Snakes!!

Fear. Every creature possesses it. People have fear. So do dogs. It can be of minuscule, eight-legged spiders. Or seemingly harmless loud noises. Seemingly harmless to us, but not canines!! That is what my local dog newsletter calls "Noise Phobia". Many canines suffer from this common physiological and pathological fear. Rose does. She is afraid of several things, in fact. Fireworks. Cords. Thunder and lightning. The smell of smoke. Hailstorms. The list goes on. Last week, while hiking, I learned of something else that Rose is terrified of: garden snakes!! Yep!! Garden snakes!! During a hike, we were trekking along this lengthy boardwalk. Beneath it is shallow green-colored marshy water. We have witnessed tadpoles, beautiful birds, insects and frogs along this boardwalk. Last week, there was an occasional garden snake!! I have always loved this reptile, and marveled at them!! Their slender scaly bodies. Split tongues. Pretty designs. My fingers have even touched a snake's rough body!! For this reptile, I have zero fear!! But, apparently, Rose does!! This was news to me!! We were hiking along, just Rose and I, everybody else far ahead of us. When this slender garden snake slithered gracefully through a crack on the boardwalk, like someone's lips sucking up red-orange colored tomato sauce-covered spaghetti noodles. "He" peered "his" tiny head out to greet us, then dove back under. I froze. I was in awe, completely mesmerized by this creature!! Our garden snake reemerged, his head and tail slithering through the boardwalk's crack. So smooth, in an almost crafty sort of way!! His mouth opened, and a split tongue poked out. Rose's ears perked, her forehead furrowed. She, too, was watching our garden snake!! Then, as he maneuvered his way through that boardwalk the second time, Rose took, literally, three steps back, like some spooked horse!! I smiled at my little girl. She is terrified of snakes!! I thought. I then spoke to everybody though my walkie-talkie, like some undercover police officer. Rose is afraid of snakes!! Those words repeated themselves within my head over and over again. "We can add snakes to the list of things Rose is terrified of!!" I announced through my walkie-talkie. Rose and Indiana Jones!! Suppose the thought process within my mongrel's mind prior to stepping back was: Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes? ?