Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Charlie: Faithful Hound


Charlie is my son’s dog; she is half Greyhound and half Labrador. She is very intelligent and very well behaved. When my dog died a few weeks ago, Charlie knew I was very sad and she has spent a lot of time cuddling with me and following me around. She has become very protective of me and keeps me out of what she thinks is danger which might include a new dog on the property. (Actually, it does! Ed.) She is also very jealous and wants me for herself. Now she sleeps in my room instead of my son’s but he has two other dogs to keep him company. The other night I was working on the computer and she was by my side when all of the sudden she started to cry and paw at my arm. I kept telling her to go lie down but for the first time she wouldn’t listen she just kept persisting. It wasn’t until she started to move in circles and show her teeth and growled that I look to see what was bothering her. A large scolopander had just crossed my slippers and was on his way under the desk. (It’s a kind on huge man-eating centipede Ed) I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to do, but I knew if it got under the desk I could never catch it, so I took a piece of paper and kept moving it to the middle of the room. Meanwhile Charlie was growling and had her hair standing straight up. It was the middle of the night but I started to call to my husband for help because I couldn’t let it escape or it might show up some place else where I wasn’t aware of it and bite me. They are the most poisonous creature we have here in Spain. (Well, after the neighbours. Ed) My husband came quickly but didn’t have his contact lenses in so he couldn’t see it very well, so he went to put them on and to call our son. Between them they captured it (hog-wrestled it. Ed) and took lots of pictures. It was about eight inches long and as wide as my thump (Barbara has a pretty big thump. Ed), with big brown stripes down its yellow body. Once it was caught it started to get really mad and made biting motions so we could see its big fangs. My son now has it in a terrarium and will watch it to learn more about it. In my thirty-five years here I have seen maybe five but they have all been about two or three inches long and yellow.
They can still give you a good bite though which will go sceptic and can be dangerous. So I have to thank Charlie for saving from what could have been a very painful and unpleasant experience. It always amazes me how animals can express themselves when they really need to and I am glad they can because this is not the first time an animal has kept me from harm.

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