'Hero' dog saves owner from rattlesnake

[Still Waters]

Todd the golden retriever was labelled a hero for putting himself in harm's way to protect his owner - and was bitten by a rattlesnake in the process.

Paula Godwin posted the story to Facebook, alongside pictures of Todd's swollen face, describing what happened.

"As we were walking down the hill I literally almost stepped on a rattlesnake. But my hero of a puppy Todd saved me."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44682474

[Kittens Are Jerks]

What did we do to deserve dogs?

They are such amazing, loyal animals, and this heroic little pup is right up there with the best of them.

[Piney]

29 minutes ago, Still Waters said:

"As we were walking down the hill I literally almost stepped on a rattlesnake. But my hero of a puppy Todd saved me."

Paying attention to your surroundings I see.

I always have to rescue snakes from the farm dogs. 

[Kittens Are Jerks]

13 minutes ago, Piney said:

Paying attention to your surroundings I see.

Unfortunately, those huge wiggly things know a thing or two about camouflage.

I found myself too close for comfort once. Came too close to a moose that same day.

I need to get a dog.

[Piney]

2 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Unfortunately, those huge wiggly things know a thing or two about camouflage.

I found myself too close for comfort once. Came too close to a moose that same day.

I need to get a dog.

Our cut off block pile is "Black Widow-Brown Widow Central" When I'm making firewood out of them I've never been bitten. I always look out for them though. I've also never missed spotting a snake.

I need to teach you a few things. 

[internetperson]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

Paying attention to your surroundings I see.

My thoughts exactly. I brought this up in my camping thread. 

I live in the suburbs so we don't see snakes often and when we do they're harmless. Tons of black widows though and oddly enough they love the underside of those cheap plastic lawn chairs. Gotta be careful not to tuck your feet underneath you. We do have some brown recluses but I've only seen a few. 

Kind of a shame though that there aren't anymore banana spiders. Used to see them all the time with huge webs but haven't seen them in my area in several years. 

EDIT: Oh and not to sound negative but this story annoyed me a bit the dog was doing his job and the human wasn't doing theirs. 

Edited July 2, 2018 by internetperson

[Still Waters]

Speaking of spotting snakes - I was talking with a friend yesterday who told me he'd had a snake in his house. Something moving out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, it was a snake going up the chimney. He got it out but didn't say how and I didn't ask because I know how much he dislikes them. It was a king snake he thought.

1 hour ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Unfortunately, those huge wiggly things know a thing or two about camouflage.

I was told that too and snakes are very crafty. I'm thankful we don't have many in my country, I've only ever seen one.

[Piney]

13 minutes ago, internetperson said:

I live in the suburbs so we don't see snakes often and when we do they're harmless. Tons of black widows though and oddly enough they love the underside of those cheap plastic lawn chairs. Gotta be careful not to tuck your feet underneath you. We do have some brown recluses but I've only seen a few. 

 

Black widows are totally non-aggressive. They will turn around a meander away. The other day I decided to keep my boots on and wear long pants while starting to lay down this winter's firewood. Glad I did. They were all over the place. 

Unless you live and work outdoors most people don't use their full "field of vision"

Best trick to "see everything at once" is to stretch your arms straight out. Look straight ahead and wiggle your middle fingers while trying to spot them out of the corners of your eyes. Then pick a target in your field of vision above and below you. Keep doing this and you will start to naturally use your full field of vision.

[Kittens Are Jerks]

1 hour ago, Still Waters said:

I was told that too and snakes are very crafty. I'm thankful we don't have many in my country, I've only ever seen one.

One is more than enough.

We have rattlesnakes up at the cottage so I'm always a little bit on edge when walking on trails covered with leaves or branches. I like snakes, but don't want to get too close to one that's venomous, especially when the nearest hospital is like a million trillion miles away.

We never take our pets with us. They'd have a blast until they got bitten (or eaten), and we'd never forgive ourselves.

[.ZZ.]

Coincidentally, I was going to make a status update about rattlers. We have them living under our shed and my wife is worried about the dogs getting too close. 

I don't know what kind of snake it was, but the other day we went out into the yard to do some watering and a snake bolted from the high weeds in the field next door and back into his forest lair. I didn't know a snake could move that fast! Wow! I swear it moved as fast as a rabbit (that we have many friends here)