Yesterday, my work program hosted a Rattlesnake Avoidance Training for dogs in our local area!
I spent the afternoon and early evening watching numerous dogs participate in the training.
The entire process from start to finish usually took less than fifteen minutes.
This is going to be a very, very bad year for rattlesnakes in the western states!
We have already seen several out on the farm!
Get Rattled out of Reno, Nevada held the training in the arena at my work.
They have been offering this training for eleven years around Nevada, but this was the first training to be offered in our town/area.
Several of the dogs that came to the event yesterday were there for a refresher course.
In talking with the owners of those dogs, the previous training they had received had saved their lives several times!
We lost a dog to a rattlesnake bite and it is a terrible thing to witness and experience!
These are Great Basin Rattlesnakes and they are found throughout Nevada.
These two snakes were actually found together when they were rescued and the handler has kept them together ever since.
This is a bullsnake or gopher snake and they are harmless.
They are beneficial snakes and keep the rodent population down in and around buildings and structures.
Mr. Bullsnake was "in blue," which means he is getting ready to shed his skin.
He was a bit cranky.
A bullsnake will mimic a rattlesnake when they feel threatened.
They will coil, hiss and shake their tail.
This snake was a female and she was pretty thirsty.
After she took a long drink, she gave us a nice big yawn!
They still have their fangs, which are impressive, but their venom ducts have been removed.
Look at the pattern above and then look at Mr. Bullsnake below.
You can see the difference between the two.
The black in the bullsnake blends throughout the pattern, but the black in the rattlesnake is only contained in the pattern itself.
Head shapes are different too.
A rattle snake has a triangle shaped head due to the venom ducts/pouches.
Bullsnakes will tend to be shiny, while rattlesnakes will be dull in color.
This is the bait snake that was used for the training.
He is also a Great Basin Rattlesnake.
He was very large and had a nice set of buttons on him!
I'm not a fan of snakes, but this event was fascinating, educational and very needed for our area!
I didn't even get the hibbie-gibbies while taking photos and I was darn close to the snakes too!
