He had just finished a book
about dogs as spiritual guides.
He has had many dogs in his
life and, along the way, they
have taught him much, but
he thinks the thing they taught
him more than anything else
is that they are the inter-
mediaries between kill and
be killed and being friends,
who in our shared animal
nature don’t have to devour
each other, but actually can
love each other deeply and
he is almost ready to try that
hypothesis on rattle snakes
and humans but, just to be
safe, first on the snakes.