Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) ...our dog seems to be more snake savvy than I thought...alarmed us with loud barking outside...went out and thought already that it might be a snake, couldn't see it; took her on the leash and let her guide me (had always tension on the leash)...and then I found this little red belly black snake. When she sniffed the grass / rocks etc. she was very, very careful, always flicked the head back anticipating a strike...when and where did she learn this?....instinct?... Edited March 1, 2016 by Willem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I've had dogs that are instinctively afraid of snakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 she was not really scared ...tail and hair on the back up and it was a loud aggressive baying...somehow knowing that it is not a good idea to get too close to this little fellow (she catches mice and rats without making a big thing out of it or barking). It was the first time - to our knowledge - that she encountered a snake, but did all the right things...that is what surprised me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Good work, be careful when you relocate it, preferably somewhere close by that is safe for the snake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 Good work, be careful when you relocate it, preferably somewhere close by that is safe for the snake. ...I will let the snake buster know :D ...my wife always calls them when I have caught a snake in our garden ...I'm not so sure whether they really appreciate it to drive all the way just for a little red-bellied black snake as they are pretty common here...here another one (before we got the dog): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 : Thank you for not being one of those rednecks who think the only good snake is a dead one. Nice RBB, they'd always be my snake of choice if I were to ever own vens, though probably won't be happening, getting less brave in my mature years. I'll stick to my pythons. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) I think being reasonably snake savvy for a dog would be a matter of natural selection... Ie the ones that were snake savvy were more likely to pass their genes on. Especially farm dogs and dingos and dogs who share habitat with snakes. My dog finds them fascinating (have had an on lead encounter). I know we have lizards in our garden and she keeps a polite distance from them too. Edited March 1, 2016 by Mrs Rusty Bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 the RBBs are the good ones...because they eat - amongst frogs and mice and cockroaches - also the real dangerous ones e.g. eastern brown :D ...they (the RBBs) are pretty shy too and also this little fellow preferred just to escape if I would have let it. However, we have kids who play in the garden (and the dog) so it's better to relocate them. They also don't inject much venom (if), so they really not so dangerous. We had also juvenile eastern browns in the garden (their bite - also when little - is much more dangerous), but they have been pretty shy too. I'm really not scared about snakes knowing that I'm not on their food list - one exception so, and that is the black mamba (luckily we don't have them here), they are just too fast and unpredictable. Here a nice diamond? python (not from our garden so, but seen in the Morton NP): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 I think being reasonably snake savvy for a dog would be a matter of natural selection... Ie the ones that were snake savvy were more likely to pass their genes on. Especially farm dogs and dingos and dogs who share habitat with snakes. My dog finds them fascinating (have had an on lead encounter). I know we have lizards in our garden and she keeps a polite distance from them too. hm, that would make an interesting study: are herding / cattle dogs more snake savvy than other dogs? ...regards evolution it would make sense, however 100 years is pretty short for evolution and I assume that 'snake savvyness' wasn't in the focus of the breeder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I have heard of research that found that a fear of snakes was instinctive in humans. Maybe also for some dogs? My dogs have always killed them, I would much rather the bark and stay back approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I imagine any dog that has a bit of dingo in it would have some snake savvyness. And I'm thinking that's possible heritage with some of the dogs off the lands or the outback stations. It doesn't take hundreds of generations for something like this to be passed on. Apparently a smell associated with a bad experience ie that smell causes an adverse reaction in the parent - can be passed on to the children and I reckon dogs could smell a snake out. http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/15/mice-inherit-the-fears-of-their-fathers/ But I know of multiple dogs that have lost battles with snakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I had a cattle dog that wanted to kill snakes. Another one that was absolutely petrified of them (my preferred response) and , many years ago, a young Doberman who killed a RBB and delivered it to us for praise. No dingo in that one. Pedigree papers could be produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 I imagine any dog that has a bit of dingo in it would have some snake savvyness. And I'm thinking that's possible heritage with some of the dogs off the lands or the outback stations. It doesn't take hundreds of generations for something like this to be passed on. Apparently a smell associated with a bad experience ie that smell causes an adverse reaction in the parent - can be passed on to the children and I reckon dogs could smell a snake out. http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/15/mice-inherit-the-fears-of-their-fathers/ But I know of multiple dogs that have lost battles with snakes. interesting article...her parents are pure working dogs, in an area where it is just not possible to avoid encounters with snakes, so she might get it from there...I hope that is wasn't just sheer luck and that she will show the same behaviour (staying away from the snake) the next time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crazydoglady99 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I'm curious how you caught the snake without getting bitten??!! Clever dog though :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) normally I use something like a long PVC pipe or a cardboard drum for the transport of drawings (what's the correct English term for it?) ...place it in front of the snake an try to chase it towards the pipe / drum - as it is dark inside they normally go for it. However, this time I had to use a longer paint roller handle (without the brush) and had to force the head down till I could place the pipe so close in front of it that moving into the pipe was the only way 'out' for the snake...it was a pretty lively specimen ...nearly jumped out of the bucket in which I put it after I caught it....the snake buster picked it up in the meanwhile. snake alive, dog alive...no one bitten, happy days :D .... Edited March 1, 2016 by Willem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 : Thank you for not being one of those rednecks who think the only good snake is a dead one. Yeah sorry Caz - but thats me - morbid childhood fear of them - can't even watch them on telly!!! (At least I'm honest - but I'm not a redneck!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 It may be worth your while to purchase some actual snake handling gear... will make catching and relocating so much easier and safer for all... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crazydoglady99 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Wow!! You are much braver than I!! * runs away screaming * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willem Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 ...my wife freaks out when she sees a snake or a spider...no matter what kind of snake or spider. Once I got a call at work that she saw a snake in the study - at the time the study was our storage and you could hardly open the door because it was full of 'rubbish'....I drove home and spent 2 days looking for this invisible snake; all I found were a few lizards, and she saw only the tail, but she was 1 Mill percent sure that it wasn't a lizard but a snake :) .... wrt Huntsman: she knows they are the good spiders, eating all the cockroaches, Redback spiders and are pretty shy anyway - I think it is hard to find a record that someone has been actually bitten by a Huntsman...but no, she can't stand them and they have to go too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 That's a good story :) the 'snake savvy' bit is interesting . I have seen that behaviour when youngsters first spot a skink, or a large beetle ! the wariness, the sniffing, the quick movements .. I guess it is an instinctive protective set of movements - which may be lessened over many generations of breeding ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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