I worry about the snake and Lady's safety

This isn't really about dogs, not directly, but it's all about worries I have. And they surround my family and my dog Lady.

LADY SNIFFS AROUND
IN THE YARD.

The other night, I went out to the carport, and there was a large copperhead snake sticking its head out of a bookshelf that was lying on its side. I wasn't sure that's what it was until I got in the car and turned on the headlights.

The head had disappeared, and I could see the body move as it wound around the bookshelf. That was unnerving, of course.

It was gone, thankfully, by the time I got home.

I worry about my dog Lady. We've found snakes before, and I assume that snake was the same big one I saw in 2012 (it waggled its tongue at me, and I got it to move by throwing water on it). What if Lady encounters that snake in the backyard? Will she stay away from it? Will it stay away from her?

Is there anything I can do to protect her (other than keeping her in the house)? And how can I protect the carport, and, by extension, my family?

And I have a more sobering thought: Does that snake have a whole family out in the woods beside our house (I'd say yes)?

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More entries from the Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a steal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!