Ronan bitten by snake - Tasha to the rescue
The other evening I let the dogs out inthe yard for a bit. We live in the burbs and have a fenced yard, so I tend to only check on them every 5-10 minutes and they never stay out long - especially in summer.
I looked to see Ronan jumping up and backward and snapping at something. I thought it was a turtle because we get box turtles all the time. Or maybe a chipmunk or vole.
I try to call him away, but no avail, so I tell Ray they've got something and go into the yard. Tasha is streaking across the yard, nabs something off the ground, shakes it and shot-puts it into the fence.
To my horror, I see it's a snake. We've seen a few Copperheads in the neighborhood, so I'm freaking out. Neither dog is listening to me. Tasha grabs it again and is violently shaking the crap out of this thing. All I see are spots on the snake.
Luckily, when I got to the top of the hill, she'd dropped it, but was positioning herself between everyone, including Ronan, away from the snake. I now can see it clearly and realize that the spots were the underbelly. The top was black with yellow bands - a common king or Eastern King snake as they're known here. Totally harmless, but will bite.
Ronan was nailed in the neck, right above his shoulder. This is why Tasha must have reacted so violently - she saw it happen. Brad knows Tasha - she's as mean as a cotton ball. You'd have a higher chance of being mauled by a goldfish than Tasha Belle. Except when it counts, I suppose. Brad, she's definately the kind of Akita to breed for...
Anyway, Tasha's white neck is splattered with snake blood. I check her out, but apparently the snake couldn't bite through her thick coat around her neck and she was lucky enough not to get nailed in the face. That's an Akita for you folks - courage under fire. It's their nature. She risked being bitten herself. Of course, neither dog had ever seen a snake until the other night. Hope they never see one again. Brad - are you going to have your crew snake trained?
Ronan is fine, just a clump of missing hair and a line of red dots where he was bitten. It's starting to itch, which means it is healing. I'm putting Neosporin on it and giving him Benedryl.
Still, darn scary, huh?
I looked to see Ronan jumping up and backward and snapping at something. I thought it was a turtle because we get box turtles all the time. Or maybe a chipmunk or vole.
I try to call him away, but no avail, so I tell Ray they've got something and go into the yard. Tasha is streaking across the yard, nabs something off the ground, shakes it and shot-puts it into the fence.
To my horror, I see it's a snake. We've seen a few Copperheads in the neighborhood, so I'm freaking out. Neither dog is listening to me. Tasha grabs it again and is violently shaking the crap out of this thing. All I see are spots on the snake.
Luckily, when I got to the top of the hill, she'd dropped it, but was positioning herself between everyone, including Ronan, away from the snake. I now can see it clearly and realize that the spots were the underbelly. The top was black with yellow bands - a common king or Eastern King snake as they're known here. Totally harmless, but will bite.
Ronan was nailed in the neck, right above his shoulder. This is why Tasha must have reacted so violently - she saw it happen. Brad knows Tasha - she's as mean as a cotton ball. You'd have a higher chance of being mauled by a goldfish than Tasha Belle. Except when it counts, I suppose. Brad, she's definately the kind of Akita to breed for...
Anyway, Tasha's white neck is splattered with snake blood. I check her out, but apparently the snake couldn't bite through her thick coat around her neck and she was lucky enough not to get nailed in the face. That's an Akita for you folks - courage under fire. It's their nature. She risked being bitten herself. Of course, neither dog had ever seen a snake until the other night. Hope they never see one again. Brad - are you going to have your crew snake trained?
Ronan is fine, just a clump of missing hair and a line of red dots where he was bitten. It's starting to itch, which means it is healing. I'm putting Neosporin on it and giving him Benedryl.
Still, darn scary, huh?
Comments
Glad to hear that Ronan is healing up nicely.
I love Tasha for protecting Ronan. That is an awesome story.
My dogs have never come across a snake yet either, but like Jessica said, even though we have a fenced yard, we only let them in it when we are in it too because a raccoon in my area of PA tested + for rabies as well.. although we don't get many raccoons, its still a scary prospect!
Yes, Tasha is such an awesome girl. Who knew she had it in her?
Michelle - I also live in GA - Walton County. Last Monday while walking Jazz, we saw our first copperhead of the season, about 3 1/2 feet long, crossing the road. I hate snakes - truly can't stand them - Jazz wanted to go and investigate. Instead we backed up, went into the house - I crated Jazz and went back out with a hoe and pistol. I was able to kill the snake with the hoe, but it freaked me out. I saw a large king snake earlier in the year - I'm fine with them - I just worry about the poisonous ones around. I've noticed more snakes dead on the road this year than I've seen in a while. I guess the mild winter, coupled with a warm spring is going to bear a lot more snake than what I am comfortable with.
Tasha is wonderful. Protecting her little brother shows courage. I am glad that it was not a rattler and that they are both all right.
It's a good thing Ronan's healing!
Tasha is amazing, she is the reason Jen and I got into Akita. Meeting Tasha pretty much changed our path, that's for sure. Jen loved the Akita she knew from work, but when we got to spend some time with Tasha all she could talk about on the way home was how much she wanted a "Tasha".
We have spoke to our trainer about snake training and have a class coming up, so two of ours will be in that class... I'm not sure how we are going to handle all 7... the good news is that there are not many snakes here due to the altitude.
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It's the second Eastern King I've seen this year. This first specimen was about 4 ft, so it was fully grown.
When I told my nephew, he said that this is snake breeding season, so FYI...
Yep, breed more Tashas. They're the best. Too bad she was a rescue with unknown heritage. Although I do suspect she's a tweenie because of her size and teeth issues (like Hilo). So even though she has great hips and all, I guess because of her teeth, even if I'd had papers, she wouldn't have been the best breeding stock. But darn, she's just such a good girl with the most awesome disposition and willingness to please and to learn... definately good traits.
The dogs are definately staying in more this summer, much to their dismay. It's not worth the risk. Tasha doesn't really care as she doesn't need much exercise and she hates the heat, but Ronan is NOT going to be happy.
Good to hear Tenji knew to keep away! Smart boy indeed! But you are right, no sense in tempting fate. I'd beat feet the other way, too!