I had literally stopped to take a piss. My dog came right along side of me and then BOOM, he leaped and ran off. I first thought he had been stung by a bee.

I looked down and there in the leaves, not 2 feet from my foot was a copperhead. I took off his head with a 38, shoved a Benadryl down Roux's throat and took him to the vet.

The gave him a big injection of antibiotic and steroid. Along with a week's worth of antibiotics to give Roux. Snake got him right in the tip of his left front foot. It's doubled in size, but the swelling hasn't moved past his knee.

Damn if those frigging snakes don't blend. Power company was removing some trees along the right of way, very near where this happened. I'm guessing that helped push him out.

poor bastid, I hate to see a dog hurtin'

Nice shot!




Travis

Jesus.......hope the pooch heals up fast.

Finally somebody carrying a pocket pistol put it to good use.

Keep us posted on progress.

Good news is you knew and took him right away.

Lost one to rattlesnake bite, the leg was about double size swollen before we knew anything was wrong.

Kill 'em all!

Godspeed to Roux and your blood pressure!

Glad to hear your dog will be OK. It could have just as easily been you that got struck. They seem to have perfected the camo look...

I hate snakes

Vet says that barring something stupid happening, he should pull out fine. He says he gets LOTS of copperhead bites and can only recall 2 dogs that died and both were very small dogs.

Good lookin' dog and good shootin', friend.

sounds like your dog is good to go. one of my half sibes was bitten in her pen. her neck really swollen up, and she survived it.

copperheads are everywhere, even in the scrubbery next to the house.

They can be real hard to spot. Sorry Roux is suffering and hope he is back watching over you soon.

One thing I have notices about seeing a copperhead up real close like that, they improve the accuracy of your shooting. I have only had it happen three time to me but each time I drew and shot a lot faster and a lot more accurate that my norm. Motivation can be a wonderful thing.

Glad to hear the pooch will be ok. Nice job dog owner. I hate snakes too.

Poor Roux

Should have turned that snake over and killed the SOB on the other side too for biting your dog.

If a dog's gotta get bit the foot's probably the best place though. The farther from the heart the better it's chances. Least that's what my Vet friend says.

I hate those bastards. They have damn good camo in the leaves.

Hope the pooch is good to go soon. I try to remember benadryl when we are any distance from the truck.

twofish

Best wishes for recovery for Roux.

chit, sorry to hear it Scott


hopin the mutt hairs over quickly, they deal with that chit far better than us humans do it seems.


nice job on the decapitation.


kinda pays to have that .38 clipped to your drawers

Snakes suck.

Not mine. It spews.

GFY.




Travis

I didn't say worm.

Copperheads the one to get bit by. Hope the pup is ok.

Time to bring in Riki Tiki Tavi.

If it doesnt have shoulders, kill it. Keep shooting until you take the wiggle out of 'em.

Sorry to see this and sure hope your Roux gets better fast - hate to see him suffering like that. You were great on both counts - ID'ing and eliminating the serpent quickly and taking good care of your dog. Next to certain rattlers in some conditions, Copperheads are about as hard to see as any snake when in cover like that. I prefer them on green grass - but they don't seem to spend much time there.

glad the mutt's going to be OK.

But damn, they are pretty snakes.

Bummer on the snake bite. I hope Roux pulls out of it o.k. You got pretty lucky that it didn't get you too!

Ouch, hope the pup gets better fast. Deserves a treat or two.

Good shooting Scott and I hope the pooch heals up and hairs over quickly.

Dang sorry to see yer dog suffering Scott.

Snakes give me the creeps but can't get away.

It's election season.

Shot the one below while bushhogging a few weeks back. We've had several dogs bitten and none have had permanent damage from the bites. I should say I assume they are copperhead bites, only saw the after effects. The bite area would swell up for a while and eventually it would go away. Dogs would take it easy for a day or two then go back to doing what they do. We only gave them antibiotics.

My brother had a dog bitten by a water moccasin earlier this summer and it is doing well but it had a much rougher time the first couple of days.

Good Dawg.. will bounce back!

