COURAGEOUS DOG SAVES THE DAY

Today I realised what a great asset it is to have a really good, courageous dog! It was a lovely warm day, and we got home from church and sat outside to watch the six foster children swim and enjoy the day. Suddenly, behind us in the thick undergrowth, our dogs were going berserk. Our Jack Russel is a very agile, active dog. She had got hold of something and was shaking it like crazy in her mouth.

One of the children shouted, “It’s a snake!” I jumped up to go and see. My wife, Debbie, is terrified of snakes and screamed and ran into the house. It was indeed a rinkhals of over 600 mm long and quite thick. I chased the dog away and called one of my foster sons, Jordan, to quickly bring a spade. The Jack Russel, Peaches, had injured the snake slightly, so it reared up as I got the spade. I knocked it down and tried to chop its head off, but it took several blows before it was subdued. Knowing that they feigned death, I kept chopping until its head was nearly off.

Debbie crept up and asked to see it. As I turned it over to show the children its colouring and marks, the nerves made the snake move. Debbie took off again with a shout! I called out and told her it was only the snake’s nerves, but she wasn’t interested!

It was all over, and I’m so impressed with Peaches for safeguarding us all from this snake! Yesterday, we had a birthday party for our foster child, Jayleen, who is turning 10. We are so relieved it didn’t happen then! I can only guess that the incredible amount of rain we’ve had this year forced the snakes out of their holes. Fortunately, this one had no answer for our trusty Jack Russel, Peaches!

BRUCE GARNER