[dataway]

All of a sudden this year my four year old Border Collie has decided he has a problem with snakes. He keeps finding them all over the property and harassing them. I was entertained by the first battle with a good size Garder snake about 16" long. It was trying to strike him, he's dodging quick as lightening, back and forth for about ten minutes. I shoo him away and we go about business on the farm. Later after my wife got home he found another and had another fight, this time he killed it by snatching it up and flinging it around. I was on the tractor and I noticed the wife running around saying the dog was throwing snakes at her.

Now it seems to be his major pass time while we are outside, and I'd prefer he not kill them. I'm not presenting this as a dilemma, just seems odd for a dog. But then he's an odd dog.

He lost his older "brother" this spring and since then he seems to have stepped up a rung on the pack ladder, grew his big boy mane, patrols the property, warns about strangers, chases critters away from the house.

Hoping the snake thing is a passing interest, he might pick on the wrong one some day. I'm not sure whether to be proud of him, or worry about him.

[1_Wild_Cat]

In the west they have training schools to stop dogs messing with snakes. Just too many rattlers out here...

[PunchT37]

He ain’t odd. Every dog I’ve had and my brother’s dog have a problem with snakes. One got in the house. That dog busted up the living room going after it.

[dhutton]

Both of my dogs have been tagged by Copperheads. They don’t mess with snakes anymore. They were both lucky. The Corgi got tagged on the nose.

Don

[694.1]

A sheep will solve your problem!

[1965gp]

We’ve had a ton of rat snakes and garden snakes since we lived here (11 years). Got a labradoodle puppy that loved to eat the little garden snakes. No more snakes at all! I too was worried that she might pick the wrong one (we found a coral snake once) but when we were on a walk she saw one and jumped back right away. Of course she did the same thing to a turtle....

[67drake]

Beautiful dog!
Yeah, my younger lab eats the small ones and loves the chase. We do have rattle snakes in our hills rocky areas, so I hope he doesn’t come across one.

[dataway]

OK then, I feel better, he's not as deranged as I thought. All my previous dogs would show an interest in them .. but keep their distance and get very "jumpy" for the following 30 minutes ... this guy starts drooling and goes right after them.

Which he was as good at getting the chipmunks that try to get into the house and sheds.

[mgarblik]

When my parents were alive they had a dog who always went after snakes whenever he would see one. The dog was a Rhodesian Ridgeback. He was tagged by a rattlesnake two separate times about four years apart. Lived through both. Dislocated by father's shoulder going after the one, he pulled his leash so hard.

[vertigto]

Those eyes...

[400 4spd.]

I've owned Border Collies off and on since the mid 60's. The last one I had was a large red and white rough coat female. She spent her days in our fenced back yard in the country, so it wasn't unusual to find animal remains once in a while. She would dig out moles, killed possum, and once proudly greeted me with a 5 foot long King snake that she discovered in the yard. A neighbor owned a rooster that we heard crowing every morning. One afternoon my wife saw it sitting on the fence rail while the border collie slept. Later that day she looked out to path of feathers scattered in the yard.
No more wake up calls from the rooster after that.

[242177P]

It's part of the breed's aptitude, being vigilant because they care.

[hobbygto65]

Just be glad its snakes, my brother had a dog that hated skunks.

[Mike Davis]

I've got a Border Collie that finds them as well. Doesn't mess with the big ones but plays with the smaller ones. Luckily she has not been bit yet as there are many copperheads and rattlesnakes in my area.

[dataway]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Those eyes...

Yep ... it gets to you sometimes. I'll be doing something and look over at him, he's staring right in your eyes the whole time. He's our fifth one so far and shaping up to be the best of the bunch.

Doesn't like riding in the truck much though. Have yet to have a Border Collie that was a proper "truck dog" ... probably my fault.

[Firedup6975]

He’s protecting his territory, and his human family. He is beautiful!

[67drake]

Just found my younger lab munching on another snake yesterday. I put what was left of it in the garbage as I didn’t want to wake up to regurgitated snake on the carpet in the morning.
So, a question. Can anybody ID this snake? A friend of mine in town had it in her yard yesterday. Doesn’t look like a garden snake, but not a rattler either, which is the only kinds I’ve seen around here. Sorry, pic is a little fuzzy. Just curious if it’s venomous?

[1965gp]

Looks similar to the rat snakes we get in Houston. Very aggressive but to my knowledge not poisonous. Their tail will twitch like a rattle snake to fool predators if it’s the same kind. My wife actually found one at the top of our stairs once. They can climb the side of a brick wall.

[1965gp]

This is one of those rat snakes (or so we were told) on my neighbors house. We were told they were non venomous but the head is certainly bigger than the body. As they get older they seem to get darker. One day we found 7 baby snakes on her patio!

[67drake]

Ok,good, at least it’s not venomous.
Yeah I was burning some yard waste and found these two under a piece of plywood. Don’t know if it’s the one my dog was eating later.