That awkward moment when life is pulling two different ways

Oak Snake ?

This morning the little white female got a streakedhead. Then this evening she got a cottonmouth. She didn’t get bit. 

Give them Benadryl and antibiotics for several days. The little white one is the only one to not be bit so far. All my other dogs have been bit and most of them were bit multiple times over their lives. I've never lot one yet to a snakebite. 

The big yellow male did have a strange reaction on his second bite where it didn't swell, but gave him lockjaw. I had to get him some strong antibiotics from the vet and I let him spend a week under vet care due to his refusal to eat or drink. 

In all other circumstances, the dogs sleep it off. 

White oak snake (grey rat snake). Might as well be called a “chicken” or a “bird” snake. They must be devastating on wild turkey clutches. This time of year they flock to my coops from all around. Here’s the one my dogs had:




I’ve killed several dozen of them attacking bitties or eating eggs over the past 3 years. Probably around 30 or more. No othet kind of snake comes close to the amount of specific targeting of chickens these snakes make. I even lost a near-grown guinea to one. The snake killed it and tried to swallow it, but could only get the head and neck down. 

Each pic is a different predation event with different snakes. I picture or video document about 1 in 4.

I have a few 8 footers running around (the white oak snakes) that I've never caught messing with the chickens. There seems to be a slot size; 3-6 feet is the sweet spot for preying on the chickens.

Corn snakes (red rat snakes) are present and as of yet have never caused a problem. Neither do black racers or indigos. I once suspected a water snake of taking chicks. All confirmed chicken predations can be boiled down to 3 species:

1. Grey rat snake (white oak snake): Around 3 dozen predations.
2. Cottonmouth: Around 6 predations.
3. Timber Rattler (canebrake): 1 predation on an immature rooster.

Cottonmouths are the ones most likely to find their way in a coop and get stuck inside, eating their fill and being unable to fit the way they came. They're the ones most likely to clean out an entire brood of chicks in one sitting. Given that I've had half-a-dozen such runs by cottonmouths, ground-sleeping birds found near water must be a major part of their diets.

I think it has more to do with the physiology of canines. North American pit viper venom is nasty on rodents and birds. Human physiology is more like a rodent. That’s why lab rats make such good test subjects. How their body reacts to something is a lot like what ours do. I’m sure the snakes are pumping the dogs full of venom. The snake is fighting for its life. It just isn’t very effective on a dog.

cottonmouth bit 3 of my buddies walker hounds, one was dead when we got to it, one died at the vet, the third surived.

face/neck on the two that died, not sure of the one that lived

That’s odd. I was guessing the legs or torso. All of mine get tagged in the head or neck and they pull through. I figured the deep muscle tissue of the body might let the venom do more damage than the relatively shallow meat of the head.