It’s shocking to watch and not what we expected.
When we first found the puppy bitten by the rattlesnake, we assumed it happened in the tall grass by the bird pen while on a walk with puppy owners.(See http://sneakingbliss.com/2018/08/26/rattlesnake-strike/) It just made sense that the puppy surprised the snake and in defense the snake bit. Yesterday, I reviewed footage of the puppy cam to see if I could observe any odd behavior after the puppies returned to the playpen following the walk. What I saw was unsettling to say the least. As the video plays, keep an eye on the right side of the ball pit.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 
Wow! That snake seemed to go right for the puppy.
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It did! It was hunting the pup. It was a large snake, but it wasn’t big enough to swallow him. Damn snake would have killed the pup for nothing.
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Is it possible to snake proof that area? Or hunt for the den of snakes? My daughter had bob cat urine sprayed in her yard, It kept the snakes away but the odor dissipated after 2-3 years and needs to be reapplied. I just could not watch the video. Poisonous snakes give me the willies and my heart would have been in my throat. Please keep the puppies safe if that is possible.
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I have yet to see an area outdoors that a snake can’t get into. We’ve been raising goldens for over 30 years and have lived here for 24. This is a first.
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I don’t think we have a den nearby. I did clear out a wood pile near the pen. I found where the snake had shed its skin. It must have been a resident snake. Hopefully there aren’t any around now. We’ll have to stay vigilant. Keeping the puppies in the house the entire time isn’t good for them. They need to come out and play, but we do carefully check the pen for hidden dangers everytime they come outside.
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Yes, snakes live under wood piles. I think that is why my daughter had rattlers. She got rid of all the wood and no longer puts anything in her storage shed.
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She must have them pretty bad.
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Wowza! I’ve never heard of a snake taking on a large animal with absolutely no provocation. This snake obviously missed that day in snake school where they taught them that things over a certain size won’t fit in their mouth. Or else it was just deranged…
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I think their brains are smaller than their fangs.
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Bad snake!
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What makes a snake attack like that?
I had a water moccasin come at me, but I know they attack at will, I didn’t know rattlers did it as well.
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It was hunting. Rattlesnakes hunt for their food. It came out of the place where it was holed up and hunted the first warmblooded critter it found.
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He must have been very hungry to pick such a large victim.
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With the puppy curled up it may have looked smaller. I don’t think snakes have enough brain power to think it through. Someone mentioned their brains are the size on lentils and that snakes are found dead sometimes in the process of trying to swallow something too big for them.
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Like Mary said, it was hunting the puppy. However, I’ve had rattlers come at me before. Usually they rattle and get defensive or move off, but sometimes they don’t.
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Thanks for the info.
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Oh my goodness! I’m glad the puppy survived. I am sure the quick treatment helped.
We don’t see that much here although we do have a few poisonous snakes. Mostly it is the skunks that we are concerned with. My niece’s golde retriever got sprayed just recently. They had just arrived about 9pm and the dog was let out to relieve itself for the night. Dog and skunk surprised each other. Guess who lost. Nothing like having to google getting rid of skunk smell at ten at night after a 12 hour drive. Fortunately I don’t think it was a direct hit and they managed to get rid of 98% of the smell fairly quickly.
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The quick treatment was very important. As for the dog spraying, chicken killing skunks, I don’t like them around. We’ve had a lot of trouble with them. Our recipe for de-skunking the dogs is:
1 quart Hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon of dish soap
Mix together and immediately apply to the dry dog. Leave it on for 15 minutes, then rinse. It works great.
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They googled it and I think that’s close to what they used
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