re: I hate snakes (bit 2 of my dogs) update - vengeance

GSP was bitten on the front paw and he of course is much bigger and actually showed symptoms of a snake bite.

The Yorkie was bitten above his elbow on the front leg and he showed zero symptoms. No blood, no foaming at the mouth, nothing. He came inside and laid in bed, which is pretty normal for him. Saw he had rapid breathing a bit later and took him straight to the vet.

He was bruised pretty bad when I left around 10. When the wife got there at 2 to call it he was pretty much bruised neck to tail and his skin was starting to blister.

Very odd behavior for a snake bite the vet said, if brother dog hadn't been bit earlier he wouldn't have even thought to treat for a snake bite. His blood was clotting so much he couldn't even get blood to run labs. Just too much venom for our little dude, or we just didn't get him in time.

First vet for GSP said adult snake based on the fang marks. Emergency vet said 2 puncture wounds on the yorkie, that looked like a small snake. Wonder if the yorkie got bit twice with just 1 fang or something.

We do have timbers, and have had a dog bitten by one before. I lean toward moccasin since it was down by the pond.

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had a pair of murderous Jack Russells. They cornered a copperhead and with incredible teamwork the male grabbed that snake and shook it until the head of the snake came off. I had no idea those dogs could do that.

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Have a good friend who has a Jack Russell. That is absolutely the most lovable little guy in the world. But, I have seen him literally tear a possum to pieces. Two minutes later, he’s the most lovable little guy in the world again…with the biggest sense of accomplishment smile on his face !

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If you get a hot bite, it's better to come from a juvenile because their venom glands are smaller.

If they decide to use it, snakes don't moderate venom use. It's like cops and guns. They don't shoot unless they're ready to kill, and if that's the case, they empty the mag. Adult snakes know that their venom isn't likely to kill a human fast enough to be useful defense, so they're believed to be less inclined to use it and just issue a dry 'warning' bite. But if it does envenomate, it's using as much as it can.

The myth likely stems from juveniles being more inclined to use venom at all, thus dry bites are more common from adults and seemingly 'less potent'.

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I read a paper/article/whatever not long ago on different types of bites and why dry bites happen so often. Researchers have found that venom production is a really high energy process for the snake. It takes considerably more energy for the snake to produce venom than initially thought. So, if you think about a big, mature snake and the large glands (and relative amount of venom) it has, you can see why venom conservation would play a big role.

Your point about humans not being viewed as prey is important, too. They're not going to waste that venom with a defensive bite on non-prey animals. That same study also tried to parse out the venom control question. Some species seemed to have more control than others, but the deciding factor is mainly the duration of the bite, and of course, whether it was a single bite or multiple bites. You also have the fact that some snakes are just prone to bite more than once.

It is interesting that it doesn't seem to be just a hardwired reaction, there's more nuance to it than traditionally believed.

Friend had a pit that loved to kill snakes. Water moccasins bit her, she shook it off.

Sorry for your loss. Its dogs doing dog shite, and sometimes it comes back to bite them, no pun intended. Had a friend get hit by a copperhead a few years ago cleaning his watermelon field. He went to the hospital, and they gave him some Benadryl and kept him there for a few hours to observe the bite. Sent him home and told him if it swells anymore to come back. Well, it did, and he went back, and the hospital staff said it's too late to administer anti venom. Seems there is a time window for anti-venom, and on top of that they didn't even have any anti-venom meds. They told him to go to another hospital an hour away for better treatment. WTF.

I always hear about dogs shaking it and handling certain bites well. Our boys clearly were not doing well.

Believe it or not, it’s actually mongí (pronounced mun-guy)

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Friend had a pit that loved to kill snakes. Water moccasins bit her, she shook it off.

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I wonder if the dog breed plays a part? Growing up a buddy had a catahoula cur dog. Saw it take a moccasin bite and smile, kill the snake, and seem mostly unaffected. But it was an outside dog so it may have taken one before.

Every dog I have ever had get bit was treated with Benadryl. Never had a yorkie though.