face and OMG-it was swelling up fast. Immediately I got mom and we started dosing him with Frank Lamphley's White Lightening.

For the first hour, we dosed him every 5 minutes. Then as the swelling started to subside, we went to every 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and then 30 minutes. Currently, we are at one dose an hour. Looks like I will be up all night with my poor dog. He is breathing normal, drinking water and just licked up some soft dog food. You can tell he don't feel good, but actually at this point, he is doing okay.

Chris is bird hunting in the eastern part of SD this weekend. I called him to let him know what happened. A friend of his told him that his dog got bite one time too and was at the vet's for a week. All they did was hook fluids up to him and give him antibiotics. It cost a $1000.00.

At this point, I don't think I will need to take the dog to the vet, but we will have to see how things go. I know he didn't get a full dose of venom or he wouldn't be recovering as well as he has so far, but I give a lot of credit to the White Lightening. What a crappy end to a beautiful day!!!