Good few Cobras at Tokai today

[Eddy Gordo]

56 minutes ago, Bub Marley said:

There should be a rule on these forums that no snake posting is allowed. Seriously, if you see a snake then good for you. Keep it to yourself please instead of scaring the crap outta everyone else that wants to ride there.

So you rather want a nasty surprise🤣 I prefer to know about it beforehand. I know there are plenty snakes every where, but there is just well......I think I will take the "gopros" next time I venture out on an mtb trail!

[Bub Marley]

1 minute ago, Eddy Gordo said:

So you rather want a nasty surprise🤣 I prefer to know about it beforehand. I know there are plenty snakes every where, but there is just well......I think I will take the "gopros" next time I venture out on an mtb trail!

Yes 100%.

 

What you have now done is put the thought in my mind everytime I ride 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Simon123]

2 hours ago, Duane_Bosch said:

Both of my dogs are going for snake proofing on Sunday. They expose the dogs to the snake and then drill them with a shock collar. Not nice but it's way better than having a snake killing your dog

 

You told me he was a clever boy!

[ChrisF]

4 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

There should be a rule on these forums that no snake posting is allowed. Seriously, if you see a snake then good for you. Keep it to yourself please instead of scaring the crap outta everyone else that wants to ride there.

 

Could have been worse .... thankfully almost no pics ....😋

[Robbie Stewart]

Last December I was visiting the folks on their farm. My dad and I were sitting outside on a chair beneath the olive tree watching my then 4 y.o. daughter play on the lawn beside the tree. A while later we get called in for dinner. As we sit down the dog starts a low, deep growl. Dad and I go look and that's when I see the boomslang curled up in between the tree stumps where my daughter had just been playing.

[NixM]

@Duane_Bosch can you tell me were the dogs are going for training? I have 2 dogs who are super cute but really dumb. We are about to move to a place which backs onto TMNP land. My wife is terrified to leave dogs alone in the back garden area. I am trying to investigate snake proof perimeter fences but maybe training the dog is a better idea..

Out neighbour sent  video of 2 cape cobras mating on their garage.

We saw 3 massive mole snakes and a puff adder riding Cape Point last week.

[splat]

We saw this poor guy on Suikerbossie the other morning.
Would it be a boom slang?

(I don't think that it was sleeping, so may have been squished by a car and this is as far as it got)

[tubed]

Boomslang

Had one in the garden 10min ago, seen by the dog first, clever thing, she must have frightened it as I couldn't see it at first, after 5 mins of waiting quietly sure as nuts it comes sliding down the tree. 

[DJR]

On 11/17/2023 at 1:17 PM, Duane_Bosch said:

Both of my dogs are going for snake proofing on Sunday. They expose the dogs to the snake and then drill them with a shock collar. Not nice but it's way better than having a snake killing your dog

 

If used correctly by someone who knows what he is doing, then yes, it is both effective and not harmful to the dog. If it will put your mind at ease, ask the trainer to first put the collar on you and give you the same your dog will get. (Not joking, not even though I know Duane)

Edited November 18, 2023 by DJR

[Duane_Bosch]

2 hours ago, DJR said:

If used correctly by someone who knows what he is doing, then yes, it is both effective and not harmful to the dog. If it will put your mind at ease, ask the trainer to first put the collar on you and give you the same your dog will get. (Not joking, not even though I know Duane)

I get where you are coming from and concur. I'm not going to shock myself tho. As much joy as I know that would give you. Hehe. In this instance the dogs need to understand snake = big pain. If there was another way to do this I would.

With the tracking I do with my dog we spend a lot of time in the veld and I'd be devasted if he got bitten. He's a working dog and we're always in the bush and he's always on a 7m long lead so I don't have immediate access to him.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Duane_Bosch

[Duane_Bosch]

20 hours ago, NixM said:

@Duane_Bosch can you tell me were the dogs are going for training? I have 2 dogs who are super cute but really dumb. We are about to move to a place which backs onto TMNP land. My wife is terrified to leave dogs alone in the back garden area. I am trying to investigate snake proof perimeter fences but maybe training the dog is a better idea..

Out neighbour sent  video of 2 cape cobras mating on their garage.

We saw 3 massive mole snakes and a puff adder riding Cape Point last week.

I'll try to get the guys number to you. Aparently the guy has a cobra and a puffie. Both contained and the dogs are shown them and shocked. He also has a boa that's on the grass and the dogs are exposed to that. One of the people that I do search and rescue work with organized it. She's a professional dog trainer.

