Chapter 11: Udit Arrives

The weeks after Sean's arrival at the Gordian Ranch were hectic in the way most ranch life is hectic. There's always a cow doing something stupid, or a horse that doesn't agree with its rider. The deer and elk always want the vegetation from fruit trees and gardens more than the grass in the pastures. Something always needs fixing, replaced, sharpened or dug up or buried. Cow pies and horse droppings need to be cleaned up and moved. Despite the work, and the pace of life on the ranch, life was good and Sean's presence only seemed to make it better. Even Pappy settled down from his initial concerns.

BB got an Indian style papoose carrier for Sean that could be adjusted to fit on the back leaving the baby facing back, or against the chest leaving the baby facing forward. He had sent for it as soon as he heard that Seth and Martha were adopting a baby. The baby was a constant companion of one of them any time he wasn't asleep. It was obvious, very quickly, that the animals behaved better when Sean was with them. Prince seemed to be on his best behavior and the bulls acted almost docile. The cattle even cooperated but they still did stupid things. All animals seemed agreeable when Sean was around except snakes. Rattle snakes can be found throughout Arizona but they are very common in the Bradshaw Mountains. The family had to be constantly vigilant to keep the snakes away from the farm animals.

Martha was carrying Sean past her garden to inspect her small fruit orchard. It was early one October morning a few weeks after returning to the ranch. She had just finished the breakfast dishes and wanted to see if any of the fall fruit was ready for a pie she was planning. The October weather was starting to get chilly at night and the last of the fruit should be ready for picking. Martha had apricot, peach, apple and cherry trees in the little fenced field behind her garden. The sun was still below the mountain ridge to their east so the early morning coolness still hadn't succumbed to the Arizona heat. The temperature could still reach the nineties even in mid October. Sean's carrier was in a front carry position so he could see where they were going and what they were doing. She was approaching the gate to the orchard with Sean's escort for the day, Queen. The huge mastiff was walking about half a pace ahead of Martha when the rattle snake gave its warning rattle and struck at Queen. Martha screamed and jumped back and Sean cried out at the same time. The farm animals went crazy. Bulls and cows were bellowing and horses were screaming their warning. All of them crowded as close as they could get on the side of their enclosures closest to Sean. A calico and a Siamese mix cat streaked from the barn, across a field, and attacked the snake as if a seven foot diamond back was an everyday occurrence.

Not many people have seen a cat fight a snake but it is educational. Snakes are fast but so are cats. A cat can drive a snake away and two cats can kill one, if the snake is small enough. This snake was big with a strike that was nearly five feet, so the cats might not be able to kill it but they could keep it occupied until help arrived.

Queen wanted to help the cats but Martha grabbed the dog's collar and held her back. Queen was dragging Martha forward when she first grabbed the dog's collar but Sean said, "spldofs," and she quit trying to lunge forward. Seth, Pappy and BB were on the other side of the barn putting hay bales on a trailer so they were a good three hundred yards away. The cats were bracketing the snake so the snake couldn't tell where the next attack was coming from. The angry reptile would strike in one direction, and the cat on the other side would rake the exposed body. The snake recoiled, and struck at its other attacker, only to have claws ripping into its exposed body from the other side. The cats were causing minor damage, but they were barely dodging the striking snake. This death match continued for over a minute before help arrived from an unexpected source.

A screech echoed from the hills as a huge bald eagle dropped from the sky. The snake was fully extended as it struck at one of the cats and the deadly claws of the raptor sank into the snake's body just behind the head. The huge, curved beak that could nearly decapitate a rabbit struck the head leaving only a bloody mass of writhing flesh.

The eagle screamed again before leaping into the air. Its nearly six foot wing span grabbed at the air as the bird carried the heavy reptile. The snake didn't know that it was dead and its writhing body dangled from the eagle's claws. The big bird flew to a perch atop a tall corner post for the fence. It started tearing at the flesh of the snake with its curved beak.

The cats ran to the base of the post and looked up expectantly at the bird eating the snake. Their shoulders were hunched like they wanted to climb the post but knew better than to interrupt the bird. On a normal day, the cats were as much prey for the eagle as the snake was.