Photo courtesy of Cascade
Two dogs in the UK are dead already this summer already after being bitten by Adder snakes. The first was a Border Collie after playing in its yard and now a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is the latest victim. Generally snakes stay away from people and other animals and will only attack if provoked or their territory is encroached on. However when the weather gets very warm the snakes come out and so a dog just playing in their yard having a fun afternoon could get bitten just because it stepped in the wrong place.
According to the Telegraph no one saw the Cavalier get bit it wasn’t until the couple watching the dog noticed a bump on its back that they took the dog to the vet. Since they didn’t know that it was a snake bite and wasn’t obvious upon arrival the dog was treated for the bump and sent home while the venom was going through its bloodstream attacking Daisy-Mae’s vital organs. When they took Daisy-Mae back to the vet more tests were run and the venom was found in her bloodstream. Veterinarians are unsure when the dog was attacked if it was still at home when it occurred or if it happened in the yard of the couple watching her. All that is known is that by the time they found the cause Daisy-Mae’s kidney’s failed and the only thing that could be done was to put her to sleep.
Adder snakes are venomous snakes that have a pair of relatively long hollow fangs that are used to inject venom from glands located towards the rear of the upper jaws. Each of the two fangs is at the front of the mouth on a short maxillary bone that can rotate back and forth. When not in use, the fangs fold back against the roof of the mouth and are enclosed in a membranous sheath. The left and right fangs can be rotated together or independently. During a strike, the mouth can open nearly 180° and the jaw rotates forward, bringing the fangs as late as possible so they do not become damaged. The jaws close on impact and powerful muscles that surround the venom glands contract to inject the venom as the fangs penetrate. This action is very fast; in defensive strikes it can be more a stab than a bite.The venom contains a substance that immediately begins to break down proteins and lipids in the victim and even in a human if left untreated too long can result in the loss of a limb from necrosis. Wikipedia Viperidae
My dogs have cornered two rattle snakes and a big black snake. I check my front and back yards before I ever leave them outside alone. I was lucky the last time because my German Shepherd has a funny “snake or wild animal” bark. I was on my computer, heard the weird bark and I knew something wasn’t right. When I got outside there was a huge rattle snake. I caught all three dogs and put them in the house but I forgot to shut the doggie door so they all came running back out of the house and I had to recatch them again. When I came out of the house a second time I could not find the snake but I could hear the rattle so I went and got my sharp garden hoe and ran it under my grill and sure enough I pushed the big rattle snake out from under the grill. As grizzly as it sounds I then proceeded in taking the hoe and cutting off it’s head (it was not coiled or in a strike position yet). Now I don’t use the doggie door anymore because I can’t moniter what my dogs are doing if they run in and out of the house on their own (not to mention I don’t want a rattle snake slithering through the doggie door). Anyway always be very careful in the summer months especially if it is dry because the snakes will come in your back yard searching for water (bird bath, dog dish full of water, pools).
our friend’s dog was bitten by either a copperhead or cotton mouth (only 2 poisonous snakes in our area). what is even worse is their dog went missing all winter (about 6 months) and had only been back home about 2-3 months before he was bitten 3 times. he killed the snake in the process, but they were not able to save him 🙁