So I hear my mom screaming "Kelly has a snake" and I run downstairs, when I get there a snake was lying on the grass. My dog was fine, since the snake wasn't poisonous, and there was no marks on her. (Before you think I abuse my dog, there is always a door open for her when she wants to come back in from our fenced yard.) We have a small foresty area in our yard, and thats where she found it.
My mom wanted to know if it was still alive so she took my brothers bb gun and started shooting it! It lifted it's head, and blood was dripping out of it's mouth. She didn't want to stop shooting, when I yelled at her to stop she said "you sound like a whining baby, stop."
Eventually I was in tears, because the poor snake was dying, but luckily the bb pellets did not hurt it. Eventually she stopped, and we went inside, and it slithered back into the forest. She said "I can't believe someone can be so sensitive about a snake."
I don't love snakes, but seeing it with blood dripping out of its mouth, so helpless really upset me.
I'm sorry, I guess this is just a rant, but I need to discuss it with people who understand my point of view.

So basically I have 3 questions.

- Would you have reacted the same way I did or was I being "too sensitive about a snake"
- Will my dog find it again and finish the job, if it lives in my yard?
- Is it possible that it could have survived an attack like that?

I just want to add that I know it sounds like I am an irresponsible dog owner, but my dogs are well taken care of, and usually when they go outside they have supervision. I don't know what happened today, but it won't be happening again.

I'm not a snake person but I would have taken the dog away from it and left it alone. How can we so carelessly kill what God creates, what right do we have? No need to beat yourself up over it though.

I saw a man kick his dog once and I grabbed his dog, dared him to stop me, put it in my car and found a great home for her. Sometimes you have to intervene but it sounds like it all happened before you could take charge of the situation.

My mom wanted to know if it was still alive so she took my brothers bb gun and started shooting it! It lifted it's head, and blood was dripping out of it's mouth. She didn't want to stop shooting, when I yelled at her to stop she said "you sound like a whining baby, stop."
:brood: :grr:
Eventually I was in tears, because the poor snake was dying, but she kept shooting it.
:wall:
- Would you have reacted the same way I did
Absolutely. Actually, I would have either pulled the weapon from her or put myself in front of the snake so I could guide the little guy to freedom.
or was I being "too sensitive about a snake"
Even if I didn't have an affinity for snakes, life is life. And chances are that whatever the snake was eating would be less welcome in the yard.
- Will my dog find it again and finish the job, if it lives in my yard?
Hard to say. If you do find it again, though, and you know for a fact that it isn't venomous (send me a photo), you might scoop it up and take it to a wilder habitat.
- Is it possible that it could have survived an attack like that?
It's certainly possible. Snakes are remarkably resilient. Neighborhood kids once brought me a western terrestrial garter that sported about a dozen scars and no tail yet was otherwise healthy.

Thanks both of you.
We took photos, so I'll post them asap.
I'm thinking about buying one of these snake traps and releasing it in the woods far away from my house.
My only concern is that the snake won't be able to free itself, and if it does, it will be injured. Here's a link to the trap's website.

http://www.snakeguard.com/

Oh, and about those traps.
I don't know how they lure the snakes in the first place, and I don't want other animals to get caught in them.

Depending on the type of snake, it's entirely possible that struggling against the adhesive could rip the skin. From what I can see on that site, there's nothing to lure the snake in, and the trap relies on placement in an area that the snake frequents.

oh, snownose I'm sorry!
Parents can be difficult, can' t they?

No, you are not being too sensitve. I believe any living animal deserves our concern and respect.

My dogs often scare up critters in the back yard too. Just because you are not always around to stop or intervene does not make you a bad owner.

That made me mad. :brood: Not only did your mother try to kill the snake, but she belittled you for being sensitive about it.

I just want to add that I know it sounds like I am an irresponsible dog ownerJSYK, I didn't get that impression from your post.

I see nothing wrong in your reaction to your mom shooting the snake. Sorry you had to go through that. I can remember when my uncle accidentally closed in a bird in the eaves on the roof of his house. We heard the bird screaming to get out and everyone just laughed at me because I was crying for it and they were all, like, it's just a stupid bird, it will die soon. Un-freakin-believable. I would probably keep an eye out for snake in case it returns and then try to move it to a more suitable area where your dog won't be able to get at it. But try not to get too stressed about it. You did what you could.