Years ago a snake bit my Lab while we were hiking. Nailed her 2x on the paw and ankle of her back leg. Must have hurt as she was limping very badly. Of course I scooped her up and ran for the truck. In the end She had some swelling and her belly turned black and blue for several days but in the end she just had a bit of scarring around the bite sites. Like yours my vet shot her full of antibiotic and told me to buy some benedryl on the way home. Probably the most serious risk was me having a coronary jogging about a mile with a 70 lb dog in my arms. Hope your pup recovers as well as mine did.

AMEN.

fixt!

Good story, bangeye. Glad it worked. Most of
my copperhead stories are at the firewood pile.

Dam hope the pup gets well soon! good shooting too!

Hope your dog recovers quick, they usually handle a snake bite better than humans.

He just ate 2 eggs and is now back to sleep.

Hope your dog gets better.

Copperhead struck at Buster a couple months ago on the front patio. Scared the schidt out of both of us!

Buster's snake trained, but unless you see them, they can get you. He was more spooky for weeks after that.

I took that one's head off too.

Scott
Glad it didn't get you, sorry about Roux, but they generally bounce back pretty quickly.

We'll keep you and Roux in our thoughts!

Jeff

Oh yeah, snake training and snake shots too... are out there.

Sorry to hear about your pooch Scott. Hope he's feeling better soon.

How much does your dog weigh, Scott?

65 pounds

I hope Roux heals quickly and I am glad the 'Head did bite you too.

OK thanks. We have to mini-Aussiws, about 35 lb. Never seen a copperhead but I've killed three moccasins over the years in our back yard. I don't think my dogs will survive a bite from one. What do you think?

I hate snakes. A good ones is a dead one. Poor dog.

Cottonmouth's are bad MOFO's, hard saying.

Dang it! Sorry for you and your dog to have to go through this. Hope dog heals quick.
As luck would have it, we had a incident with a snake and dog today also.
Out on a job today, and my helper went over to pet the customers silver lab, and encountered a BIG rattler headed straight for the dog. Damn thing was over two ft. long and thick as my wrist, but he wasn't no match for the kid and a no. two shovel:)

Your pup should be fine, but if your like me they're almost like your kids, can't help feeling bad for 'em. Hate snakes!

Crimson Trace on the 38?

Copperheads will teach you to watch your step and watch closer anything you turn over as they like laying under stuff. Rattlers tend to be more civil and mostly warn folks. Copperheads and cottonmouths are just rude. Somebody mowed and cleared a little brush so it was high time to bite something, Oh look there's Scott and his dog....

Negative. In fact I've never shot a gun with a laser in my life.

Only one I have is on my little S&W and it makes a Pistolero out of me when it comes to snakes.

Otherwise.... will someone please pass the shovel.

To be fair, the snake was only 3-4' away.

Sorry your dog got bit. Glad you didn't. It is funny how particular a man can be about focusing on the front sight when he his shooting at a snake.

Good work.

Glad Roux is as well as he is and you killed the culprit!

Wifey had a 15-lb poodle terrier mix get bit by one on the jaw and he ended up loosing 2-3 teeth over it all.

Ever vigilant with those venomous monsters!

Mike

Benadryl will make a dog hallucinate. My old lab got bit on the chin and was up all night acting weird from it. He pulled through ok. Vet said they'd only seen two dogs die from rattler bites. One was bit in the chest and the other bit twice. Hope your pooch gets better quick.

If I'm not mistaken the shots for copperheads or moccassins are supposed to be available.

I kept Cole our lab, on the rattler shots every year, not so much becaues we ever saw a rattler but supposedly they would help some for the others, sans corals. Other vaccines were not available at that time.

The training kept him pretty safe, he knew what they smelled like from way off and shied away. Though supposedly you were supposed to take em back to training now and then.

Seen quite a few copperhead and rattle snake bites in my line of work (ER). Copperheads and water moccasins are generally not life threatening to humans. Not saying it can't cause horrible pain and life long injury to limb. And most dogs will do just fine, even some smaller ones. I have only seen 1 person come close to dying and it was due to anaphylactic shock. If your allergic to one, your allergic to all of the pit vipers in the usa. Rattlers are truly a life threatening emergency. We see quite a few dry bites surprisingly from both.

Hope your dog does well. Keep him loaded up with benadryl. Not sure why they give antibiotics? Not warranted in humans, so not sure why they do it in dogs. Makes me glad that where I live in TN we don't have many of them

Handled the only way it could be.
Go find the carcass, your pup needs a snakeskin collar!

