Liquorice and I were out walking early on Monday morning. Where possible we walk toward the oncoming vehicles assuming there are any on our rarely traveled roads. It was our usual uneventful stroll. We met no-one, only exchanged friendly waves with some neighbors who were leaving for work and a couple of fellows in a small truck as they passed us going to work on the renovations of a local home. I do not know them but we acknowledge each other every morning.
On our return journey my attention was drawn to a peculiar looking object at the side of the road ten yards or so ahead of us. Dirt and grit from the side of the road had covered it with a dust of the same color. Curiously, it seemed twisted and flayed, almost like a shirt that had been caught under a lawnmower then tossed out as unrecognizable mangled remains. It was not until we were level with that object that I noticed a small tell-tale section with the unmistakable scales that immediately identified this contorted coil as a once living, breathing and extremely dangerous Red-bellied Black snake. Obviously this one had been run over many times the previous day with the increased traffic that attended a Stock Horse Show held at “Sugarloaf”, the local equestrian center. Here in Australia snakes are one of life’s problems every spring and summer. In fact, I hold grave fears that a snake may bite my little darling or my elderly parents. Ma and Pa know to look for and avoid them thus minimizing their risk however Liquorice, never having seen a snake, knows little of such dangers! Red-bellied Black Snakes are fairly common in our area, more common than our deadlier Brown Snake, and with the weather having warmed up in this part of the world snakes have become more active.
Liquorice happily walked along at my left knee. She is always considerably more energetic with her walking as we return home, possibly thinking of the breakfast that is awaiting her return. For the first two hundred yards after leaving our front gate, on our outward expedition, Liquorice has a ritual of always acting tired, reluctant to take another step and requiring frequent rests before eventually deciding to walk happily along with me. This happens to coincide with the passing of the gate leading to “Beau’s” home. Beau is a Labrador/Cattle Dog cross who has caught the eye of my little darling despite his only interest in her being the “wealth” of partly chewed chewables he finds when he visits! Once she passes his domain Liquorice cheerfully looks for new scents, zigzagging at will which results in generally slow progress. However once I say “Right young Lady, let’s go home!” Liquorice comes alive, dancing and prancing with joy, striding forth, full of confidence, and with an energy her tired old Dad cannot match! However, this is beside the point. As we drew nearer Liquorice paid little attention to this dead snake, merely a disinterested sideways glance, as we passed for, as I have said, my little darling knows nothing of snakes. For me though, the sudden realization that my foot was inches from that snake, though decidedly deceased, sent a cold chill up and down my spine! Liquorice and I walked along a short way while I decided how best to utilize this opportunity. Last summer, although the snakes were plentiful, I felt my little darling was too young to properly understand the dangers of these poisonous reptiles. Now Liquorice is older, nearly 11 ½ months, I have looked forward to furthering her education in that direction. Not too many yards away we stopped and, not being one to let a good snake go to waste (and dead snakes are the best variety), I decided that now was the time.
We retraced our steps with Liquorice displaying an unexpected willingness to return. Her eyes were focused on the contorted remains of that snake. Obviously she was happy to use this “detour” to investigate further this odd discovery. My little darling’s eyes and every fiber of her being seemed to concentrate on that snake’s lifeless body, not though fear but with an intense curiosity. Our approach was steady, with no traffic coming. Liquorice, her head extended lowered her neck to better draw in the scent from this strange and, to her, unknown object. As she drew in the scent I bellowed a stern “NO!!!” and pulled hard on her “gentle leader”! Liquorice recoiled back four or five yards not taking her widened eyes from the snake. I gently rubbed her now tense shoulders and told my little darling just what a good girl she was. Still Liquorice stared transfixed at that dead snake. When she had settled I again lead her toward it. And again every fiber of her being was focused on the snake however this time she was cautious in her approach. And again as Liquorice inhaled the scent I barked another stern “NO!!!” and again pulled hard on her leash. Liquorice recoiled again but this time looked up at me, not the snake, when she stopped almost as if to say, “Dad knows best!” And so we continued on our homeward journey and to our respective breakfasts.
Did Liquorice learn from her lesson? That was the important question. I felt she had however that would need to be tested. The next day we would go that way again and find out. Come the new dawn and it proved to be one of those mornings where few things go as planned, thus time allowed for only a short walk. Wednesday morning saw the lesson put to the test, though, as we set forth, I wondered if the foxes, hawks or our resident pair of Wedge-tailed eagles had taken our educational tool as a free meal. Fortunately it appears they prefer their meals less covered in camouflaging dirt. A kindly God saw to it that a dog barked its morning protest to us from a home on the opposite side of the road. That provided an ideal distraction for my little darling as we approached the snake. Again no traffic. We walked along at a slow but steady pace with Liquorice still interested in the language of her canine “friend” until we were almost upon the snake. I carefully watched my little darling with the keenest of interest as she returned her attentions to our forward progress, only three yards from the snake. Her head lowered slightly then she shoved me bodily onto the road away from that snake, and it remained the focus of all her senses! Her shove was no gentle push or accidental bump, but a deliberate and powerful movement pushing me away from the perceived “danger” and almost knocking me off my feet! Not the reaction I had expected at all! Liquorice could easily have retreated, as previously described, or gone to the other side, away from me, and avoid becoming entangled with her Dad. But no, her action was designed to push me from the perceived danger and that made me so very proud and pleased with my little darling, or should I say, “little guardian angel”!
Now, I must decide how to stop Liquorice from saving my life by pushing me into any oncoming traffic!
Arthur Witten
Liquorice – I’ll teach him to pull on my “Gentle Leader”!