The fact that you felt pain at the sight of one of God's creatures in pain, proves that you are a better person than most people I believe. I get attacked when I show the slightest bit of remorse for anything other than humans. ( I do have a few close friends that accept me for who I am, thank God)! I am sure most of us here in veggieboards have experienced the same thing. You are not alone, believe me!!! One day my cat was freaking out more than usual and I found a baby snake in my apartment. How it got in there I don't know. It was curled up like it was going to strike. I was afraid of course but I couldn't kill the poor thing. I managed to get it into a cup to put it outside. I hope that you will find people and friends that are more accepting of your compassion!!! Good luck! Sweetie my cat did not get bit by the way!!!:hamster: I think she was just freaking out because a stranger invaded our home!!!

I really have no suggestions - only sympathy... for you and for the poor snake..

I have had a problem this spring with my cats bringing garter snakes in from the yard... they catch them quite carefully and carry them inside without injury -then let them go - I'm not sure why they do it - they don't try to kill them or anything... but I think they're wanting to bring them in as "Kitty toys" or sources of entertainment... My kids and I keep having to take the poor snakes and let them go as far away as possible...

So, yeah... hopefully you won't have snakes re-visiting you if that's treatment they get from your family!

Hey, don't worry about being over sympathetic, just reading that post made me feel so sorry for that helpless snake. I have very emotional reactions to suffering animals to the point of tears, animal crualty really haunts me ... there are many ppl that are very similar.

I think your reaction makes you sound like a very caring person!

Thanks everyone!
Well, it came back and got tangled in the wire of our fence. I wasn't home, but my brother cut it loose and took it to the fire station. They said that they would call animal control. Hope thats a good thing.

Hopefully AC just let it loose somewhere -- they tend to not have many clues regarding something that isn't a dog or cat.

I don't know where you live, but did the snake look anything like this?

http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/garter-snake-on-plastic.jpg
or this
http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/reptiles/snakes/Common_garter_snake/common_garter.jpg

?

Hopefully AC just let it loose somewhere -- they tend to not have many clues regarding something that isn't a dog or cat.

I don't know where you live, but did the snake look anything like this?

http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/garter-snake-on-plastic.jpg
or this
http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/reptiles/snakes/Common_garter_snake/common_garter.jpg

?


Yes! It looked exactly like those 2.
Are those snakes common? They aren't threatened or anything?

Those are two types of garter snake. The San Francisco garter is endangered, but I think that's the only population that's in trouble.

The one I found looked mostly like the first one. I'm assuming that the San Francisco garter is only in Sf, so since I live on the east coast, I'm sure its not the endangered type.

Yep, the SF Garter is only in the SF bay area. I'm not aware of any *garters* on the east coast that are in trouble. Now, Eastern Indigos :smitten: are a different story :(

wow, quick reply.
Did you see my post about the snake trap? I am interested in buying one, but I want to discuss it with someone who knows a lot about snakes ( you seem to know a lot about them. )

I replied, didn't I? It looks to me to be just a cardboard box with sticky stuff smeared in it. Any animal that wanders through will get stuck.

I replied, didn't I? It looks to me to be just a cardboard box with sticky stuff smeared in it. Any animal that wanders through will get stuck.

Oh sorry! I skipped over your post. I do that a lot.

So basically I have 3 questions.
- Would you have reacted the same way I did or was I being "too sensitive about a snake"
- Will my dog find it again and finish the job, if it lives in my yard?
- Is it possible that it could have survived an attack like that?

I would definitely have been just as upset - I flip out if anyone kills a bug in front of me - To me, it's just another way human beings put themselves above other animals.

It's been my experience that dogs and cats don't usually want to kill bugs/snakes/etc., they just see them as things to play with sort of. I only have one cat at the moment who actually kills other creatures, and I'm pretty sure it's because she grew up as a stray for 6 months before I took her in. So basically, no I really don't think your dog will harm the snake... if he does, that's nature... (as harsh as that may sound?)

Honestly, I think I would have (tried to...) put the snake out of his misery if he looked real bad off (especially if your mom had shot him :sick: ), but considering he was able to slither off real quick, he probably was okay... After all, he's used to dealing with all kinds of other more threatening creatures out there than a domesticated dog...

Hmm... now that I already said above that most cats/dogs don't seem to want to kill things, I guess my parents' cats bring back birds and squirrels all the time... Guess it is just the more harsh side of nature, huh. :|

Oh sorry! I skipped over your post. I do that a lot.
Harumph. :p