Pet Lovers

[Mindy D]

This story sent me on a research safari. I was interested in finding out whether dogs would defend owners from snakes. Whether dogs have innate fear of snakes. What reactions dogs have to snakes. What I found from the studies in this area is that dogs are not afraid of snakes at all. They have no innate fear of snakes. They may be curious and intrigued by the unknown thing they see and smell or become playful with them due to their intriguing nature. They are most interested in the smell of rattlesnakes. Once the dog gets attacked by the snake the dog will try to kill it, usually resulting in more bites from the snake. This is the reason there are so many dogs that get bitten by snakes each year. They don’t fear the snakes so they go over to see them, they get close to them, and they get bitten. The number of dogs bitten by snakes each year is high. Luckily, coral snakes prefer to hide and bites from them are extremely rare. That’s good since their venom is one of the most toxic venoms of all snakes. An interesting report on research studies on the of smell of snakes by dogs, and dog behaviors concerning snakes, says that it’s estimated that 150,000 pets are bitten by rattlesnakes each year!