Dog Kills Rattlesnake

I believe in signs. I read my horoscope daily, and take it to heart, especially when I am pursuing a new love affair. So, when I awoke to find that my old St Bernard cross, who is blind and deaf had killed a rattle snake, and she was still alive to show me her kill, I took it as a sign. First, I took it as a good sign. It showed me that my old dog was not as feeble as she pretended to be, because she had killed a venomous snake, and hadn’t gotten bitten in the process, thus saving me a small fortune in potential vet bills. But, she killed a snake, and the snake in most ancient texts, and mythical musings symbolizes death and rebirth. It also symbolizes, in most ancient religions, the taking on a new skin, the transformation of a new self, taking on of new roles, new responsibilities, and even attitudes. I googled all of this while sipping on my morning coffee.
Of course, I read my horoscope for the day which read—“Change is on its way, good and bad.” I read also the horoscope for the man that I was lusting after. His read—‘You might be thinking of a love of the past, but a hot inner office romance might be in the making.” I then stalked him on Face Book to see if he had posted any new pictures of possible candidates for his “hot office romance.” I did notice that he had befriended two new women. Where did all this leave me? What is the meaning of my dog killing the snake; a powerful totem animal, the all empowering symbol of life-changing transformation? Did my dog just kill my possible transformation? I dismissed this irrational thinking. And yet, there is a rational story to this frightful morning event.
Weeks before on a sunny summer morning, I stepped out onto my front porch and immediately heard a rattle. I looked down and there two feet from my bare feet was a rattle snake. I screamed, and ran back into my house, thinking I had almost gotten bitten by a rattlesnake. I was hyperventilating, near hysterics. And then I heard the damn thing slither under my porch. I worried about the dogs, but hoped they were smart enough to stay away from it. Like all dogs they quickly grew bored with it, and for the next three days, every time I stepped onto my porch I heard the rattle.
Of course I posted my adventure on my Face Book page, and I got several hits. My ex-sister in-law was somewhat informative, telling me it was a good sign to have a rattlesnake appear on my porch because it symbolized death and rebirth. Considering I had just gotten divorced from her brother, I took this as a good omen that I was on the right path with my life. I was being reborn I told myself, seriously thinking about getting a rattlesnake tattoo on my back or up my leg or around my wrist. But I quickly dismissed the thought. I am not in to pain, and knowing me, I’d regret doing it after a week of looking at it.
With the positive reassurance from my ex-sister-in law, I began to look forward to hearing the rattle of the snake every morning. And then one morning, I didn’t hear it anymore. A part of me was thankful that the snake had moved on because now I didn’t have to worry about it biting one of my dogs, or me, or the possibility of it getting into my house.
Amidst all of the rattlesnake drama I was pursuing an old flame from my past. And I thought it was serendipitous that the rattlesnake showed up on my doorstep right when I was reconnecting with my old love, well mostly old lust. And of course, I took it as a good sign that I had a rattlesnake living under my porch, but then the rattlesnake left. When I told my friends about this, one said that it left to find food; another said it got bored, and needed to go find a mate, and another without even a smirk said, it left, taking my supposed rebirth with it.
I began feverishly reading my horoscope at this point. I had sighed up on Face Book to get a direct link every morning on my page. I also signed up for daily Face Book tarot card readings. Then another weird thing happened. On the day the snake left my horoscope read: “If you are pursuing an old flame, don’t even think about it unless either party is willing to make major changes in ones life.” Okay, I freaked a little. The old flame lives three thousand miles away, and is well established in his city, and I, well, I have no desire to move anytime soon, plus the budding of our rekindled romance consisted of one phone call, sporadic texting, including him asking me to send a naked photo of myself, and a couple little quips on Face Book. However, I of course took this as a sign to rethink my life’s plan, and when on the next day the horoscope page asked: “Have you recently, reconnected with an old flame, and how did it work out?” I, of course, read all 200 hundred comments, and let me tell you, they were not positive. In fact they were god awful depressing. After reading them I cursed the rattlesnake for leaving. I cursed the damn thing for even showing up! Why did it have to even show up? To tease me, like the devil, because just think what it did to Adam and Eve. If that snake had not tempted Eve we’d all be living in eternal bliss, right now, not worrying about the common problems of life!
