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.