Chet Baker in Mother Earth News!

Chet Baker is famous! Well, he already was with you, dear readers. But thanks to the magic of the Google Image Search, he graces the pages of the current issue of Mother Earth News. Here's the link to the article on dogs and snakes.

A couple of sharp-eyed friends have already recognized him as they page through M.E.N., and asked if that could really be Chet in a national magazine! Well, yes it is!

As you might imagine, I was less than thrilled, upon receiving my complimentary copy, to discover that Chet's illustrating a piece about finding a dog to kill snakes.  I thought the writer, Jan Dohner, handled the reader's question quite well.

"I'm terrified of snakes, and I'd like a dog that would kill them. Could you recommend a breed?"

Dohner led off with a few paragraphs about how the vast majority of snakes are harmless and beneficial, but finally recommended Jack Russell terriers, among other breeds. Sigh.

That question, and the attitude about nature, snakes (and dogs!) that it reveals, gets a huge arrrrgh from me. Good thing I wasn't answering the question, or I'd have recommended

1. psychotherapy  and

2. a mongoose.

They're having a sale down at Mongooses-R-Us. Head on down and pick you one up. They come in yellow, slender, long-nosed, banded...real purty, if you don't mind the goat eyes.

Or there's the Honey Badger. Honey badgers don't care.
It is the most fearless animal in the whole animal kingdom.  And if you have never seen Randall's take on the honey badger, click the link above, and know that this video makes my day.

lifted from bloodsprayer.com, and I'm sure they lifted it from National Geographic Wild...I rarely lift, but this is such an awesome photo of what I'm sure makes an awesome pet for people who fear snakes, I couldn't help myself.

But hey, I'm just the photographer here. All I knew at the time was that they needed a photo of a terrier with a snake, and they liked the one of mine they'd found. I sent Mother Earth News some photos I considered better lit and focused, but they went with their original choice (the top photo) which I guess is the most dramatic. Plus, Chet Baker looks capable of darting in for a kill. Which, as you'll see, he is so...not.

 

 This poor black rat snake was trying to find a place to lay her eggs, and Chet waylaid her on her way across the lawn. He was very curious and wanted to smell her. I think that killing her was very far from his mind, and that would never happen on Indigo Hill anyway. As Floridacracker says, "We don't just observe nature; we participate!"

 

 My personal favorite of the series is the photo below. Chet Baker looks kind and thoughtful, which of course he is. And the sun's in our favor. And there are roses. Horizon's a little skewy.

 

 We let her go on her way, after this priceless opportunity to document a gentle dog's curiosity about another full citizen of our nature sanctuary.

 

 Imagine having a dog just so you can sicc it on snakes. Go kill that copperhead for me! Try not to get bitten, OK? Because it would be a drag if you got killed. Then I would have to go buy another dog to kill my snakes.

So, to answer the original question, "I'm terrified of snakes, and I want a dog that will kill them. Could you recommend a breed?"

"Not a Boston terrier. And certainly not Chet Baker."

His true nature ( a complete lack of intrepidity)  is revealed in Snakeskin Surprise.  Weenieriffic. Just exactly how I want him.

For more adorable Chet/snake encounters, see Chet Baker, Snaker and Chet and the Rat Snake. The first post has him meeting with his first snake ever: a five-foot black rat! Wow. What a nice snake that was, just sliding through the piney woods. And he is such a puppeh in those pictures! Not even two.

Time flies when you have a great dog.