The photo shows Maya’s copperhead bite a couple days after it occurred.
Maya, one of our German Shepherds was recently bitten by a copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix (see my blog: http://goliadfarms.com/mayas-copperhead-bite/), which are very active at this time of the year.
Fortunately, German Shepherds are very resistant to pit viper (rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths) bites. Copperheads are the least toxic of these snakes. By the day after the bite the swelling had gone away and Maya wasn’t even limping. By two days later, all that was left of a small sore, which will fully heal in about a week.
Having owned a series of German Shepherds, we’ve discovered the males are very snake phobic. They avoid snakes as much as possible. The females on the other hand are prone to attack snakes, even rattlesnakes. Two previous females, Fritzi and Zia actively hunted snakes, attacking and killing western diamond rattlesnakes whenever they found them. They were get bitten, but like Maya had only minor swelling and healed rapidly. The only trip to a vet caused by a snake bite was when Fritzi got a secondary infection and required antibiotics to bring it under control.
For more information about copperheads, here’s a link to an earlier blog: http://goliadfarms.com/copperhead-in-tree/.
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