Common Scottsdale battle: Snake vs. dog
Apr. 21—April is known around Scottsdale by experts as "snake month."
After months of hibernation, rattlesnakes come out to hunt as the temperatures rise.
Indeed, April had barely begun when the Scottsdale Fire Department answered a — thankfully — rare call: Snake vs. child.
Firefighters treated a 3-year-old boy, then rushed him to the hospital after a rattler bit him on his leg on Granite Mountain Trail, near Troon in North Scottsdale.
He was treated at the hospital and released, expected to make a full recovery.
A far more common call here, where houses meet the desert: Snake vs. dog.
The dog almost always loses, suffering a painful defeat that also bites into its owner's wallet.
Indeed, a few years ago Jill Rials watched in horror as a rattler bit her dog, south of Scottsdale.
As is common in such cases, the dog lived — but with painful treatment and thousands of dollars in bills.
But Rials didn't want to kill the snake that threatened her beloved dog's life. Instead of going for an ax or a shovel, she went for the phone, calling Rattlesnake Solutions.
Bryan Hughes came out for a fairly typical catch-and-release, relocating the rattler to a desert area.
Rather than freaking out, Rials was so fascinated by the process, she called Hughes back the next day.
"Teach me," she said.
Rials is now a member of the Rattlesnake Solutions "snake prevention crew." She does plenty of work in North Scottsdale, where she was at the end of March for some prep work.
Rials, with a pet rattlesnake she has had for five years, was there to help a couple snake proof a home that — like hundreds if not thousands of others around Scottsdale — is on the edge of the sprawling McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
If they could talk, snakes would have a saying around here: "We were here first."
The couple found out last year, shortly after moving from chilly Michigan to the semi-tamed wild warmth of Scottsdale.
The husband was getting ready for an early-evening walk.
"He used to never turn on the outdoor light when he goes out," the wife said. "But something told him to ..."
Good thing, as when he opened the door — the light shined on a huge rattlesnake, coiled at the doorstep.
If not for his sudden thought to turn on the light, "I probably would have stepped on it," he said, with a grim grin.
The couple — who preferred not to use their names — are as worried about the safety of their dog as themselves.
Hence, after having Rattlesnake Solutions remove the porch squatter, they signed up to have their gates and fence lines reinforced.
Rials pointed to the un-reinforced front gate, with swirling iron decorations.
"Snakes use those to climb right through," she said.
On the move
Healthy respect, not screaming panic, is the best way to deal with rattlesnakes, experts say.
"They're not aggressive," noted Cale Morris, the unofficial snake whisperer of Scottsdale. "They don't chase you — they won't jump out at you."
For 20 years at North Scottsdale's Herpetological Sanctuary, Morris has had perhaps the coolest job title in the world: venom manager.
Scottsdale is hitting the time of year that makes snakes lively and hungry.
"Rattlesnakes like to move around in the high 70s and the low 80s. That's their preferred temperature," said Morris, who last year started a new project to track snakes.
Does that make April rattler time?
"Yes, it is snake season," Morris said.
"We have been getting snake calls everyday and the rattlesnakes I'm tracking have all moved out of their winter dens."
And, Morris confirmed, dogs often alert their owners about the slithering invaders.
"We get calls all the time where the homeowner finds a rattlesnake in their yard and has dogs that they are worried about," the reptile guru said.
"Every once in a while, we hear stories from people where their dogs have been bit."
This time of year, said Rattlesnake Solutions owner Hughes, "we are typically flooded each day with any number of concerns, from a rattlesnake in a yard that needs to be relocated to identification requisitions and questions about aversion training for dogs."
As people from the Tempe border up through Paradise Valley and beyond will tell you, you don't have to live near a preserve or desert trail to encounter a rattlesnake.
"Snake bite!"
Though fortunately not an everyday thing, Kylie Worthington is used to people rushing through the front door of her workplace, carrying a bundled dog screaming:
"Snake bite!"
Worthington is the lead receptionist at Scottsdale Animal Hospital on Pima and Legacy roads in North Scottsdale.
This is exactly the kind of Scottsdale neighborhood that used to be pure desert, home to cacti, coyotes and snakes, long before people started building here.
The pet clinic is also close to the Gateway Trailhead of the preserve.
As such, Scottsdale Animal Hospital treats "a little of both" — dogs bitten by snakes in backyards as well as along the trail.
"I've still seen bites even with snake proof fences," she said with a groan.
Dogs lead with their noses, so pet clinics often treat bites to faces.
In the last few weeks, three snake-bitten dogs have been rushed to Scottsdale Animal Hospital.
"This is when it starts," Worthington said.
"April to June is when we see the most" dogs suffering after being punctured with venom shooting fangs.
Treatment of a dog after a rattlesnake encounter at Scottsdale Animal Hospital can run into the thousands, with one vial of antivenom alone costing around $600. The size of the dog dictates how much they will need.
"Usually, we hospitalize them for three days on fluids," she said. "And we give them heavy-duty pain meds — it's very painful for them."
Tips to keep dogs away from poisonous snakes?
"Rattlesnake aversion training is the biggest thing," she said, reaching for a pamphlet explaining the services of Rattlesnake Ready.
Located in Cave Creek just outside North Scottsdale, Rattlesnake Ready (rattlesnakeready.com) allows dogs to find "a safely-muzzled, live, juvenile rattlesnake ... As soon as they are too close, they are given a correction using the e-collar until they understand to keep their distance."
In other words, a shocking lesson — but far less painful and dangerous than a snake bite.