# Mira's (the Newf) altercation with a copperhead



## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

Think of this as a pubic service announcement. If you don't know what a copperhead looks like.......here ya go. Note the pattern...and right beside the nose, leading up to the eye, is a "slit". That slit is called the "pit"...and is how they sense warm blooded creatures. 

A copperhead is a "pit viper".....and all pit vipers are venomous. 

Of course this one is very dead. Our Newf, Mira, is a seriously obsessed snake killer. She's killed many (which we're NOT happy about...snakes provide a valuable service in the country), but they've all been black snakes.

Yes, she's gotten bitten...many many times. Directly in the face, because Newfs "poke" things with their nose. It would bite her, she'd kill it. No problem....black snakes aren't venomous. 

Today she picked the wrong snake to poke. I'm sure she was the aggressor. Copperheads aren't aggressive. I don't know if she poked or grabbed, but it got her in the neck. She got it back. She gutted it.

She's fine...on rimadyl for 3 days for the swelling, and amoxicillin for 10 days in case of infection. Before the meds, she really swelled up and was obviously in pain, but after the first dose....she was feeling great and had NO desire to stay in and "rest".

Within 3 hrs of being bitten, she was back fishing. :doh:






































And here's her bite, within about 10 minutes of getting her inside. It's on the right side of the neck.....and within 30 minutes her whole chest was swollen down to her legs.










So...if you ever have a dog kill one....feel around for a lump. It'll start to swell in about 5 minutes. That's how you find the bite. 

If you SEE one.....go the other way and let it leave. Everyone would prefer that, I'm sure.


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## Cam's Mom (Apr 13, 2007)

Mira definatley has size on her side. Glad to hear she's OK, and back to her normal self. Do you have to worry about necrosis around the wound with copperhead bites?

I'm impressed you went back for pictures. They're good!

We meet diamondbacks all the time, but so far the dogs have kept off. Something to do with my blood curdling LEAVE IT when I spot them first. The local Mojave rattlers are not quite so deadly as the Sonoran ones we used to see in Tucson. Side winders we see less often, but their unusual movement attracts the dogs, so I look out for them more astutely.


Around here it seems to me that Siberian Huskeys and labs most often get bitten, and almost always between or above the eyes. Huskies are small enough that the outcome is not always a good one.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Man that is one nasty looking snake. I hope Mira is feeling better and learned her lesson on the snakes but probably not. Glad she is back fishing again.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

> I'm impressed you went back for pictures. They're good!


I'm much more brave taking pics of a very dead snake than I would be if it was alive.

After we called the Vet and I administered the meds (had them here....I have a pharmacy in my kitchen with all these dogs....Vet approved and prescribed LOL), we went and moved it out of the woodsy area into the open grass so I could get a few shots.

Jacques kept saying...that's a corn snake, not a copperhead. I KNEW it was a copperhead as soon as I saw it. I've seen them around here before, but not for a few years. To me, the markings and the head shape are a dead giveaway. That "arrowhead" head shape is unique. He had to examine it and see the "pit" to believe it. Doofus.

Nothing I've heard or seen has mentioned necrosis around the wound. Copperheads can be lethal to small animals and small children, but even a Golden sized dog (or an adult human) wouldn't normally be terribly injured. The biggest risk is infection. And the bite is very painful. 

Our Lucy got bitten by one running through the field. It got her on the chest, right above the stomach. She must have stepped on it. That was several years ago, and she's just fine.....no complications at all.


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## Cam's Mom (Apr 13, 2007)

> I have a pharmacy in my kitchen with all these dogs


I hear you! I'm always amazed at just how much stuff I have on hand! I just went through mine last weekend checking dates, and making a restock list.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Mira and I have the same philospy in life. The only good snake is a dead snake. So glad it wasn't really bad.


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## mist (Jun 23, 2007)

Gentle Hugs to Mira, I'm so glad we only have two types of snake in the UK and only one of those is poisonous, Gabby left the a non poisonous one in my bed for me


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## Carmen (Jun 2, 2008)

Wow, she is a very brave girl. Glad she wasn't badly injured and hope she makes a good full recovery. Don't like snakes. We had loads of poisonous snakes in South Africa and we always worried when we had them on our property. So many look similar and only on close inspection are you able to tell what it is.


