Either way it's too bad.
We try to keep a distance around the barn area where there are no plants or tall grasses. This helps us see but also exposes the rodents to the owls who, hopefully, keep the population down thus keeping the snakes away since there is no food source. So far that seems to be working.
Mark
<font color="purple"> to the owls who </font color>
Who, who, who [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] We have a who't owl who perches on our roof every night. Wonderful to hear. And it's wonderful the rodents it takes away.
<font color="purple"> We try to keep a distance around the barn area where there are no plants or tall grasses </font color>
We did the same for the acre we have fenced in for our sighthounds. Cleared out all of the creosote bushes, and (this year) tall weeds. The rodents love to burrow under the bushes, and by keeping them down in the dog area, we hope to keep the snakes down as well.
Hank, Do you have a snake fence? They seem to be popular in new construction in Wickenberg. Also there is snake repellent that comes in gallon bottles. It is dry not a liquid and is supposed to keep ratlers out.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
I have only a chain link fence for our doggies. It is scratched into the soil a couple of inches, but it is not a snake fence, as they can get through the chain link just fine. It serves to keep out the coyotes, but a true "coyote-proof" fence goes a couple of feet underground and turns a 90° angle out.
My strategy has been to limit the snakes' food supply where the dogs are; this means wiping out the creosote bushes, which attract rodent burrows. The dogs themselves (sighthounds) strive to keep their yard rodent and lizard free.
Also, every "snake repellant" I've seen has been primarily napthalene, which, as you know, is moth balls, and moth balls are much cheaper than any dedicated "snake repellant". I've scattered the moth balls far and wide, until last summer when I found a Mohave rattler snoozing right in the middle of a pile of them. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
Hank, I think a coule feet deep burried fence is excessive for even the coyote (or Wiley Coyote). Once underground you do have to go a fair distance horizontal outward with the fence or other barrier but not at so great a depth. Wiley, yes, but not rocket surgeons. The critters never seem to figure out that they could dig under if they only backed off a fair distance to start but it is in the opposite direction of their goal and seems to require more intellect than possessed. Easier by far to install too.
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
A rattler bit one of our small dogs Sunday about two in the after noon, within fifteen minutes he had passed out. We ran in an called the vet and arranged to meet him at four. Meanwhile the dog came back around an was in terrible pain. He hollered constantly. The vet gave him several shots and said while he thought the dog would make it he couldn't be sure. He didn't have any antivenum as he said it was very expensive to keep an it didn't always work. So we took him home an he hollered until he finally died about two that night. He never did swell even where he was bitten. We are just sick over it, we can't get it off our minds.
Richardlu,
I am sorry to hear of your loss.
I have heard that, depending on where the dog was bit, how much venom was released, and how quickly the venom spread, your dog might not have had much chance.
My heart goes out to you…….
Regards,
Mark
Here in California, there is a trainer who does Rattlesnake Avoidance training. We put our dog through it, and it was absolutely amazing. It took less than 10 minutes. Back home, we had a snake we had shot that morning, and we put it down on the road to see what our dog would do (we still didn't believe this really worked), and our dog immediately avoided it. I strongly recommend this for anyone that lives in rattlesnake country. Here's his website. There may be something in your area, too. I just googled for "rattlesnake avoidance"
http://www.patrickcallaghan.com/
That's amazing. I would have thought that a dog's prey drive would be too strong for this type avoidance training, but it only says snakes...
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