I'm up, about to go get my male dog out of the animal emergency clinic. It's almost 6am here and I have to have him out by 7am. He was bitten by a either a rattlesnake or copperhead last night around 10pm while in my back yard. I got him there in time last night, the vet thinks. More to come.
That's scary, good job it wasn't one of the children who got bit. Hope yer Hound Dawg gets better. Just a quick question, is he friendly to the Postman [Mailman]? I hope he is.
Sorry to hear that Jeff. I'm sure he'll pull through ok. You see, that's why you'll never catch me in the state of Alabama. To many things that bite.
Jeff, Hope the woofer makes it, having just lost me little fellow I know what you are going through Steve
Firstly, thanks everyone for your concern. It is appreciated. He seems to be doing well this morning and is sleeping on the cool tile of the kitchen floor right now. He's an English Shepherd and about 4 years old. This is a picture of Jack on my driveway. The female, Dixie, is about 6 months old. It was her prolific barking last night that got me out there to see what was going on. I was about to scold her for making so much noise, but the bark was different and then Jack all but crawled up to me, whimpering loudly, just begging me to help him. I got him in the house and could see that he had been bitten in the mouth/tongue. Had Dixie not barked, we probably would not have found him until this morning (probably dead) since we were getting in the bed and would not have heard Jack crying out for us. Beau, our Sheltie, was concerned, but would not have tried to call us, we don't think. I got him to the Emgergency Clinic inside of an hour, which made all the difference in the world for him. The bill was $1400. I have the pest man coming today to treat the yard to run off snakes and put some traps out for the ones that might not get the message. They can live in the woods all the want, just stay out of my yard. Jeff, Thats terrible news. Hope your dog makes it through. Are rattlesnakes common in your locality? Quite common, as are copperheads. My neighbor and I killed a copperhead in his backyard two years ago. Bear in mind, we live on 2-3 acres of land, so our backyards are at least an acre in size (4047 sq. meters. We also have Cottonmouth Moccasins, which normally stay in and around water. We have a stream on the backside of the property, but it is a good 70 yards away, so I don't think it was a moccasin. They don't care for pools much, they don't like the chlorine. Generally if you make enough noise, rattlesnakes and copperheads will leave you alone. Moccasin are far more territorial and will make every attempt to bite. I generally don't go into the woods much during warm weather. Just a quick question, is he friendly to the Postman [Mailman]? I hope he is. He's never given any indication of unfriendliness to the letter carrier. But then, our mailbox is at the street and they deliver it riding in a vehicle. He's not aggressive and only seems to be protective when he is in the house or if someone gives him a reason to be.
Jeff - That's a tough tale to tell - and at $1400 - I don't suppose you care much as long as he is still wagging his tail - bitten on the mouth indicates that he was trying to get rid of it - but a tad too slow....fortunately we don't have too many snakes in this area but summertime in the interior - you have to watch out - lost our Bella a nine year old Shepherd to cancer last year - tremendous loss so know how you felt overnight ! Cheers Tom
Glad he's getting better Jeff. He's a cute looking dog. Nothing worse than loosing a close pet. been there before. $1400 though? Strewth, that's alot of money to have to pay because of an angry snake, but as already been said, it's immaterial compared to your pet. Hope you catch the slimmy little bugger an string him up.
Sorry to hear about your hound good sir.......i once killed an Adder by mistake whilst clipping the grass and stuff from around my grandads grave, cut its head off with a pair of shears ....hopefully you can find the little sod who bit your dog and do the same....or chuck it on a fire.... Donnie
.or chuck it on a fire....Donnie ...on the BBQ most likely ! No sense in wasting it I've got stinging nettles at the bottom of my garden. Does that impress anybody ?:mellow:
You all sound rather like my father - a cousin sent me a picture of him just after the war . On the back she wrote "Bernard and the inevitable dog" . When I looked , he was holding a dog on most of his photos . The only time we didn't have a dog was the 10 years we spent in Germany , because he couldn't face putting an animal in quarantine when we came back to England . I'm so glad your dog is well - he's beautiful ! Linden
1400 Bucks! isn't that covered by pet Insurance? Just been reading up Copperhead snakes. Copperhead Snakes Wildest thing in our garden apart from the birdlife was a hedgehog.
And just down the road................................ A Florida teen has lost his arm, but not his spirit, after an alligator attacked him Sunday during an early morning swim in a Florida canal. Kasey Edwards, 18, of Okeechobee, Fla., lost his left arm after grappling with the 11-foot long alligator in a canal at 2 a.m. Sunday. "I felt something lock down and had the sensation of needle nose pliers, just a gigantic set of them, clamping down," Edwards told FOX affiliate WFLX-TV. Edwards admits he and his friends were drinking before he decided to jump in the 25-foot-deep canal in Nubbin Slough in Okeechobee County. "I've heard different rumors of what was involved and there were no drugs involved, no dare, nobody pushed me in or something," Edwards told WFLX-TV. When the alligator grabbed his arm, he remembered that gators spin their prey, so he told WFLX-TV that he grabbed a buoy line and didn't let go. "I was just like holding on with everything I could for this gator was trying to pull me under," he told the station. "I'd surface, get a gasp of air and he'd just shake again and pull me under.<SCRIPT type=text/javascript _extended="true"> /*<![CDATA[*/ var adsonar_placementId="1307847",adsonar_pid="144757",adsonar_ps="-1",adsonar_zw=190;adsonar_zh=200,adsonar_jv="ads.adsonar.com"; qas_writeAd(); /*]]>*/ </SCRIPT> "He did it about five times," Edwards continued. The teen poked the alligator in the eye to get free. "I still at this time didn't realize that my arm was gone," he told WFLX-TV. "I just — my adrenalin was pumping, and I swam to the other side of the bank." The Florida State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captured the alligator after the attack, WFLX-TV reported. Edwards was taken to a Melbourne hospital for treatment and he should be released by the end of the week. Edwards told FOXNews.com that he wants the state to do more to control the alligator population, citing the safety of young children, but he declined to discuss his own encounter further. "It seems like there's a crossroads," Edwards told WFLX-TV. "Either you have a positive attitude, you know, just make the best of a bad situation, or just sit there and feel sorry for yourself."
1400 Bucks! isn't that covered by pet Insurance? Just been reading up Copperhead snakes. Copperhead Snakes Wildest thing in our garden apart from the birdlife was a hedgehog. No, but I suspect that we will be acquiring some. And just down the road................................ A Florida teen has lost his arm, but not his spirit, after an alligator attacked him Sunday during an early morning swim in a Florida canal. They've moved back in up here, David, after a long absence. Golf course here where I live now has signs posted aboutbe careful when looking for your errant balls near the lakes and ponds. Endangered or not, they are too danged dangerous to have around with that much body strength and a brain the size of a walnut. Coyotes are getting too visible also.
