Snakebite!

I have had many encounters with rattlesnakes over the years that I have lived in the desert.  More than one close call for myself--not paying attention to where I was walking and coming within inches of them--luckily they all rattled their tails in the nick of time. I have also had several dogs that have been bitten. 

 

The first year that I lived here I had a dog named Odie.  He was half Labrador and half Golden Retriever.  He had a wonderful personality.  He loved people and interacting with them.  He also loved to hunt and kill rattlesnakes!  I don't know why, but they were always Mohave Greens.  I knew this because he would bring the dead snakes home.  During those fights, Odie would get bit several times. His head would swell up so large it was almost round like a ball; and for the following few days, he would just stand still and move as little as possible.  He would drool and drink a lot of water, and was so swollen that I don't think he could hear.  On one occasion I witnessed the fight while on a walk with my dogs, who at that time consisted only of Odie and Bullet (my blue healer mix). 

 

Several yards off the trail Odie was tromping around when I heard the rattle. He had stirred up a snake!   I walked over to Odie just as he grabbing the snake with his mouth.  It was a Mohave Green.  He grabbed the snake in the middle of his body and I grabbed Odie's collar.  He then let go of the snake and turned his head toward me. I'll never forget the snake blood running out of Odie's mouth, which  was then also on my bare arm.  I drug him away from the snake, and quickly got myself and both dogs away from there.  

 

There was a man that I could call, and for a small fee he would come to my house and remove any rattlesnakes from my yard, using what looked like something you use to pick up trash and a pillow case.  He said he sent the snakes to someone he knew who worked at a zoo in Germany.

 

My Mother, who lived with her Mohave Green rattlesnake friends in her yard for several years, finally decided she had better have them removed.  She called the snake catcher and he was happy to oblige, although it took him a few trips to her house to catch them all.  

 

One day a co-worker and I were talking about our mutual interest in rattlesnakes.  He said to me with a big smile and a look on his face as if he were talking about some nutcase "My friend (who I later learned was the snake catcher) told me about a lady who had several Mohave Green Rattlesnakes living  in her yard, and she wouldn't kill them,"  I was happy to tell my co-worker, " That lady is my mom!".

 

Unfortunately, the snake catcher moved away a few years ago.  That left us with two options; to kill the snakes, or be aware they are out there and be very cautious.  All my dogs were "snake smart" most of them having been bitten.  With no incidents of  snakebites that occurred in my yard.  I chose not to kill them, thinking all the ruckus of the dogs and horses would be enough to keep them away.  But it didn't.

 

to be continued... Pistol gets bit!!!