November 25, 2007
IT'S a picture any wildlife photographer would be proud of -- but for Vicky Fagan, 72, it was a heartbreaker.
Without realising it, Ms Fagan captured the precise second a tiger snake lunged at her pet dog, Misha, 16, and delivered a fatal bite to his face.
Ms Fagan, from Guildford, in central Victoria, was at a popular picnic spot at Vaughan Springs, near her home, earlier this month.
She took two photographs ofMisha, a Maltese terrier cross, while he was playing off-lead.
As she took the picture which caught the snake's lethal strike she saw something flick into the frame, but assumed it was the camera strap.
Over the next few days Misha fell ill, wheezing and vomiting, and despite treatment by a vet, including injections and medication, grew increasingly sick.
Last week, Ms Fagan had no option other than to have him put down.
On the way to the vet she dropped her film to be developed, picking it up on her way home.
"I thought I would have a last look at my Misha," she said.
One of the photographs showed what Ms Fagan initially thought was a stick beside Misha.
Then came the horrific realisation that it was a snake, striking Misha.
"When I showed the photo to a friend they identified it as a tiger snake from the stripes," Ms Fagan said.
"My poor little boy still slept on my bed right up to the end."
Ms Fagan has another dog, Mimi, a miniature fox terrier, who is missing Misha, so she is planning to buy her a new companion.
"But I won't be taking any dogs near that picnic spot ever again," she said.
Caption: Split second of terror: Vicky Fagan took this photograph of the tiger snake's strike, which killed her dog Misha.
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IT'S a picture any wildlife photographer would be proud of -- but for Vicky Fagan, 72, it was a heartbreaker.
Without realising it, Ms Fagan captured the precise second a tiger snake lunged at her pet dog, Misha, 16, and delivered a fatal bite to his face.
Ms Fagan, from Guildford, in central Victoria, was at a popular picnic spot at Vaughan Springs, near her home, earlier this month.
She took two photographs ofMisha, a Maltese terrier cross, while he was playing off-lead.
As she took the picture which caught the snake's lethal strike she saw something flick into the frame, but assumed it was the camera strap.
Over the next few days Misha fell ill, wheezing and vomiting, and despite treatment by a vet, including injections and medication, grew increasingly sick.
Last week, Ms Fagan had no option other than to have him put down.
On the way to the vet she dropped her film to be developed, picking it up on her way home.
"I thought I would have a last look at my Misha," she said.
One of the photographs showed what Ms Fagan initially thought was a stick beside Misha.
Then came the horrific realisation that it was a snake, striking Misha.
"When I showed the photo to a friend they identified it as a tiger snake from the stripes," Ms Fagan said.
"My poor little boy still slept on my bed right up to the end."
Ms Fagan has another dog, Mimi, a miniature fox terrier, who is missing Misha, so she is planning to buy her a new companion.
"But I won't be taking any dogs near that picnic spot ever again," she said.
Caption: Split second of terror: Vicky Fagan took this photograph of the tiger snake's strike, which killed her dog Misha.
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