Are snakes dangerous to our own cats, dogs, or other pets?

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The reason many snakes are dangerous to cats, dogs, other pets, and even humans, is that they have a very bad habit of hiding in the tiniest of spaces, and accidentally being come-across. A dog will be startled as it comes across a snake in long grass, for example. As much as the dog is likely to scamper off after a fright like that, the snake doesn't know that. What once was a well-behaved, docile snake, is now a scared, hissing, snapping serpent. It’s not to know that your dog just wants to play. In fact, it thinks that the dog is a predator and it is going to chew it right up. The snake feels as if it has no choice but defend itself.



Some snakes will bite and snap, some will hiss, and some will do other things altogether. The problem with snakes in the wild, especially across the USA, is that some of them aren't really meant to be there. These invasive species were once tropical pets, and they have managed to escape, or have ben released by their owners, and have successfully gone on to live a happy life. They've found others of their kind and they have managed to breed, and this causes havoc, not just with homeowners, but also with the local ecosystem and wildlife.

Venomous snakes can look just like non-venomous snakes, and vice versa. You could come across a venomous snake and think it is perfectly safe, as could your household pets. If a venomous snake were to bite your pet in the yard, there's a good chance you wouldn't know about it until your pet had become sick and you had taken it to the vet.

If your dog or cat were to be bitten by a venomous and dangerous snake, such as the Eastern coral snake, or an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, it has a 20% chance of dying. These snakes are very commonly found in places such as North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. The Eastern coral snake can also be found in Texas, and is actually quite a small snake in comparison to many others. The average adult can be as small as 15 inches in length, and what can make them especially dangerous, is that the Eastern coral snake is mimicked by other, non-venomous snakes, such as the scarlet king snake. If you think the snake your pet has come across is the latter, but it is actually the former, the situation could be very dangerous for everyone involved. What you need to also remember, is your pet will often react quite badly to being bitten by a snake, particularly one with a very nasty snap to its bite. There's a good chance that your pet could then hurt you in the process, not intentionally, but as an accidental side-effect of being bitten by the snake.

You should avoid your pets coming into contact with all wild animals, but definitely with snakes. Many homeowners wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the various species of snake without a little help from the internet, and in that time, serious damage could be caused. If you are confronted with a snake, or your pet is, you should seek professional help. It's time to give the fully-licensed guys (and gals) a call.

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does snake removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of snakes - my main snake removal info guide.
Example snake trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Snake job blog - learn from great examples of snake jobs I've done.


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