At this point all communication with the old flame stopped. Again I blamed the rattlesnake, and again, I adamantly read my daily horoscope and tarot card postings. I tried to stop thinking about how my supposed transformation had slithered away with the leaving of the rattlesnake that had graced its presence at my doorstep, bringing with it a sense of hope for me, but then quickly taking that hope away due to its grumbling stomach or wanton need to find a mate--selfish creature!
To quiet my thumping heart and runaway emotions, I put aside all thought of the old flame, and buried myself in my work. I find the best remedy to get over a broken heart is exhaustion. I was too tired to even think about him and any chance of rekindling our lust for each other. But, then I began to dream of snakes. I, again Googled the meaning of snakes in my dreams. On one site, it stated that dreaming of snakes predominantly means a fear of something, but then went on to say that it is also a sexual symbol to dream of a snake. It stressed that to dream of snakes’ means a hidden repressed sexual desire. I laughed when I read this because I knew I was sexually repressed, but there was nothing I could do about it, because the guy that I have the hots for lives three thousand miles away, and will not return any of my phone calls or my text messages, and not wanting to be a stalker, I stopped texting him, and seriously was thinking about un-friending him on Face Book.
When I asked my older, wiser friend why the guy was not responding to any of my messages, she bluntly said that he had a girlfriend who had busted him. I didn’t want to believe that he had a girlfriend. I wanted to believe that we had found each other after all these years, and now, we were about to rekindle our long lost love. Hence that was not to be my fate.
I called another friend, telling her about my recent dream about snakes. She went on to inform me that this was a message from a higher plane. She said that if I had dreamt of a cobra, it meant I am being challenged, and that I am ready to break free in some way, and that I must listen to my inner self for the wisdom within the message that the snake dreams were sending me. It wasn’t a cobra I dreamt of. It was a rattlesnake, the same damn snake that had lived under my porch. And in my dream it was basking in the sun and looking very content with its serpent self. I Google again, the dreaming of snakes, and found, on a different site, that advised looking at how I felt when dreaming of the snake—was I afraid or uncomfortable? No, I was pissed that the snake was happy and basking in the sun, and I was sexually repressed because the guy I liked, didn’t like me!
My ex-sister- in- law called me after I posted on my Face Book that I was dreaming of snakes. She left me a message “Chris, I think the meaning of the snakes in your dreams is that you are letting the old go and accepting the new. Because snakes shed their skin, you are in the process of letting go of something that hurt you, and it might mean that you are afraid of letting in the new because you are afraid of getting hurt.”
I didn’t call her back. I simply believed that I was dreaming of the particular rattlesnake because I had him on my mind, and that’s how dreams work. There was no hidden meaning. I simply dreamt of a snake, the same snake that slithered away, taking with it my rebirth! My chance of finding true love again! My transformation! I was divorced that was my true transformation—I had shred my old skin when I signed those divorce papers.
But then I awoke from a deep slumber to the barking and whining of my dogs at my bedroom window. I sleepily peeked out, and to my horror my two big dogs, one a Great Dane and the other a Coon Hound had surrounded the rattlesnake, and the idiotic Coon Hound was paw smacking it. The Great Dane due to her noble birth knew better and kept a save distance from the viperous creature. The Coon Hound, due to her redneck breeding, had no sense at all, and continued pawing at the rattlesnake. I quickly jumped out of bed and ran for the front door, screaming at them to get in the house.
I went back to bed since it was only 5:30 in the morning, and laid there listening to the snake rattle up against my garage door, trying to calm itself from its ordeal with my dogs. And then I thought: “Oh my god, it is right up against my garage door probably looking for somewhere to hide, and the pipe that is attached to my dyer sticks out from the corner of my garage to my house. ‘Shit, it might slither up the pipe and into my house… and then what would I do?” I sat up in bed, but, amidst my panic I thought the rattlesnake has returned, and so too, my rebirth, my renewal, my lust for my old flame, my chance, my liberation, my something! Yet, I had to think only about getting the rattlesnake away from the pipe, because even though I liked the idea of its return, I didn’t like the idea of it being able to get into my house.
