Snake season!!!
 

YIKES CRIPES!!!! This is the 3RD SNAKE IN A WEEK!


ANOTHER tiger snake killed early this afternoon, when I went out to empty the dogs at lunchtime.

It was in the RACE KENNELS this time!!! Blue Sky Libby killed it when it entered her kennels. Don't know yet if she's been bitten, am keeping a close eye on her for any signs. She's racing this weekend! Seems to be feeling pretty proud of herself, wagging tail, jumping out of her skin. Has a bit of blood on her thick scruff of neck but I can't see any bite mark anywhere.
I hope it's because the snake is only a baby, so fangs aren't fully developed.......


Here is a pic of the snake:


http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...otos/snake.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...tigersnake.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...gersnake-1.jpg

Looks like she did a pretty good job of killing it, lets hope she hasnt been bitten.

Yes lets hope so. She did an excellent job good on her. Where abouts in Victoria was this if you dont mind me asking?

Looks okay so far, so must have been very lucky! Libby's a very fast bitch with a breeding career in mind for her, so would hate to lose her especially as I had lost her dam early in the year due to surgery complications.


The first two tiger snakes were half eaten so didn't want to take pics of them lol a brood bitch boarder (by Master Havoc) next to the race kennels, had killed both within days. Very lucky.


Im situated near the South Australia border (about an hour) in between Horsham and Wbool.

Very dry country out here!

Oh ok yeah. The fact that its dry must be the reason that the snakes are coming out, probably looking for water. Have you thought about extra protection for the kennels? You wouldnt want to be allowing the chance of this happening anymore...

The only protection (not that it's 100% foolproof, every farm has snakes and every farm has lost pups/dogs to them, it's just an unfortunate part of life and nature that you can't absolutely prevent from happening) is bird netting laid on the ground around the kennels/pup yards. I've done that, however I hadn't done the race kennels area as I never imagined snakes would go into there as Im always working out there, making a lot of noises etc.

After today, I've put bird netting around the race kennel areas. I've also been told that putting mothballs/napthene flakes on the ground can deter snakes but that is no good to me, as I have 2 retired greys that have the run of the place (and in my home too lol) and don't want them to eat those.

Another piece of advice I also got was to lay out mice/rat poison (in pellet form inside a cardboard box) around the kennel area to kill off the mice, as the snakes love mice!

Plus, tiger snakes are pretty commonplace here (I've only been here 6 mths, previously having lived in NSW country) as the 5 acre property borders onto a swampland full of snakes!

Can't do much about them unfortunately! Except move lol I'll be moving once I find somewhere suitable (likely to be out in Bendigo/ballarat areas), as my lease is only short term.

Heavens, this is scary. I am very worried now about one very promising youngster spelling in Western Victoria. I will be on the phone tomorrow suggesting that he should be brought home ASAP to Melbourne. This is just the sort of thing about which I have be worried. I certainly hope Blue Sky Libby remains OK and that you are able to manage this problem successfully for the forthcoming hot/warm months. I really do wish you well not only with the dogs but also take great care of yourself in this regard.

Well I'm glad your not extremely worried that you live near a snake pit lol, because I hate snakes and although your dog won the battle with this one you would still be worried about anymore attacks.

lol

Well racedogs are usually safe because they're kept in concrete kennels off the ground, however Libby and two of her kennel mates are kept in that shed, which is a bit too open to crawling snakes. Have just fixed that problem by putting barriers down at the bottom of the doors (there's a gap at the bottom for me to slip their feed bowls in)


The only danger is to the young pups out in the yards as they have all that room to run about in, can't watch them 24 hours a day.

Who says Im not worried???? I bloody well worry lol just not much I can do about it... just cross my fingers, legs, eyes and hope for the best that I don't see any more snakes from now on!



Yuthapinaboy, I wouldn't be worried about your dog, if it's a racedog, it would most likely be kept in a race kennel. Should be okay there I reckon ;-)

Hey lily just thought id ask how Chooky is going?

Hey Morgan,

Chooky is growing very nicely indeed, she is a fair sized bitch, has a lovely attitude!

cheers

Yep plenty of the brown snakes in the Bendigo/Heathcote region too. My greyhound trainer has a creek and a dam on his property. Averages about 3 dead brown snakes a year. There was a black snake that met a greyhound last year. Snake dead, greyhound alive. Old greyhound "Katy" seem to lure them into her pen. Doesn't matter which pen she is in. I have a brood bitch up there lily who is in an open 25m run with kennel. Is there anyway I can snake proof her pen ?