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## Rob's GRs (Feb 25, 2007)

I hope all goes well with Mira. I certainly am not a snake lover either...... I know they have their place on this Earth, but just not at my place. :no:


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

That snake gave me the creeps looking at it . I am so glad Mira is okay. Rusty poked a black snake last month and killed it.. violently.. It was disturbing to watch... I worry the same thing may happen to him.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I'm in southern Maryland and found a copperhead right outside my front door. I have a red stone pathway and it was in the stones and blended so perfectly that we didn't notice it at first. Ike and Katie both had stepped right over it! I think it was a baby because is was very thin and about a foot long. Still, I was worried there was a nest near by. Luckily, I haven't seen more.

A few years back, some neighborhood children were rushed to the ER because they had found a nest of baby Copperheads, thought they were worms, and used them for fishing! They were all fine, but it made the local news.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Oh, Mira! Ugh! Snakes! Ugh!


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## Old Gold Mum2001 (Feb 25, 2007)

So glad to hear Mira is ok


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## olik (Apr 13, 2008)

OMG! This one ugly snake.I hate all of them.Bunch of hugs and kisses to MIra-she is very brave girl.


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## Swanolck (Jan 17, 2007)

Very glad to hear that Mira is ok. Even dead that snake is scary looking!!


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## Daisy's_Mom (Jul 29, 2008)

Those pictures give me chills. I hate snakes and I would freak out if Daisy ever got bitten. I'm glad Mira is OK.


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## AmyinAr (Feb 26, 2008)

snakes scare the be-jeeesssus outta me ... brave girl, so glad she's ok


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## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

Kisses and Hugs to Mira. Glad she is okay  How scarey though.


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## Abbydabbydo (Jan 31, 2007)

I'm glad it turned out OK! Scary, scary.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

AD, it's great that you posted this....very helpful and informative. Hug that Mira snake killer for me, poor sore girl...


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

OMG... that gives me the willies. I HATE snakes. As a kid, my Dad had a little fox terrier that was a snake dog. They lived in Bisbee Arizona and when they would go out for picnics, etc. the dog was taken out first and cleared the area of any snakes (rattlers out in the desert) !!! Evidently, that was a common practice at the time ( 1920's) in that area. YUCK!! I'm so glad Mira is ok, that bite looks really nasty and it's amazing to see the inflamed edges so quickly. Poor baby... hope she got some extra TLC!


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

Just an update. Mira is fine.....she was good within about 20-30 minutes after getting her first dose of Rimadyl. She was on the Rimadyl for 3 days and heavy duty antibiotics (Amoxicillin, 1,000 mgs 3x a day) for a week.

The swelling was gone by the end of the following day (thanks to the Rimadyl), and she was feeling just fine.

She's 101 lbs however.........small dogs/cats/children could be in much greater danger.


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Glad to hear that she is doing so well


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Glad she's fine AG. I remember when she and I weighed the same thing! 

Although we have copperheads in CT, I've never met one up close and personal. I don't know what I would do if I saw one in my yard.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

> Glad she's fine AG. I remember when she and I weighed the same thing!


LOL Kimm. Try to imagine Cole...30" at the withers, 15 mos old and weighs a mere 140+(haven't checked in about a month) lbs. He's still growing too! Rear is up again. He grows like a see saw. Up in rear, level...up in rear, level. ROFL


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I love walking by the Silver's home and seeing those Newf's hang over the fence and giving me that deep ~ Woooof ~ as I pass by. They sure do get big! I remember being in the skating rink and someone walking in with a Newf. People thought the guy was walking a bear! LOL


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

Yeah...Jacques had someone at McDonalds ask him if we had a bear in the car. And the man was serious....LOL


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## Lady Di (Feb 22, 2008)

So glad Mira is okay, that's a nasty looking snake and a nasty looking bite. We have snakes down here too, Copperheads Water moccasins and I hate them. Our cat has killed a few snakes and I start acting like a lunatic when our grass gets too high. Cowboy was in the corner of the backyard last week and he started doing his play with me pose, you know butt up in the air head down prancing backwards and forwards and I couldn't see what it was. I went flying over there and it was a turtle...thank God. Mira is beautiful, she has the hunting instinct doesn't she?


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Glad Mira is doing OK, been watching mine since we got the warning about them spotted in the creek. We still had fun tonight and played in the tennis court. Of course I made sure before I let them of leach that there was no copper head around...LOL


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## allux00 (Mar 2, 2008)

Glad to hears hes alright


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