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One day mama prairie dog went out to fetch food for her pups.
Upon her return, she found a mischievous, poisonous rattlesnake curled up by her den, her pups about four feet below. The rattlesnake, with enough venom to fell a two-hundred pound man, patiently waited for any one of them to pop their little pup heads from the home built by their mom.
It would be merciless. Any one of them would be a tasty, easy snack.
Mom was perplexed. What were her choices?
She could try to scurry past the snake to secure her pups. But that was a huge risk and would not remove the threat of the snake.
She could dive in with her sharp claws and sharper teeth and attack the snake. But that would be false, unnecessary bravado. Besides, she had had many-a-friend devoured by a like-snake, so this was not a very promising option.
Here, we could take a lesson from mama prairie dog. How many times do we dive in head long without thinking? We panic or react emotionally. We don't take the time to consider. Or, men and women both, we get macho and feel like we have to prove something to others and to ourselves. We let brawn rule brains.
But this prairie dog had no such compunctions. She analyzed her situation, took a moment to weigh the options, and decided on a different course of action. She set out to outsmart him.
Oh, the courage and patience it took.
Stepping lightly, she approached the snake...cautiously she went...step by step...watching the rattler's every move. The snake spied her, its gruesome rattle singing its death chant.
The great snake coiled to attack.
The prairie dog sniffed...leaned her head forward...nose twitching...eyes fixed...waiting just inches from her menacing enemy...face in the line of fire.
Suddenly the snake lunged, teeth flashing, eyes flaring. Just as it did, the prairie dog leapt backward and the snake missed. The ominous creature began to uncoil. The dog stepped back another few steps.
On came the snake.
Again, it lunged at her...this time she parried it with her claws and teeth. And then she backed off some more, teasing the snake along...and it followed on.
Another lunge and another leap back by mom. She continued backing away...the unwitting snake followed still.
This went on for some minutes. Soon the snake found itself well away from the pups...out in the middle of nowhere...lured there by a crafty mama prairie dog.
The dog then ran well ahead of the snake, sounded the all clear and prairie dogs everywhere began to celebrate.
Sounds like a silly, made-up kid's tale, I know. But it's not. Click on the link below and you'll see the story unfold before your eyes.
And then think of mama prairie dog the next time someone tells you, "You don't need to work harder, just smarter."
Mama prairie dog would tell you that there's truth to that ol' cliché.
http://on.aol.com/video/brave-prairie-dog-confronts-snake-517818871 | 