Its good that your trainer has black snakes as they kill and eat other types of snakes in the area, black snakes arent very agressive comapred to tigers and browns.

When i lived in an area with lots of snakes we would always leave the blacks.

You are right about Red Bellies Morgan but although they might try to avoid trouble, sometimes they have no choice, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the mid-1980s we had an unraced Wild Port dog who dived into the grass coming out with a Red Belly wrapped around him. The dog was muzzled. With the benefit of a big vet bill he was saved and thankfully he was a very good dog from the financial viewpoint.

If the person who looks after your broodbitch doesn't have time or money to lay out bird netting along the fenceline (loosely clumped on ground) you can always ask if they can clip on aviary type wire (the one with tiny square holes, instead of the usual chicken wire) along the fenceline right down into the ground, make sure to fill in all holes along the fenceline in the dog's yard, as well. Keep grass down very short if possible.

Thanks for the tips lily. What grass!!! It's dirt and dust in Heathcote...lol, with a few cattle and sheep on his property there isn't much of the green stuff around, the animals keep it well mowed.

why you called an snake season?





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"why you called an snake season"? (jams 002)

I am not the creator of this thread nor of course the heading "Snake Season" but I hope it is appropriate for me to respond to the question asked by 'jams002'. I've got nothing better to do. "Snake Season" is a just a term often used to describe the time of the year when snakes are more active and therefore more likely to come in contact with, for example, humans and "heaven forbid", greyhounds. In climates where there is a very distinct temperature difference between summer and winter (a very large part of Australia), snakes are much less active, even hybernating during the colder months. Come the warmer months they are on the move again, seeking food and water or just a nice warm place to sun themselves (part of regulating their body temperature). "Snake Season" is when we (and greyhounds) are more likely to have a "close encounter" with a snake. In the colder months, we would tend to have to go looking for them or unwittingly, disturb one. My brother has a cattle property in Queensland (150 kms inland). During the winter of 2007he unwittingly disturbed a King Brown who was sheltering in an old car tyre, used as border around a shrub. It was winter but it was Queensland (warmer climate) and the King Brown was not very happy and still sufficiently active to infict some damage. My brother was lucky he did not get bitten. I hope this is helpful.

Hey Lilly, have you seen any more snakes?

No, so far! Touch wood.

However while I was whipper snipping the weeds near the dog yards the other day, a shingleback lizard shot out from the grass and went into my retired dog's kennel lol bad mistake! Dog versus lizard, dog the winner by a knockout.

Poor lizard.. I quite like shinglebacks and blue tongues, I've heard that blue tongues keep snakes away as they like to kill and eat snakes. I would love to have a few blue tongue lizards about the place!

Yeah blue tongue lizards are great, we have two at work as pets. Not sure if they eat snakes though, i think snakes eat them.

Snakes are very un-nerving esp. around your dogs and even more so your kids!!!
When I first moved to my place on 5 acres they were everywhere, but over time as I cleaned the place up a bit I see fewer and fewer! Last summer I didn't see one for the first time since I lived there. I've seen one this season and luckily for me I managed to evict him! My tip is to keep the place as tidy as you can so at least you can see them.Round up, whipper snippers, mowers, chainsaws there all good tools against the snakes, any roofing Iron laying around is bad news too. Cleaning up won't stop them but it helps!
If greyhound trainers needed more work!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek:

Totally agree with Gippy the cleaner your yard is the less snakes as they dont have any cover to hide, also make sure you dont have any food lying around as this will attract them.

I found the best weapon against snakes is a long stick with a piece of wire at the end, if you whip the snake with the wire behind the head it will snap their neck, or cut them in half.

Haha nice Morgan. I reckon just whipper snipper the hell out of them, not that I've ever had to face a snake like that. Completely agree with what you said about cleaning the place up too guys.

Also, Lily if you have chooks id recommend moving them away from the house and the kennels. Snakes love to hand around chook pens, due to cover and food.

NO chooks here, Im constantly cleaning up the place and keeping everything bare on the ground (rubbish, poo, corrugated iron sheets etc etc are all taken away)

Unfortunately the snakes like to come for water, and there is a goldfish pond near the dog kennels (landlady wants it maintained, so I can't really get rid of it).

Doesn't matter how clean everything is, snakes will come looking for water and hoping to find some lizards and mice lol