When Does Snake Season Begin?

[Rileys mum]

The snakes are out already but they will probably still be a bit sluggish.

yep. ive already seen a big brown. It was very slow and sluggish. They are out and about.

[Nic.B]

Some dogs are smart like that but a lot of the time the dog

can not tell the difference between one reptile and onother.

So i usually advise trying to make a snakeproof enclosure, coutyard, ...

area and if you live in a snakey area,,like Australia,

then at least you can feel secure about your dogs not coming into contact with them.

But the best thing is to teach the dog not to attack, but just alert you.

Seems you have unwittingly done this already and any tips you can supply

relating to what you did could come in handy.

Thank you for the info Snake Catcher.

How is a snake proof enclosure achieved? All of my dogs are fully supervised in our yard or inside the house with us during snake season.

We have had a snake inside the house, and the two we (I) had to dispatch last summer were at our back and front doors standing up like jackie with their heads going from side to side about to attack our dogs who had been inside all day and had just been let out in the yard. Luckily I was with the dogs, our old kelpie female was rushed to the vet as I thought she had been biten.

I have seen the biggest snake at the bottom of our long driveway. He was heading over from our neighbours dam to ours I think, though I disturbed him with the car. I thought he was a stick or some bark, his head and front of his body was up in the air looking about. By the time I reversed the car back he was heading off. I only saw his body slither away and he was a very big boy!

I live in the Hawkesbury and we had a really bad snake season last year. It is a real worry when you have little kids and animals under threat in your house yard.

[Shazzapug]

There is no 'snake season' as such.

Snakes are about all year round.

There is a common misconception that snakes 'hibernate' over the cooler months. They do not.

Snakes 'brumate' over winter. Brumation differs from hibernation in that the snakes don't 'go to sleep' for winter,

but rather 'slow down' their systems to allow for a reduction in food sources as well as heat availability.

Unfortunately (for those wishing to walk their dogs!) snakes can most definitely be out and active in the middle of winter. If the ambient air temperature exceeds that of the snakes burrow/hide, then the snake will leave its place and go out to absorb as much (or as little) of the available heat from the ambient air. Obviously, finding a rock or paved area helps, as these absorb warmth from both direct sunlight as well as the ambient temperature.

Admittedly, snakes active during the cold periods are a lot less active, and appear rather listless, in a bid to conserve heat (energy) and will often let you pick them up and handle them without any fuss at all.

My family go 'snake hunting' (with cameras!) most weekends, and we have seen more snakes over winter in our favorite snake hot-spots than we saw prior to the cooler months.

We have even photographed them many times basking in the rain.

So don't ever become complacent thinking that because it's winter or cool, there wont be any snakes about!

Thanks for this info Jerojath

I too thought they hibernated...I walked the pugs thru our paddocks all winter, good grief. We lost our huge Saanen Buck a couple of years ago, on the bank of one of our dams.

[OSoSwift]

Well Nic B I have done everything I can think of to snake proof my dog yard. I thought I had the dog runs reasonably snake proof until I walked through the door way of the dog runs twice, then shut the door and squashed a foot long tiger snakes head in it!!!

I do not have a back yard, but I do have a dog yard now attatched to the runs and and this is what I have done.

Chainmesh, small mesh around the bottom buried into Blue metal (I am told snakes do not like moving over blue metal that much because it is un-naturally sharp - who knows, but it also stops the mesh rusting!)

Rubber seals around the doors

No long grass, perimeter sprayed for weeds, all around the outside sprayed and mowed.

Some people have commented that after seeing the photos and how clear the area is they wouldn't have thought that snakes would move over such an open area. I guess mine don't read the rule book as we had over 14 do just that last year.

[Nic.B]

Well Nic B I have done everything I can think of to snake proof my dog yard. I thought I had the dog runs reasonably snake proof until I walked through the door way of the dog runs twice, then shut the door and squashed a foot long tiger snakes head in it!!!

I do not have a back yard, but I do have a dog yard now attatched to the runs and and this is what I have done.

Chainmesh, small mesh around the bottom buried into Blue metal (I am told snakes do not like moving over blue metal that much because it is un-naturally sharp - who knows, but it also stops the mesh rusting!)

Rubber seals around the doors

No long grass, perimeter sprayed for weeds, all around the outside sprayed and mowed.

Some people have commented that after seeing the photos and how clear the area is they wouldn't have thought that snakes would move over such an open area. I guess mine don't read the rule book as we had over 14 do just that last year.

Lovely runs OSoSwift!

Yikes, honestly I dont know what else you could possibly do? Just so very frustrating.

We had a snake in the pound last summer! There is no grass, all concrete/pens, brick walls and wire roof yet it came into the kennel area under a small gap of one of only two doors!! Luckily the pound was open and staff were in with volunteers, god knows what would have happened otherwise. It must have been looking for water?

