this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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I saw a tiktok explaining that there are a lot of venomous snakes out in unprecedented numbers for this time of year (because of the heat) and that 9 dogs in Geelong and the surrounding area were bitten by venomous snakes in one day. So can the dog owners of this wonderful thread please be super vigilant and keep your precious babies safe.
Edit: just to add, this is not to villainise snakes but to warn people to keep their dogs close and on leads so they don't make snakes feel threatened. There is a training program you can enrol dogs in that teaches them to keep away from snakes. It's called Snake avoidance training.
Red bellied black snakes are fairly placid. They are not rare either. They hang around watercourses and swamps/wetlands and you can walk right by them and they don't so much as wriggle. I have been riding a horse that stepped right over one on a bush path and neither horse nor snake even twitched. Keeping your dogs out of creeks and swamps, and wearing stout shoes around bushland would be more than sufficient to keep them safe (the dogs as well). Even keeping your dogs leashed would work to prevent the dogs from chasing or harassing the snakes which is when a dog is most likely to be bitten. There is a very effective anti-venom serum that most vets keep on hand too. I would like to know where they got the number of dogs bitten from. This sounds like a tiktok scare campaign more than real information.
Had the same experience with horses and snakes. Snake didn’t even move and my horse nearly stepped on it. I’ve nearly stepped on so many snakes. Usually see many of them each year. Worried about my dog though. Everything goes in his mouth or gets chased.
That was the only purpose of my warning, not villainise snakes but to remind people that they're around more than usual and dogs can be very silly and make them feel rightfully threatened.
It didn't give the vibe of a scare campaign as she and others (in the comments) were warning dog owners to look at getting Snake Avoidance training and to keep their dogs on leads etc and to just be vigilant and aware when out with their dogs she was just warning that there are more around then usual for this time of year because of the heat. As for the red bellied black snake thing, that was clearly a bit of misinformation and I'll edit it out.
Have to agree with all of that.
I think snakes get an unfortunate bad rep. Far more scared of us (and dogs) than we should be of them.
Snakes of all species will generally try to avoid conflict and generally flee when they sense the vibrations of something larger coming towards them. To snakes, dogs are potential predators and snakes will engage in a number of threat displays to scare a potential predator off before resorting to biting. If the dog ignores those threat displays it is will sadly get bit.
People need to be more responsible for their pets and keep them supervised. It's not like snakes are intentionally seeking out dogs to bite. That tiktok is blatant fearmongering and all it is going to do is villainise snakes and encourage people to harm them.
In fairness she was just telling people to be more aware as her dog had been bitten and she was upset, she told people to keep away from snakes and to be vigilant. She was just letting them know there are more around then usual and her vet had told her the same thing.