I jumped out of bed. I put on a pair of boots that went above my ankles. I donned a long coat and pair of leather gloves. I looked like some Steam Punk character, the only thing I didn’t have was a pair of goggles. Rake in hand, and courage abounding, I stood several feet from the beast, and was amazed at its tender beauty. It was coiled in the corner near the garage right under the pipe. I cursed my ex-husband. I do this occasionally when I am a little freaked out. I shouted expletives, several times, and the rattlesnake as if understanding my uncertainty, slithered away from the corner of the house and looked right at me. It had stopped its rattling, and hissing. Yes, they hiss, I got a look at its black forked tongue, and it did send chills up my spine. It creeped me out a little, but it was so beautiful. It glowed. Its diamond yellow back pulsated. Its rattle was gold and black. I was in awe of it. And yet, I had to get it away from my house.
Both the creature and I stood staring at each other for a couple of seconds, I poking at it with the end of the rake, and it rattling at me in response. It never stuck at me. I took this to be a good sign. Finally, I think it understood that I was not going to kill it, as it looked at me, and then slithered away along the garage door, and made its way through the fence and into the neighbor’s yard.
I was relieved. I had gotten it away from my house, and yet, there was a tinge of regret that the rattlesnake had disappeared. But I took it as an immediate sign to text message the old flame, and try and resume some sort of communication with him, to entice him to talk to me, again. So, I immediately sent him a text, right after I stopped shaking from my encounter with the snake, had a cigarette, and a cup of coffee. I would have had a shot of whiskey, but since it was only 7: 30 in the morning, I thought better of it. Okay, first I read my horoscope, and it said—“Remain calm, you will be experiencing spiritual breakthroughs today, yet there is nagging doubt within your psychic. Proceed with caution with any romantic pursuits.”
I grabbed my cell phone, I paused for only a second to rethink my plan, but I had a sign, the rattlesnake had returned, and yes, my horoscope advised caution, but it was not as if I was calling him I rationalized. No, a cute little text to the old flame wouldn’t hurt. I smoked another cigarette for inspiration. Nothing of profound wisdom leapt out, so I opted with just texting “Hi, how are you?” I then quickly flipped the cell phone shut and went to take a shower. While in the shower, I started to psychoanalyze myself. I am doing this because I have recently broken up with my boyfriend. I feel lonely, and a little horny. I am upset because I found out that my ex-husband’s new girlfriend is pregnant and they are getting married. I am jealous that everyone around me is finding love, but me. I am depressed because I am starting to feel my age. Amidst, my thoughts of self-pity I hear the phone ring. I think, “Oh my god, he is calling me!” I leap out of the shower, stumbling over my little dog, and stubbing my toe, in the process of getting to my phone that I had left on the kitchen counter.
‘Listen, I think the snake is your spirit guide,” my friend, the one who told me before that I needed to listen to the messages from the higher plane, informs me.
I then tell her about how the rattlesnake returned, and I took it as a sign to text, the old flame. And as I am recapping my heroic morning to her, I get a text message from the dude. “Fine and you?”
I sit there dripping water on my kitchen floor, listening to my friend, go on about how if I saw red in my dream; it means that I experienced the life force. And that Freud said to dream of a snake is to dream of yourself.
‘Did the snake bite you in your dream?” She asks. I am half listening, I don’t respond. I am thinking of what to text back to the dude. He is fine. Okay, at least he texted back. That must mean something? Right?
“If the snake bites you it’s supposed to be a good sign, a self revelation.” I hear my friend say. Well, yes, the snake just bit me, now. The snake just responded. I have an opening. I have a second chance to rekindle some sort of conversation. The rattlesnake under my porch had returned, and thus bringing back the spark to ignite the flame.
