so mysterious

We walked in Jackman Wetlands again this afternoon. Turns out another jaunt at Jackman is another close encounter with a snake. What??!!!
I never thought of spring and snakes as somehow entwined, no pun intended, but I guess spring puts many creatures on the move, out of their winter condos.
As we sauntered up the rock strewn path, a woman and her Labrador puppy were heading towards us.
"She saw her first snake," the woman said, smiling.
"Oh," I said, my eyes widening. "Did it scare her?"
"Oh, yes! She was SO scared. She jumped straight into the air and turned sideways," the woman exclaimed.
"It must be instinctive," I suggested, wondering to myself how that could be.
The woman nodded emphatically and told us a little story.
Several years before, they had gone on a trip into the states and taken their other dog, who was about four at the time. It had never seen an alligator, having lived here in Canada. They stopped at a building with a cement alligator out front. As they walked toward it, the dog spotted the sculpture and abruptly stopped, pulling back in obvious fear. The woman thinking to show her pet that there was nothing to be afraid of, walked ahead and lifting her foot, placed it against the side of the alligator. The dog began to bark hysterically and tried to pull her away with all its might. Was that somehow instictive too. How would a Canadian dog know that the likeness of an alligator represented something dangerous?
So mysterious.