Rattlesnake Aversion Training

[Diane Margetts]

Wrangler went to rattlesnake avoidance class today! He did great. He was definitely traumatized but he bounced back after every ‘test’! The process is first the handler shows him a smaller snake and if he goes near it – and the idea is to get him to go near it - he gets zapped with the shock collar. Next he is tested with a skin shed to condition him to fear the smell. After that, there’s a recording of the snakes rattle to condition him to fear the sound. Lastly, he goes by a big rattlesnake as a final test. After the skin portion, Wrangler was so traumatized he sat in the handler’s lap and didn’t want to give it up! 

Although I hate to do things like this, I’m really glad I did it. I think there’s a good chance that a rattlesnake may have attempted his curiosity, but not now! It was very educational for him and now I’ll feel much better about him being out and about. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think you were wise to have had Wrangler go through the class.  Those I know that have done this have remarked that their doodles learned so much that first time that they have retained it each year when they have the refresher and don't need to be zapped at all.

[Connie]

Such excellent training! We had a great avoidance trainer in Tucson and he offered refresher training for life after you completed his course. It was not only rattlesnake but also for our deadly Sonoran toads (colorado river toads) that came out during monsoon season. You made a very wise choice doing this training. Keep up with the refreshers. What a great photo.... it speaks volumes! Good job!

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

I hate to scare them too, but I think this is SO worth it.  We don't have big rattlesnakes around here, but there are copperheads.  Zoey got close to one on a trail walk once and it scared me to death. It was a small one.  I read somewhere that snakes are more deadly  when they first come out.  They haven't depleted their venom yet.    I keep liquid Benadryl handy now.  Big old rattlesnakes are so much scarier!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not going to look it up, because I can't even bear to look at a picture of a snake, lol. But I remember reading that the venom of the younger ones is much more potent and deadly than the older ones. Not sure how that relates to size, but I think it does?
Anyway, I'm just glad we have no snakes in my current neighborhood. I had garter snakes in my old neighborhood, and even those gave me panic attacks. 

[Diane Margetts]

The type of venom that baby rattlesnakes have is more toxic than that of the adult snake, however the adult snake can release much more than the baby. Overall, the adults bite is usually more dangerous. The baby, on the other hand, doesn’t have its rattles yet so while the adults will warn you that the strike is coming, the baby will just strike.

And Connie, I would be just as scared of Copperheads!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So would I; Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins) too. They are all pit vipers. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Suddenly grateful for our lack of super dangerous wildlife lol.  The unpredictable weather and 6 month winters however I could do without :p

[Stella]

Don't come camping / hiking near Georgian Bay / west Muskoka - we do have rattlesnakes up here!!!!  (Massassauga Rattlesnake). 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Oh no! Lol.

My mother in law found a baby rattler in her bbq once in Arizona.  Too young to be able to rattle... scary!

We live further south near the border with NY where the wildlife is pretty tame :p  most dangerous are a few spiders like brown recluses and black widows but they are rare.

[Diane Margetts]

Baby Wrangler, unfortunately lives smack in the middle of Rattlesnake land. I have lived here for three years and have had rattlesnakes in my backyard twice that I’m aware of. Same for my neighbors. We consider aversion training second nature – don’t even think twice about it, just do it!

Wrangler will do it again next spring and depending how he does, might get a couple years off before the next refresh.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Do I remember correctly that years back you posted a photo in a different forum of two rattlers in your driveway? 

[Diane Margetts]

No, I don’t remember ever having two snakes in my driveway. I certainly have had Rattlesnakes in my backyard but I’m always so freaked-out when I see them, I don’t even think about taking a picture!