[snake catcher]

Shade cloth is used very effectively as a snake barrier for vulnerable areas, Stretched tight and checked regularly it can be used around kennels, stables and bird aviaries.

I think this the best way to avoid confrontations with snake, as opposed to fighting them,

So I thought Id add a video that i made of the local snakes to the Mornington peninsula where I live..

Enjoy.

Copperhead, whitelipped whip and tigersnake

[OSoSwift]

Shade cloth is very good but where we live is windy most of the time and very windy some of the time and it pushes to much against fences and tears often as well from the slight fairly consistant flapping. The mesh allows air to get through and not damage fences. I use it on the dog runs and have to re-attach from time to time. I did use it around the cat run and it was buried in the ground and didn't rot so that was good.

Nice vid, the shots of the flattened heads give me the heebie jeebies though, I have only ever seen that on very defensive cross snakes

Edited September 2, 2011 by OSoSwift

[snake catcher]

Here is a snake that i was called to today that had been hanging around this place in back of Rosebud.

[sandgrubber]

Here is a snake that i was called to today that had been hanging around this place in back of Rosebud.

Snake Catcher . . .good posts, thanks!

Can you suggest any dog training programs that focus on creating snake aversion (or organise one)?

I once tried to set up snake training sessions in WA using electronic collars and live reptiles. I couldn't find any snake people willing to let their snakes be used, even in enclosures that guaranteed the snake was safe. I am not convinced that training on blue tongue lizards protects against snakes, at least not 100% of the time, cause dogs can tell one person from another, so telling one species (or genus or family) of reptile from another should be trivial for them. Would be better to do aversion training with snakes . . . even better, with the snake species of concern in the local area.

[raz]

Here is a snake that i was called to today that had been hanging around this place in back of Rosebud.

wow pretty laid back little guy. Whack up a few more utubes, SC.

[snake catcher]

Hey raz, there is about 100 videos on my Youtube all featuring animals, mostly snakes but a few dog ones and other wildlife.

snake catchers Youtube channel

@ Sandgrubber, once a dog has learned to not attack a bluetongue they are usually pretty safe.

One reptile does smell like the next, generally speaking, and this method has worked in the past on some dogs better than others.

Of course it would be better to train with local snakes but the chance of someone getting hurt during the training process would create issues with o.h and s. I think.

So I can not condone it on this forum if you know what i mean.

I will have to look into organising a snake aversion training day, thanks for the idea.

Edited September 9, 2011 by snake catcher

[Nalaridge]

Lady at my fiancees work just lost her 2 year German Shepard the other week from a snake bite. Not sure what species it was as the dog had wandered into the bush.

Location: Barwon River, Geelong VIC

Date: Early September

My Ridgey is definitely staying on her leash at the moment. Too adventurous at 9 months!

[snake catcher]

I had to remove this snake for a property today and the guy who called me was worried mostly about his portugese water "dog?" ( are they related to Poodles?)

anyway, got some footage so enjoy another of my silly attempts at video making.

Edited September 18, 2011 by snake catcher

[Lindainfa]

Snake Catcher - Loved your video! My gosh, you full on stick your hand into that hole to get the snake, that is scary to watch, loved seeing how you released him back into the bush later. Redhill is a beautiful area, did you have time to visit any wineries?

[snake catcher]

I have standing arrangment with a few wineries and we love using

the barter system as far as snake catcher services in

exchange for sweet local wine Linda.

I always make time for alcohol related activities, lol.

Thanks for he vid feedback.

[OSoSwift]

oh wow, I would NEVER put my hand somewhere like with no known snake in it, never mind when I KNEW one was in it!!

That lil snake was a bit fired up it seems

[snake catcher]

She wasnt to happy about being dragged from her home and stuck in a black bag,

the poor little girl, but Im sure she happy when she saw me walking away.

[gillybob]

Great vids SC.

Its interesting the Tiger Snakes up here are a entirely different colour.

They seem to come in greens and browns, sometimes even reddish.

Those Copperheads are extremely beutiful snakes.

It interesting up here there seem to be different levels for different snakes.

Down in the wet areas around the rivers and creeks and marshy ground all you see are Tigers and RBBlacks, then higher up were its a bit dryer there are Browns and Blacks.

In the rocky areas there is a Adder or two sometimes, even higher there are Copperheads.

Plus all the nice little snakes.

My old dog Bob, knew the difference between a RBB and a Tiger, we often saw both on our daily walks.

[OSoSwift]

Out of interest have you ever been bitten?

That little fiesty snake seems to get a little close a couple of times, well from the angle I was watching anyway - shudder

[k9angel]

Great video SC.