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Training with rattlesnakes

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You hang around that Mexican border and flit back and forth across it rattle snakes will be the last thing on your mind when you wind up incarcerated in a Mexican Prison or killed.

Won't catch me making trips to Mexico like I used to....no sir...err ma'm.

My first corgi when she was a pup was bitten and with in and hour I got her to a vet and they give her anti venom and a couple hours later couldn't tell she was bit. Vet said she was lucky and now there are no problems with her.
 
It was a Western Diamondback that bit the two dogs pictured. The snake was 5-6' long. It's a long story but locating and killing the snake was quite a saga.

I don't know what bit my younger hound, I would imagine that was a diamondback too, and it was a smaller diamondback that bit Maggie, maybe 2'. She was only 9 weeks old at the time, but thankfully it wasn't as serious.

We do have Prairie Rattlesnakes, but they tend to be found on other parts of the ranch. From what I hear they are bad news, they are more aggressive. I do my best to avoid all of them!

The dogs all made a full recovery other than some scars, but they reinforced my fear of snakes. The black dog never yelped or whined before or since, but she was screaming when the vet treated her. She is hyper 24/7 but I couldn't even get her up to go outside the next day.

None of the vets in our area carry antivenin, the usual treatment is dexamethasone and antibiotics, with vitamin k pills to help with the bleeding. It takes us at least an hour to get to a vet, so we treat with dexamethasone ourselves before leaving home.
 
the_jersey_lilly_2000 said:
Tibbs was it a horribly expensive vet bill?

And by the way I agree about that border hoppin. Won't catch me doin it. No sirree!!!
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Honestly Jersey I don't remember this was about 5 years ago, but since I don't remember means it was reasonable. I want to say it was around $100. Seriously not bad for a vet visit....but they give her the shot and I took her home they didn't do nothing else to her. Her poor little head was swelled up the size of a football and her eyes were swelled shut. Her breathing was being affected but as soon as they give her the shot the swelling subsided pretty quick. She was lucky.
 
My inlaws lap dog got bit in their yard about 2 months ago. The ant-ivenom shot cost $250, in Valentine, Neb. He is just fine, but he did not get a direct bite. They could only find one fang mark and it went through his cheek and into his mouth. It made him sick though.
 
About 25% of all rattlesnake bites are known as dry, they do not relaese venom,
I never take my dogs to the vet for a bite, did once and my vet (who i have used for yrs) handed me some antihistime told me to use it.
Normally dogs and others have no lasting effects from the diamondback, the Mojave is the deadlist of all rattlers and if i am not mistaken now on the endangered list, they have a very pretty green hued skin and are AGRESSIVE, have not seen one in several yrs thank goodness becaus I would hate to break the law regsarding it's demise.
When i am out working cattle or fencing or what ever I carry a .357 with 3 rounds of 38 special snake shot and 3 rounds of .357 mag just in case!
used to have a quart jar that I tossed rattles in, it got full and an old boy who had come out to pick up a incubator I had for sale saw it and offered me $200 for the jar! was afraid it might have been illigal to sell the rattles so I sold him the jar as was where was, and pocketed two 100 dollar bills :roll:
Quit saving them the past few yrs.
 
Mojave rattlers are still fine for numbers, one of the more common ones next to the western diamondback, in the low lands. There are other protected species, usually in the mountainous areas, and they are much harder to find – I have tried.

I love Arizona – everything about it and it's my favourite place to look for snakes, but I also love seeing the cattle there. My exhusband (hated cows) used to get so angry when I'd want to stop at any auction marts around, that he'd start eating more chicken in some sort of protest. Hilarious.

But love your state. :)
 
If you get the chance.....check out "Upstairs at the Mansion" it's an old mansion that was owned by Mr Perry. The owner of one of the mining companies in Terlingua, Texas. It's a bed and breakfast now.....but the upstairs has no roof......you wake up lookin at the Chisos Mountains. (unless of course you wake up to rain LOL) Sounds like it'd be a real neat stay. I've been to Terlingua years ago....but it wasn't a B n B then.
 
bakSovrbar said:
Mojave rattlers are still fine for numbers, one of the more common ones next to the western diamondback, in the low lands. There are other protected species, usually in the mountainous areas, and they are much harder to find – I have tried.

I love Arizona – everything about it and it's my favourite place to look for snakes, but I also love seeing the cattle there. My exhusband (hated cows) used to get so angry when I'd want to stop at any auction marts around, that he'd start eating more chicken in some sort of protest. Hilarious.

But love your state. :)
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You are right I checked the endagered spcies list and found the Mojave rattle snake of be on thre least endagered list.

Interesting fact!

Mojave Rattlesnake
Genus: Crotalus
Species: scutulatus


As the name says, this snake lives in the Mojave Desert of California. It can also be found in the extreme western part of Texas, and Southern Nevada to Puebla, near the southern edge of the Mexican plateau.

The Mojave Rattlesnake lives mainly in the high desert and lower mountain slopes. Its habitat may vary from the dry desert to
grasslands and bushes. It is most commonly found in scattered scrubby growth like creosote bush and mesquite, and is rarely found in rocky, hilly terrain.

