Two decidedly unhappy boyz this morning. We set off for the morning walk at six, but had gone no more than three hundred metres when my ever observant partner noticed that the soft white sand along the farm track was covered in snake trails. There must be a large vipers nest somewhere in the long grass under the olives. This is the time of the year when the snakes are laying eggs or rearing their young and the sudden burst of warmth makes them decidedly feisty. For some reason it is impossible to buy the snake venom antidote in Italy - the two alternatives a dog owner here faces are either a trip to Switzerland where the antidote is still sold or a mad dash to the vet. We have a snake bite kit that requires you to pull out the poison using a vacuum plunger - I have zero faith that it would work. The boyz were quickly called back from their ramble and have been confined to the garden for their own safety. I've found some blogs like vetblog (http://www.tovet.blogspot.com/) and dogsdeservefreedom(http://www.dogsdeservefreedom.blogspot.com/) to be really helpful when faced with new and unexpected threats to our canine friends.Monday, 11 May 2009
Wilf's take on life :"The only way to have a friend is to be one".
Two decidedly unhappy boyz this morning. We set off for the morning walk at six, but had gone no more than three hundred metres when my ever observant partner noticed that the soft white sand along the farm track was covered in snake trails. There must be a large vipers nest somewhere in the long grass under the olives. This is the time of the year when the snakes are laying eggs or rearing their young and the sudden burst of warmth makes them decidedly feisty. For some reason it is impossible to buy the snake venom antidote in Italy - the two alternatives a dog owner here faces are either a trip to Switzerland where the antidote is still sold or a mad dash to the vet. We have a snake bite kit that requires you to pull out the poison using a vacuum plunger - I have zero faith that it would work. The boyz were quickly called back from their ramble and have been confined to the garden for their own safety. I've found some blogs like vetblog (http://www.tovet.blogspot.com/) and dogsdeservefreedom(http://www.dogsdeservefreedom.blogspot.com/) to be really helpful when faced with new and unexpected threats to our canine friends.
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3 comments:
There is nothing I like less than to come across a snake unexpectedly. Unfortunately we have them come in our gardens sometimes, so I spend my summers going around stomping my feet to scare them.
Thanks for the link. I appreciate your feedback and I'm glad you come by and read by blog.
That story about the snakes is crazy! I'm not the biggest fan of snakes ... they don't scare me or anything, but I don't know how comfortable I'd feel about having that many around.
We don't have many venomous snakes here (I can only think of one off-hand) and they are few and far between. Because of this, we don't have things like snake bite kits in our medicine cabinet (unless you live in cottage-country I suppose). I don't even know if you could get the antidote for the venom unless you ordered it online or something ... Just another example of the things that dog owners in different parts of the world have to deal with. Thanks for the reminder!
DogsDeserveFreedom
Good post, Angus. And thank you very much for the mention of my blog.
I have no experience with snake bites as the only venomous reptile in Ontario is the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. My buddy, who is an ER doc (MD), says that the hospitals stock the antidote.
If you haven't already done so, call the vets around (even the cow and horse vets) and ensure they stock the antidote in case of an emergency.
Take care!
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