I leave non-poisonous snakes alone and I don't worry about them biting my dogs. Rattlesnakes are another matter and I kill every one I run across while hunting. In the last seven years my dogs have been been bitten three times by rattlesnakes. Last summer one died from a bite and the other two incidents were near fatal. Two of the victim dogs had been snake trained including the one that died last summer. I now get the rattlesnake vaccination for my dogs. I am not advocating the extinction of rattlesnakes but I certainly wouldn't mind if they were absent from where my dogs and I go. Certainly other snakes and predators would fill some of the "natrual balance" disrution left by their demise.
The bitch that died last summer was the first dog I "trained" myself. She was a house pet besides being a birddog. All my other birddogs are house pets too. Every morning she fetched the paper and every morning since she died I think of her as I go out to get the paper. She slept with us and begged food and did all the parlor tricks and was house broken perfectly. She would hop on the couch and set beside us content just to be near us. This morning I had planned to take my new 4 month old turdhound puppies out to the birddog club and run them but I just couldn't stand the thought of them possibly getting bit by a rattlesnake and my wife wasn't pleased with the idea either.
Best,
Mike
Last edited by AmarilloMike; 06/07/08 01:54 PM.