Adults can reach lengths of 2 to 4 feet, making it a medium-sized rattlesnake.

The Mojave rattlesnake can easily be mistaken for the Western Diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), which inhabits an overlapping range. They both have well-defined light-edged diamonds down the middle of their backs. The diamond pattern fades towards the last third of the Mojave Rattlesnake, whereas the diamonds continue to the tail in the Western Diamondback. The tail of the Mojave has contrasting light and dark rings. The white rings are much wider than the black rings, while the Diamondbacks have thick black rings.

Some Mojave rattlesnakes are greenish, but can be colored greenish gray, olive-green, or occasionally brownish or yellowish.

This rattlesnake has a very potent venom which is considered ten times more toxic than other North American rattlesnakes, a fact that makes the Mojave rattlesnake one of the most dangerous poisonous snakes in the United States. Their venom works as a neurotoxin and is called Mojave toxin. Strangely, the bite of a Mojave Rattlesnake is usually not as painful as other rattlesnake bites.

P.S. If you sould get into the Tucson are try and get to the Desert Museum, lots of live exhibists, and very informitive information about the area wildlife,
My wife and i have season passes and use them to take friends and family that visit to see, Been there lots of times and find out new things all the time
http://desertmuseum.org
 
I have been there! It was awesome.

Yes, I never did see one in Arizona (mojave) but found one in California, near the Nevada border.
They are an especially interesting species because the venom is different in different locales, so one part of the population must have been isolated as it didn't evolve the same adaptations. Interesting stuff for sure.

One of the things I remember being the most fun around that museum was the roads - they dipped like a rollercoaster up and down in the wash areas and it was a lot of fun to drive, especially fast.

I own a newspaper in Canada, but my plan once my kids are grown is to start a newspaper in Arizona, for the snowbirding Canadians in the winter months and that would give me a reason to be there every year, and a way to pay for it too.

Eventually, I would love to run some cattle in both places. You can tell, since I have chosen newspapers and cows as my favoured professions, that I have no plans to ever be wealthy. ;) I decided long ago that I would 'settle' for happiness.

It is neat to see you take an interest in your native wildlife. Though they can be dangerous, they are fascinating and beautiful in their own way. I used to think it was very cool that Arizona still had jaguars – but I believe at least one was killed recently, in the last year.

Here is the link: http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/jaguar_management.shtml

(I forget what I have to get rid of the long url and allow you to just click the word 'here' instead)
 
I've not ever trained a dog specifically to avoid snakes, but if I were to do so, I'd probably try the shock collar routine.

Pretty sure I read somewhere that it's very effective.

Take a live snake, say a rattlesnake, and put him in an ice chest on ice for a while to really slow him down.

Set the critter where the dog can find him and the dog gets very near (remember, the snake is too cold to react) shock the heck out of the dog with the collar.

From what I've heard, one time is enough with most dogs.
 
GrandDad would beat pups and new dogs about the face with a dead snake. Never saw one of his bitten.
 
i thought i was the only snake addict to frequent cattle boards! it's nice to see there's at least one other.

in general dogs handle rattlesnake venom pretty well. i honestly wouldn't worry about it too much.

my former dog was bit on the nose by a willardi, had a swollen muzzle for a few days, but nothing serious. i take my current dog snake collecting all the time. i trained him to walk behind me, but it's more to keep him from possibly spooking the snakes than anything else. he's always been naturally shy of rattlesnakes - but not nonvenomous snakes.
 
Were you herping for willardi or just happened across one while roaming?
I've looked for willardi a few times in Arizona, but wasn't successful. Very nice snake!

Here's a link to a medical story which provides some of our non snake loving friends more cause to live and let live:

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/4/261.short
 
I've been struck at a few times while photographing them, but I'm pretty good at knowing how far back I need to be and I like to keep about a foot of extra space between the end of their strike range and myself. :)

I haven't taken the dog out with me yet when looking for snakes, but I plan to this summer when I head to Arizona and of course, a few shorter trips around here. But first, a stop in New Mexico to do aversion training with the electric collar.

I'm looking forward to it.

And thanks, I thought he was the cutest pup ever when I saw him. I love his wolfish look but lab temperament.
 
Haven't read the entire thread but have a suggestion for training the dog to stay away from rattlesnakes.

Equip the dog with a shock collar. Find a decent-sized live rattler and put him on ice for a while. This will slow him down considerably but he'll still move and smell like a live rattler. If he can rattle, all the better.

Place the rattler where the dog can see him. When he gets fairly close to the rattler....as in being able to smell him......shock the daylights out of him.

Problem solved.
 
The snake awareness we did was through quail unlimited.

Rex was about 8 months old and they wetted him down good placed a live rattler in a cage where he could not get to the dog directed Rex towards the rattler and when he got within striking distance jolted the bejebus out of him. on this return trip back he made a wide berth around the caged snake. Directed him in again and no dice he wanted nothing to do with it. He needs a refresher this next fall. just to remind him.


ML
 

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