Late this afternoon while Mick was watching TV, he noticed the big dog get very excited about something near the open doorway. It was then he realised it was a snake and the dog had it in her jaws. This obviously did some serious damage to the snake, broke its back in three places, but it was not dead.

I was downstairs reading my book when I heard Mick yelling at the top of his voice. 

After getting the dog inside away from the snake, Mick and I found a shovel in the garden shed and Mick chopped off its head, as the snake was badly damaged. We had no idea what sort of snake it was and because of its small head, Mick was worried it might be venomous and that the dog might have been bitten.

We have since had a look online and we THINK and HOPE it is an aesculapian snake which are common in this area in Ticino and which are NON venomous.

On the downside, they are protected and should not be killed. Hopefully Mck won’t get into too much trouble.

Meanwhile, we have sent the dog owners an email alerting them to the excitement and we need to now watch the dog closely. She is still so excited and the adrenalin is pumping through her like crazy.