We have lots of them in this part of TN.

http://www.redrockbiologics.com/rattlesnake_vaccine_faq.php

Steelie, fugk him and put it right up in his ear.

Glad your pooch is doing OK. Good looking dawg.

I have seen quite a few timber rattlers in the park and on the plateau. Fortunately here in the valley they are few and far between. I'm just glad all we have here is copperheads and timbers. No eastern DB or cottonmouth. Hell, I rarely ever see any snakes around even though I am outside a lot. What part of TN you in?

It's been amazing how many snakes, especially rattlesnakes have been seen this year around here.

I continue to be surprised to even see a snake at all at our place in the Hill Country. I have seen more snakes in north Idaho than at my place in Texas. I leave 'em alone and worry about dumbazz cow moose. Bears fall well behind.

Glad all is well, feel bad for the pup. I'm sure we can both agree that we're glad I don't live in TN!

Sure hate to see that schitt happen. And they do blend in. We had 3 dogs quail hunting one time and had a rattlesnake start rattling. We got the dogs back and we were all trying to see the snake....still rattling. One of the guys saw it and shot it. I saw where the shot hit and I was looking right at it before the shot and didn't see the damn snake.

At least he made noise so we could get the dogs away from it.

My dad.....on the other hand.....could not hear a rattlesnake. We unfortunately verified this several times while hunting. Can laugh now but wasn't too funny then.

Hope the dog heals up okay, and glad you missed getting bit!

Still swollen this AM of course, but he's getting around a little better on it. Other than the swelling, he seems in good spirits.

Just saw this. Glad the dog is making progress.

I hate those snakes. We don't see a ton here, but they usually pop up this time of year for some reason. My last encounter was in the driveway and all I had was a shovel.

It looks like the shovel was effective!

Glad to hear that Roux is still doing okay, Scott.

Good story line in a movie...dog steps in front of master and takes a snake bite.

Hope the dog continues to mend.

Wayne

One thing great about the 'Fire, we do love our dogs. Good to hear that yours is getting better.

I do not hate snakes, having grown up the son of a zoology professor and around all kinds of animals. etc. I would not keep one for a pet, but they do have their place. Here in the mountains, we do have rattlers and they keep down the mice and packrats that are showing up in droves this year.

Neighbors have told me to get anti-venom shots for my Jack Russells but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe I should, as I have seen two rattlers already since I moved here in May.

The swelling is almost gone. He still favors the 'wound' on his toe where the snake bit him, but he's doing well.

He's skittish as all hell outside. I twig brushed up against his leg and he leaped 2' in the air. Can't say as I blame him.

Glad Roux is doing better.....we'd all be skittish too if we'd just had his experience.

you might not be an [bleep] after all, nice lookin pit, looks built like my male just different colored, hope he's feeling better soon they're tough animals

i hate snakes nor do i think they're pretty

Dam Scott, sorry to hear about this. Glad to also hear your pup is on the mend. I hate snakes with a passion!

Kill em all I say

Steelhead,
Are you up around Crossville? My in-laws own land up there not far from Fall Creek Falls and you have to keepan eye out for copperheads this time of year.

Poor guy...hope he heals up fast.

glad he is doing ok.....good thing about copperheads is they dont pack terribly toxic venom....the average adult human can survive a bite just fine without antivenin......they are pretty snakes though, would like the hide off one

I always thought a Copperhead had to really chew on you to inject a big dose of there venom. Unlike a big Rattler, that can deliver a huge dose with a single strike. May be wrong, but that was my impression.

Glad to here the Pup is doing better!

nope, rattler and copperhead use the same delivery mechanism....similar size snakes can inject similar amounts.....copperhead venom is just pretty low on the toxicity level for front fanged venomous snakes

Copperheads do seem to be snakes of the late summer or fall. Thinking back, I bet 75% of the copperheads that I have come across have been in August through October. They really seem to move a lot during the month of September, especially the little ones. Also, get anywhere near a little one and it will coil up, ready to fight.

Nice lookin' dog. Hope he heals fully. You must have been pretty close to that snake yourself - lucky you weren't bitten too..

Strange that you posted this but I killed this one Saturday evening going down my driveway. It was the biggest Copperhead I have ever seen. Hope your dog gets better soon.

How's dog this morning.?