Dog found a snake in the coil of rope!

I was cleaning up around the waterfront the other day and Bosco our dog was doing his jobs checking everything out when he went from check out mode to defensive / attack mode.

He stopped and was growling and darting in and out at the coiled line on the dock. My first thought was “what a dumb dog he is at times”. I walked over to see what he was growling at. Suddenly the coiled line started to move. A snake had coiled itself up in the coil of line and came straight up hissing. 

I stepped back and almost fell off the dock. The dog darted in and out. The snake struck out at the dog, but he nimbly jumped out of the way. The dogs growling and barking increased. The dog had an elevated hair ridge down his back and he was totally concentrating on the snake. He nimbly jumped in and out trying to grab the snake. The snake moved out of the way of the dog’s snaps easily and then retreated off the dock and into the water. 

Bosco is not a dog that wants to get wet, so he did not follow the snake. I think he was frustrated that his new toy went away.

He went around the dock and on and off the boats checking all the rope coils to find another snake, but with no luck. He would cautiously approach the lines to check them out. This he thinks now is one of his duties when he goes down to the waterfront. I am happy to let him, I would probably stroke out if I reached down to find a snake in the dock line. I do not mind snakes if I know they are there. Here in South Florida people have let non-native snakes go in the wild and the snakes do very well in the wild here. It is now not uncommon to find Burmese Pythons down here…Really Big Ones!

The snake at our dock I think was just a native variety snake that should be here, but I did not get a good look at it. If Bosco wants to clear the waterfront of snakes like that, I am all for it. 8-)

So when Bosco now runs down to the waterfront, he first checks to see if the local Otter is on the boats or dock or under the dock, then he checks the ropes. It is nice to see him have fun doing important “Dog Business”.