That time I found a rattlesnake at work.

Let's all travel back to Monday... 

I am sitting at my desk when mom comes in with her new rescue dog that is still terrified of everyone. About an hour later someone leaves the door open and he gets out in to the back yard. 

How the heck do you catch a dog that doesn't trust you and isn't driven by food? 

A lot of coaxing and chasing. 

Somehow in the chaos, my dads dog comes to the back along with my cousins 4 month old puppy. CHAOS. 

Haley (dad's dog) and Remi (the scared little basset/beagle)

Don't they look cute. They aren't. Not when you are chasing them around 400 cars.

Any who... at one point we are along the back fence. We go to the left and hit the end. They go around the front of the cars to the right and I chase them back. The we go left again. We are running in a tiny lane about 12 inches wide between the back of the cars and the fence. 

About the 3rd back-and-forth I heard leaves rustling and a distinct rattle. I look down and about 6 inches from my feet I saw what looked like a black snake. Then I noticed the rustling sound was his freaking TAIL!

And he was standing a foot off the ground. 

This picture freaks me out. 

I froze. It felt like 5 minutes, but it was more like 30 seconds. It clicked that I was looking at a Timber Rattler. A dark, pre-shed, post-winter timber rattler. I ran backwards fast and saw mom and dad running towards where the snake was. I knew I had already made it angry. I started screaming "rattle snake, rattle snake, rattle snake!" at the top of my lungs.

We got away from it and I stood shaking in the middle of the yard. Then I noticed the dogs were still running along the fence. Past the snake. Over and over again. 

I started screaming their names, begging them to come. Four years ago my sister's 4 pound mini dachsund was bitten by a Copperhead. She almost died but my sister rushed her to the puppy ER and hubs and I kept her the following week for all the fun creams and pills. 

I just knew that one of these three were going to be the next victim. Somehow all of my screaming scared the snake and it got away when I was focused on getting away so the dogs were okay. After 45 minutes we wrangled all the brats, but I am still shaken up. 

Who thinks they are going to find a RATTLE SNAKE at work? 

Not me. I was grouchy and touchy for the rest of the day. And cleaning the barn? I jumped every time my horse moved. I am typically okay with snakes. I worked at a zoo! But, it's different when a rattle snake decides he hates you.