[McD23]

On 11/17/2023 at 1:17 PM, Duane_Bosch said:

Both of my dogs are going for snake proofing on Sunday. They expose the dogs to the snake and then drill them with a shock collar. Not nice but it's way better than having a snake killing your dog

 

Hi,

where and who does this ? I need that for my Amstaffs! Cant afford another snake bite this season .

[DJR]

18 hours ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I get where you are coming from and concur. I'm not going to shock myself tho. As much joy as I know that would give you. Hehe. In this instance the dogs need to understand snake = big pain. If there was another way to do this I would.

With the tracking I do with my dog we spend a lot of time in the veld and I'd be devasted if he got bitten. He's a working dog and we're always in the bush and he's always on a 7m long lead so I don't have immediate access to him.

I have had working Labradors for many years and although most of their working season is in winter (when snakes ar much less active), they do also work in summer (on the Durbanville Hills, and if you ever cycled there in summer, you will KNOW how many snakes are around). The dogs often work in thick cover where they surely must come across snakes that we are never even aware of. I worry about it, a lot, but I still marvel at how few snake encounters we have had over the years. I can only attribute it to the fact that when the dogs are working, they are so focussed that they do not take much interest in ANYTHING else, including snakes. Also, I think snakes are not very likely to bite a dog unless they feel very threatened by a dog intentionally engaging with it.

Only one of our Labs ever got bitten in the Western Cape by a snake. She was rushed to the vet and survived with no more than a swollen face and a few days of feeling sick. We assume it wasn't a very poisonous snake. We would not even have known that she was bitten if she did not yelp and came running back to us with two obviously bleeding holes on the nose. A frieds English Pointer got bitten by a Cape Cobra in the Eastern Cape and did not make it. It happened in a very remote place and there was no vet nearby, but that most likely would not have made any difference to the outcome.

Currently there is still a severe shortage of antivenon in SA and the vets can for practical purposes not access it at all, meaning that if a dog gets bitten by a Cobra or a puffy, there is not a lot that the vet can do in any case. So, yes, doing anything possible to avaid a bite is the right thing to do.    

Edited November 19, 2023 by DJR

[Dirt Tracker]

23 hours ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I'll try to get the guys number to you. Aparently the guy has a cobra and a puffie. Both contained and the dogs are shown them and shocked. He also has a boa that's on the grass and the dogs are exposed to that. One of the people that I do search and rescue work with organized it. She's a professional dog trainer.

Please let me know details as well. Would like to send my 3 to that to get them proofed. 

[tubed]

Great post DJR, helpful info.

I'd agree that most dogs seem to have an innate sense to back off when it comes to a snake, which is why they are such wonderful animals, (the dogs), because if you are alert to their behaviour they are likely to have smelled the snake long before you see it. Terriers and Jrussels unfortunately have another innate sense and they are most often bitten.

I found it helpful to have a chat to your vet about how to handle a bitten dog, they will tell you if they have anti venom in stock and who else does in the area (they share) or else they will tell you where to go after hours to save time.

In summary - puffy bite - unlikely antivenom - treat symptoms (swelling and pain). Cobra - depends on size of dog - small dogs, limited time left. Bigger dogs - keep them breathing is most essential - get to an open equipped vet as soon as possible.

(this seems to suggest anti venom shortage has been resolved: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-17-sa-well-stocked-with-antivenom-say-experts-as-snakebite-season-looms/)

[tinmug]

Snakes don't just bite because you're there. I've had a dog stand (briefly) on a sizeable puff adder, then step off with foot right next to it, and still the puff adder just remained still. Ready to strike, but still (and likely quietly sh1tting itself). The dog was totally unaware of the snake's presence.

A more recent, and worrying, episode saw my dog smelling something in the air, then turned to zone it on source of smell ... which was a puff adder. Fortunately I looked in the the direction of his interest and saw the puffy before his nose made it there. Dog yanked back, puffy bailed into the bush. Same dog also sighed out and made contact with sizeable mole snake (earlier on the same walk). 😑

A week later I stopped to let a puff adder cross the road a few metres ahead, then found another – significantly larger – puff adder literally right next to my foot. Coiled and ready to inflict pain, but silent and no doubt hoping I'd go away (which I did, rapidly). That was the last time this summer I walk anywhere remotely near empty veld (have ventured back to a broad trail on a busy weekend morning). 

I've seen more snakes in one week this summer (is it summer yet?) than I have in 5 years of walking in the veld. Too risky, trying to get my dog to his fifteenth birthday (just around the corner) and beyond.