Recent news items about dog shootings remind me of the story I wrote for The Shreveport Times in the early '60s.
The guy who ran the city dump reported that someone had put a live dog out with their trash.
I went out with a photographer. We found the dog wandering forlornly around the stinking garbage. She understandably didn't trust people, and stayed well away from us.
After the story and photos came out, we heard from the owner. He raised hunting dogs, and because this one was deaf, he had his vet give her a supposedly lethal shot before he dumped her.
Nothing personal, just business. …
I left for a job in Baton Rouge a short time later, so I never found out the poor dog's fate. I suppose she died after her ordeal.
But I like to think she wound up in a shelter and was adopted by a family with kids.
As Hemingway said about another unlikely happy ending, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"
Serpent aversion
Our final snake item, from Jim Nichols, of Lafayette:
"Years ago, a great syndicated columnist, Lewis Grizzard, said that, to him, all snakes looked like 'copper-headed water rattlers.'"
Growth spurt
Our absolutely final snake story, from Joseph Fiduccia:
"When I was 13, my dad's fishing buddy Raymond brought some small eggs in a jar. He found them near the bank while fishing on the Tangipahoa River.
"My dad, Nathan, was not interested, so Raymond gave them to me.
"After a few days, they hatched. Six small snakes with an attitude came out and tried to bite me through the Mason jar.
"I decided to release them in the nearby woods.
"Zoom ahead one year, and on the front page of the daily paper was a story about the largest rattlesnake ever killed in Tangipahoa Parish!
"I've never mentioned it until now. I’m 68, so I think I’m safe."
Lend him your ears
Not a snake story, but a lizard story:
Alex "Sonny" Chapman, of Ville Platte, says, "That Saturday story about the kid wearing a garter snake for a necklace reminded me of my time at LSU.
"In the dorm, some guys from Metairie talked about catching little lizards and getting them to clamp onto their earlobes like earrings.
"Fast forward about 20 years. On a camping/hunting trip, one of the kids caught a little lizard and was displaying it.
"I got the bright idea of asking him to let the lizard bite my earlobe. It was OK until the lizard adjusted his bite for a tighter grip.
"I freaked out, and told the kid, 'Get it off me!'
"Checked that box on my bucket list."
Drive like a dog
"Articles about driving in fog reminded me of the very dense fog in England," says Barry Dufour, of Carencro:
"While I was stationed at RAF Lakenheath, the base had safety alerts when the fog was bad.
"They would advise airmen living off base to leave at a certain time to ensure enough time to get home.
"I remember driving with my head outside the car and using the road reflectors to see the center line. It was really stressful, but I'd make it home safely."
Flunking French
Photographer Leatus Still tells this "fun with words" story:
"Several years ago, a group of professional photographers at a convention learned of a 'boudoir photography' place, and called just to listen to a recording machine offering 'bo due er' photography."