So I was late going outside to put everything up last night. I usually check on the quail and bantams, who are all near the house, first and then let the dogs out to walk with me to the big coop. Last night, however, I gave the dogs some leftovers and left their gate open so that they could join me when they were done. I was in the garden where I have a quail grow-out pen when the dogs came up, totally ignoring the flapping and fluttering of the birds and running behind their pen. When I got up to look at what they were so interested in, I found a copperhead stuck in the fencing, just a few feet away. It had tried to get in through one hole, gotten stuck, and tried to leave through another one, totally entangling itself. There was no way that it was going anywhere, so a quick blast from the shotgun put it out of its misery. This morning I looked and it was already gone, probably a nice treat for one of the neighbor's cats.
