I was out running my dog this morning and she being the typical nosy lab constantly has her nose to the ground sniffing. Which I guess is a good thing since she is a hunting dog. Anyways, she started acting birdy, which is normal since we have a few wild quail in the area. Anyways, she kind of jumped back at first. Then went back to the area she jumped back from. The next thing I know, she yelps real loud and takes off like a rocket. She runs straight for the house and doesn't look back.
I run over to where she was a see a fat copperhead snaked scooting through the grass. The one time I don't have a gun on me! I was looking for a stick and by the time I found one large enough to do some damage, the snake had disappeared.
Well, by the time I got her to the vet her leg had a lump the size of a grapefruit on it! The vet sedated her and shaved her leg and sure enough, there were two fang marks. In the couple hours from the bite til the vet shaved the leg, an area the size of a quarter had already started to slough off and be bloody with an area 4"-5" around turning a bloody blackish-blue color. The vet said he would treat her with an IV, antihistimines, antibiotics and pain medication. Only time will tell if there is permanent injury. It depends on the amount of venom that was injected and if it went into a major vessel or not...
The war is officially on with snakes now... I have always left them alone, but it's war!
Anyone else experience a snake bite from a copperhead on them or their dogs? If so, could you share what you went through?
Thanks!
