Cottonmoth!

T

Tom Roberts

Well-known member
Yesterday afternoon my buddie and I took our bird dogs out for some exercise. We took my boat and loaded up dogs and ourselves and took a short ride to a large island on the Arkansas River and planned on scouting for quail for the upcoming season. We hit the beach and walked no more than 60 yards when 2 of my buddies dogs were focused on some dense weeds/brush. We could see some movement but couldn't make out what was in there. My buddie from experience feared a skunk and was reluctant to go in and pull out the dogs. And then it happen. His female orange and white setter let out a scream, ran out to the trail we were following and fell on her side with her left front leg covered in blood. From all the blood I figured a mammal had bitten her but on closer inspection we saw the two puncture wounds and only then did we know what we were dealing with......SNAKE BITE! I went back to the site and could see movement. So I fired my shotgun at the movement spot and then got a fleeing glimpse of a large snake whos body was big around as my forearm. Due to the brush density I never did get another view or shot at the monster snake. We quickly carried the poor girl back to the boat and loaded up the dogs and hurried back. An hour or less later we had her at the vet. He confirmed that it was a big cottonmouth with fangs about 2 1/2 inches apart. The vet thought she would be ok. Well this morning we found out she didn't survive. The large volume of poison had entered a large vein. I wanted to let everyone know to be careful out there. There is all sorts of things out there and that can happen that can quickly ruin your day. When I think about the number of times I tramped around in dense cattails scouting and building duck blinds in the warm weather. Makes me shutter.
 
That is horrible. Please forward my condolences, Tom. As hard as it is to say after losing a valued pet and retriever like that, I hope both of you know how darn lucky you are.
Al
 
Sorry for your loss.
Ive been holding back on my bird hunting , waiting for cold weather because I just dont want to go through that.
 
Do you guys have access to snake aversion training?

There's a trainer from Bozeman that conducts an annual session for our gundog club. Somehow he gets hold of a live rattler with it's mouth sewn shut. He may do the catch and sewing himself. The trainig takes place in an over grown field where dogs can't watch the proceedings. Anyway each dog gets its turn. There are usually a couple dozen dogs. A shock collar goes on the dog along with 2 leashes. Two guys (not the owner) take hold of a leash, one on each side, and lead the dog to the snake. The dogs get a good snootful of snake and then are shocked while the trainer picks up the snake with tongs and passes it over the dog.

Does it work? It may depend on which way the wind is blowing. I had a dog that was bitten on a front leg a year after the training. She may have run over the snake from upwind. Steroid and cortizone treatments worked on her and she hunted another 10 years.

I brought back another dog for a refresher training. She smelled the snake 40 yards away and started stuggling. She remembered. Later, hunting in Florida one time she went nuts, running in circles, howling her head off and trying to climb into my arms. I figgered she'd smelled a snake.

Also, Vets can now vacinate dogs against snake bite. We take ours in for annual boosters.
 
Dave that sounds like a good program. I've never heard of that program in my neck of the woods but with all the different species of poisonous snakeswe have in Oklahoma you would think something would be available. I was reading somewhere where less than 1% of snake bitten dogs die. According to the vet, the large volume of poison from this big a snake along with a large vein that the poison was injected into quickly was circulated through her body. I believe she was already going into shock when we got her to the vet. Sadly if we would have waited another day we probably woudn't have had to worry about snakes because the temperature dropped down into the 40's. This little female was my buddies best hunter of his dogs and he has an annual trip to South Dakota planned in a couple of weeks. Needless to say he was not only saddened but dissapointed as well.
 
Tom, Sorry to hear of the dogs death, that's really sad. I can't imagine a snake with fangs 2 1/2 inches apart - isn't that unusually large?

Regarding the snake avoidance issue for dogs. Get ahold of Hitch on here (John Hitchcock) and talk to him about it. I believe he and fellow hunters in Florida put their dogs through a similar program that has been quite successful if I remember correctly.
 
When my wirehair was bitten in Montana she came back dragging her right front leg. I thought she might have picked up prickly pear and checked her pad. She started going into shock. Then I noticed a spot of blood about 6" up on her leg. Of course it happened around 4:30 on a Saturday, with the nearest vet an hour away.

Can't recall if I put a tournicut on. Seems like might have the horses along and had to load before we could get going. Anyway when we got to the vets he was still there. By then her leg was the size of my bicept.

He shot her up with cortizone and steroids and kept her overnight. The next day he said she was the wildest dog he'd ever seen, chewed through the chain link kennel and was running around the clinic when he arrived the next morning. Good thing it was an indoor kennel. Guess she was more wire-cutter than wire-hair.
ue
He gave me an article on treating snake bites with a tazer like electric device. Might want to check that out.

Apparently the size of the dog, where it's bitten, and the amount of venom injected bare on the chances for survival. A friend with a big black lab said a rattler bit his dog on the nose. The dog was swinging the snake around his 'til it flew off. The labs head swelled to about twice it's size. But he survived. Another friends Brittany was bitten on the stomach and she didn't.

I used to just pass rattlers by. Now I shoot 'em.

BTW at an Arizona museum program on snakes the presenter said there are about 250 people bitten by rattlers in Ariz. each year - all the victims are male! - alcohol and snakes don't mix. Their reaction times is about 2 1/2 times faster than ours sober.
 
Dave....Know what you mean about them wirehairs and getting out. I have an 8yr old wirehair that I should've named Houdini. That dog I think could make is way out of a maximum security prison. A chainlink kennel barely slows him down if he's dtermined to get out. I had to go to a shock collar system to keep him contained. That crazy dog loves being in a duck blind with 12ga shotguns firing over his head at ducks but let a thundersorm pass through and he goes ballistic and proceeds to destroy his kennel. I swear that dog has supernatural strength! I'm glad I didn't have him with me on that snakebite trip or he would probably been in the middle of that snake. I took my old English Setter for some exercise and fortunately he was somewhere else at the time of the cottonmouth encounter. I'm convinced it must have been a major vein based on how quickly and the volume of blood she bled.
 
Pete....I believe that was an exceptionally big cottonmouth. But i've seen them like that before. Years ago I came across one on the Illinois River while trout fishing that was feeding under a Great Blue Heron colony picking up dropped fish. Because it was in close proximity to where people were fishing I killed it. It stretched out the full length of my car hood. I have to admit I sometimes get a little care free about snakes but after this experience I'll keep my guard up. They are so well camoflaged.
 
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