Well, today I’ve got a story about how one of them came to my rescue.
It was Saturday morning, and I'd decided to take a walk because I’m trying to tone up to look fairly decent in my gown for the Rita awards next month. I slapped on my headphones and set off. Early on, I noticed an unusual number of black crows flying around, scavenging, and then one with a nice hunk of bagel. Since I talk to random animals all the time--but don’t worry about me too much for they don’t respond--I applauded him for his breakfast “score,” as I moved on.
A half-hour later, I'm on a sidewalk two miles away, bopping to my CD (because I a firm believer in walking as if nobody’s looking), when out of nowhere, a black crow dive-bombs the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street ahead of me.
Suddenly a six foot plus rattlesnake jackrabbits up and across the sidewalk, running for HIS life. Where it had been, I guess, sunning. And maybe coiled.
Maybe I should add here that I have a screaming, out-of-my-mind snake phobia. To the extent that back in college, I could not enter a certain classroom building because its first floor corridor was lined with CAGED snakes. And which is why the only snake that appears in this post is cartoon and "almost" cute.
When I regain consciousness (miraculously I am still breathing and somehow across the street), I realize that had that crow not shown up, I would have dance-walked right up to that rattlesnake, most likely startling the thing.
Arg, sputter, gasp.
And because I am a total drama queen, newspaper headlines started screaming in my head:
WOMAN SAVED BY DIVE-BOOMING CROW FROM RATTLESNAKE ATTACK
CROWS COMMUNICATE TO SAVE CRAZY WOMAN
LOCAL AUTHOR SAVED FROM RATTLESNAKE BY CROW (BUT WILL SHE LOOK GOOD IN HER RITA DRESS?)
WOMAN FACES BIGGEST FEAR AND LIVES TO BLOG ABOUT IT
Or...or...
Any other headline ideas? Or have a near-miss yourself in the wild?
Tina
Tina Ferraro
How to Hook a Hottie, 2009 Rita Finalist
The ABC's of Kissing Boys, 2009 YALSA Nominee
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
www.tinaferraro.com
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