Summer is here and that means sunny days, clear blue skies and lots of opportunities to explore nature with our four-legged friends.
While nature trails can often be great opportunities for our dogs to explore and roam free you need to remember that powerful instincts can override training, so don’t be surprised when the skills you think you’ve mastered, go completely pear-shaped, when your dog is crashing around in the bushes and discovering the local wildlife.
This becomes particularly relevant when considering the local snake population who also enjoy a spot of sunshine, and tend to be more active at this time of year.
A variety of species inhabit our surroundings in the Western Cape, of which about 5 should be considered potentially deadly to us, and our dogs.
Some dogs have an instinctive aversive reaction to snakes, and won’t need any help from you to steer clear; but for others, (I’m looking at you terriers), sniffing out a snake sunning itself next to the trail might be game on, which could have disastrous results for both dog and snake.
This doesn’t just apply to snake safety by the way. Other critters, like porcupines can do serious damage to your dog too, and just as a general rule you have a responsibility to be respectful to the environment, and to prevent your dog from harassing and injuring the local wildlife.
Your recall, leave it and emergency stop skills will all come into play on a nature trail, and should be reinforced regularly. However if your dog has not mastered these skills, or they have very strong chase instincts, keeping them on a leash may very well be the wiser choice.
If you do spot a snake in your path, or you think your dog has sniffed one out, you should call them off and move away immediately.
Broadly speaking, most snakes will not strike unless they feel trapped, or threatened; so just keep a respectful distance, and steer a wide path around the snake if possible, and you should be fine. If your dog is loose, we would strongly advise that you leash them until you are well clear, as any sudden move from the snake could trigger a reaction.
If a snake is blocking your path and there is no room to maneuver around them, do not try and ‘shoo’ them out of the way. Snake species have different reactions in threatening situations and if you don’t know what you’re dealing with you could find yourself in trouble very quickly. Also your dog might pick up on your body language if you start being loud and threatening towards the snake and try and join in.
Rather back off to a respectful distance and take a breather while you see if the snake will move on, or backtrack and find a suitable detour.
It’s a very good idea, particularly if you and your dog are regular hikers, to make sure you know how to recognize the snakes you might encounter, and to know what your response should be if your dog is bitten, but before we go into the list; here are some general pointers on what to do, or not to do if your dog is bitten:
Firstly, not all venomous snakes will deliver a fatal dose with every bite. Snakes need to conserve their venom to hunt and it’s not uncommon for a defensive bite to be a dry bite, or to only inject a small quantity of venom.
So even if your dog is bitten by a very serious customer, like a cobra, get moving towards medical assistance as fast as you can and don’t give up hope.
There are only 4 vets in the Western Cape that carry anti-venom. They are:
- Cape Animal Medical Centre
- Noordhoek Veterinary Clinic
- Panorama Veterinary Clinic
- Tygerberg Animal Hospital
Get a photo of the snake if possible, and get your dog to one of those vets as fast as possible. If you are able to, carry your dog back to the car, and let them move around as little as possible.
Phone ahead if you can, and tell them you are on the way. Describe the snake and the bite if possible so they can prepare treatment for you.
Do not tourniquet limbs, try and squeeze out venom, or anything else you may have heard of people doing. Some first aid will actually cause more harm than good; so unless you are a trained professional with knowledge of snake bite treatment, concentrate on getting to help as quickly as possible.
Once again the importance of a good pet medical insurance, like Medipet, can’t be underestimated.
A single ampule of anti-venom runs to about R1200-00 and treatment will usually require several of these.
In very serious cases your dog may need to be put on a ventilator and most vets will require an upfront payment in the region of R25000-00 per day for treatment like this.
Now onto the snakes:
Thick body, up to 1.4m long. Grey to yellow, or red/brown with v-shaped patterns on the body, a triangular head and a prominent stripe just behind the eyes.
You’ll find the ‘Puffy’ just about anywhere in the country and they’re probably the most likely candidate to bite your dog, not because they’re aggressive, but because they’re well camouflaged and freeze when approached, so they often literally get bumped into, or stepped on.
Don’t be fooled by their sluggish behavior – if they decide to strike you won’t see it coming.
The venom is cytotoxic and haemotoxic. Depending on the bite location and size of your dog it may not be immediately life threatening but it will be extremely painful and cause massive tissue damage and swelling. Necrosis, organ failure and other complications will set in and become life-threatening within 24 hours if untreated.
Black/red to olive brown, or yellow, up to 1.6m long, will rear up and spread their very distinctive hood and hiss if threatened.
These guys are nervous and will prefer flight over fight, but will strike if they feel cornered. They are mostly ground snakes, that you’ll find all over the Cape Province, they’ll sometimes go into houses to escape the heat or look for water.
If you encounter one of these guys get your dog away fast and give them plenty of room to retreat. Their venom is a very aggressive neurotoxin that causes paralysis, heart and respiratory failure, and can kill within an hour.
If you dog is bitten by a Cape Cobra, pray that it’s a dry bite as we’re told by experienced vets that very few dogs survive cobra venom, or even reach treatment in time.
Depending on how far you are from help, if you see rapid deterioration after a definite cobra bite you may want to consider simply sitting down and making them comfortable for the last few minutes.
Often mistaken for Puff Adders, 40-60cm long, olive to dark brown mottled markings without the V-shaped pattern or head stripe.
You’ll find these guys in the Cape mountains mostly higher up, but sometimes in the lower Fynbos on the coast. They are nervous and will hiss and strike quickly if disturbed.
Their venom is a neurotoxin, causing localized pain, increased heart rate, dizziness and loss of balance. It’s not powerful enough to kill an adult human from a single dose, but dogs, particularly smaller breeds will be at more risk and you should still seek treatment immediately.
Green eyes, olive brown females, males black on top and bright yellow below, up to 1.5m in length.
These guys live in trees and bushes and are very shy so a bite is very unlikely.
The venom is haemotoxic, it affects blood clotting and will eventually be fatal due to bleeding and kidney failure. The good news though is that it’s very slow acting, so if you know a Boomslang bit your dog and you get to the vet promptly for anti-venom and treatment they should survive.
Dark grey to brown with lighter brown, or cream spots and two light stripes around the neck. About 1.2m will rear up and expand their cobra-like hood.
The Rinkhals is quite rare, with only a few colonies in the Cape Peninsula, which is a good thing! The Rinkhals will spit venom at the eyes accurately from up to 2.5m metres away. This means if your dog is unlucky enough to encounter one of these rare snakes, and disturbs it, they could find themselves in serious trouble.
Rinkhals venom is cytotoxic and neurotoxic causing extreme burning and discomfort to the eyes. If it is absorbed into the system, paralysis, respiratory failure and heart failure are possible.
Unlike other snakes, there is very little doubt that you’ve had a run in with a Rinkhals. If it does successfully spit in your dog’s face you need to use whatever liquid you have available (water, milk, or even beer in a pinch) to wash it out as fast as possible and then seek medical assistance.
Finally remember that snake bites are not an everyday occurrence, and our goal with this information is to make sure that you are informed and prepared, not to scare you and your dog into a life of boredom.
So please get out into nature, take your dog with you and enjoy every moment of it!
