Snakes may be lethargic in the winter, but that didn't stop a big Eastern from killing a friend's Boykin in February around here. Fifteen minutes from bite to dead. Nothing would have saved it. Friends found the snake in the same location on a fence row and dispatched it. It was a 5' edb as big around as a softball. Bright sunny days and balmy temps can get them moving. We've had days in the 80s during the winter here on the coast. Karl's dog was killed cleaning up after a pheasant toss in February a handful of years ago. It damn near killed him from grief. His wife located a rescue Boykin in TX, fully trained, whose owner died and his daughter couldn't take him. He drove non-stop to TX and returned home non-stop. He and I took our dogs 7 years ago to Alachua, FL, for snake break training. He was able to convince the vet, retired, to bring his snakes to the local gun club for the last few years where he'd put 50 or more dogs through the training on a Saturday. Dr. Bud had to sell his snakes after Florida enacted legislation requiring more secure housing of snakes beyond what Bud was will to spend and build. The legislation was in response to some nut's cobra getting loose in Miami. My older dog Abby was so conditioned to the training and refreshing that she wouldn't get out of the truck when she recognized the set up and Bud a year later, and successive years afterwards. Willa had one session and a refresher. The dogs had no trouble sensing the rattler and moccasin, but for some reason, none of the dogs sensed the 10" copperhead on the last session. Fortunately, they are the least venomous. A buddy's Jack Russell was bitten so many times by copperheads that his nickname was "Zipperhead". He didn't survive a big rattler.