I get off the phone with Terry. I cut her off when she begins to tell me that in the Native American culture, the snake is a symbol of transformation and healing. Whatever, I am in love, or lust, or obsessed, and the dude texted me back, and now I have to think of something witty to say, something that will entice him to want to call me or invite me to come visit him. I am desperate, not transforming!
I stand with cell phone in hand, clutching at my towel, and all I could come up with to text was: “I am battling with a rattlesnake, and you?” That was cute, funny, not too crazy, but had maybe a sexual connotation attached to it. I flipped my cell phone closed and went to get dressed. The phone rings, and I think, “My god, he is calling. I enticed him, once again!
“Ok, so in India, the god Vishnu is often depicted sleeping on the serpent of eternity called Ananta, and the goddess, Shiva wears snakes for bracelets and necklaces which represents sexuality.” This is my friend Terry, again.
“I think we have established that I am sexually repressed.”
“Has he texted back? Terry asks.
“No,” I whine.
“Hmm, bad sign,” she says clicking off.
I visit another website about snakes. It reads “the serpent had long been a symbol of sexual/ creative life force within humans as taught in eastern traditions. The Kundalini or serpent fire lies coiled at the base of the spine.” I have been experiencing lower back pain recently, I think as I glance at my cell phone, hoping for a text from the dude.
I wonder if the dude was born in the year of the snake. I look up his year of birth on my Chinese horoscope link. Nope, he is born in the year of the dog. Interesting, I think, but no real connection to my recent events, except, if I read into the fact that my dogs were barking at the rattlesnake, and alerted me to its return. Three hours go by, and no text message from the dude. Sadly, I realize that the dude is not interested, and I need to let go of any thought of rekindling our long lost love.
Again, for several weeks, I bury myself in my work, fighting the urge to text him. My snake dreams stop and I awake each morning with a sense of relief, as if a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. As if I finally see the light, and within these weeks I have had no communication with the dude, nor seen the snake. The days have grown chilly, and the night’s cold, and I feel as if I am hibernating, preparing for the winter ahead. I have shed my old skin; the one that thought the dude liked me, or even wanted to be my friend. But sadly our relationship is superficial. I read his posts on Face Book, making a comment here and there, hoping he will respond, but he never does.
And then one morning, I am thinking about what I am going to do with my day, daydreaming of running off to a exotic island or at least to another state, and as I making the rounds to feed the dogs, there in the jaws of my old, blind and deaf dog is the snake—dead. I scream and then I cry, and then I laugh, and then I run to get my camera. I need to post this on my Face Book, but the old dog is no longer interested in the snake and drops it. So I make her pick it up again to get a picture to show the world that my old dog killed a rattlesnake. And when I post the staged picture on my Face Book page with the caption: DOG KILLS THE RATTLESNAKE. I get several responses: 1.She killed your rebirth. 2. She saved your life. 3. Good dog. 4. She does what all dogs do. 5. There goes your transformation. 6. Stop analyzing, it is what it is. 7. Your dog is going to die.
My old dog is still alive. I hung the dead rattlesnake over the dogs shed for several days, a trophy of sorts for the old dog, and a reminder that my transformation was stopped dead in its slithering tracks. After a week of it flipping in the wind, and being dried by the sun, it began to stink. I buried it under a juniper tree. The next day my younger dog, a Basset Hound comes to me with another dead rattlesnake. This one was in the process of shedding its skin. It was huge, and I wonder were these two snakes an item? I buried this snake next to the other rattlesnake, wondering if they had been in love, or was it just a fling, a passing moment, a quickie under my juniper trees.
The dude has not called or texted me, and I think my friend might be right, he might have a girlfriend. I still stalk him on Face Book, just for the fun of it. I am hoping that the two rattlesnakes had mated before they died in the jaws of my dogs. At least some creature was getting it. I can only hope that love was happening under my porch. My horoscope did read this morning that I was to have an unexpected visitor, and I did see a spider in the corner of my window. Could this mean anything because I did not kill the spider, I let it live. I am not afraid of spiders.