We have like 80 acres of prime deer woods out behind my place, and this little guy showed up a few days ago. Bit by a copper head I believe it was sick and lost. Its face swollen about three times larger than it should be, she was very sick. Took her to the vet today and he gave her two shots and some antibiotics. She had been eating well and while not a pet per se she is sick. Laying in her chair I pulled out my 870 Wing master and she looked at me like I know what those mean. Her tail wagged and while her eyes have always been heavy set and dim, she perked up and looked lively. I cocked the empty chambered firearm and her tail wagged looking for a way down as if to say are you ready to go?

She was extremely sick, but she was ready at that instant to go and run some deer or coons. I think I am really going to like having her around. Hopefully, we'll get to go on a deer hunt soon with my favorite rifle when the time comes. She has to get well first, hunting dogs have to hunt....

added a pic of her face after swelling from the bite.

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Speedy recovery to her and many happy days in the field to you both.

Good on you for helping that cute girl James. Once healthy I'm sure she'll pay you back 10 fold for generosity and concern.

It does make me wonder if anyone is looking for her though.

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paws for friendship

we put a notice out on Facebook, I am sure she is part of a larger group, some people are not that nice to hunting dogs. We will see if anyone shows up to claim her and as saving her life and nursing her back to health is the major concern. The vet said he doubts that anyone would claim her as the dog has to be tagged and she wore none. You could definitely tell she has been around firearms all her life. Some of the people, who I have known from these deer camps have a lot of dogs, if they lose some, oh well and sometimes they put them down if they refuse to hunt or run deer.

Happy story. I hope you two have a great holiday together. That is one lucky dog. I'm sending you lots of good karma.

Long story short. In the springtime I had two put down two of my dogs on the same day. Brutal.

About 3 weeks later a stray dog appeared in my front yard. We tried very hard to find it's owner. She's snuggled next to me on my couch right now as I type. Baby Bear.

Hope she makes a full and quick recovery. Good for you for taking care of her. She will make a good companion.

She's indeed a cutie, and good on you for lending care to one in need. Hopefully you'll be able to find her owners, who may be missing her.

Everyone needs a beagle in there life! We have had many for rabbit and deer great dogs hope y'all get to go out soon together!

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

If she wants to stay she can, once well I am sure her nose is more than powerful enough to find her way back to her previous life. I do not think she is full beagle, more like a walker/ beagle mix.

Glad the dog is doing better and found a home. Interest in going hunting or getting out is a great sign.

Hate copperheads. I killed two on my place this year, and thank God my dog has never got to one before I did.

It's funny how a dog can look at a house at the end of some driveway, and know, that's where he's going to live.

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Why, I aughta.....

Good for you. Post pictures when she's better.

She just appeared in a chair on the patio, she saw nothing other than a fence, chicken wire. Still not sure how she got through there or why she decided to rest here? A ridge, lake and stream runs adjacent to the property where deer frequently run in the evenings and early mornings. So my guess is she was running those deer and tracking when she came upon a snake (moccasin,copperhead, or rattlesnake), got bit by the snake and lost her senses, somehow ending up in a chair on my patio. Probably the only thing that saved her.

They choose us..........

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Go big or stay home

James, I don't know your state but here the regulation is: "Each hunting dog must have a collar with its owner’s name, phone number and address. Waterfowl retrievers do not need to wear collars while hunting or retrieving as long as the collar bearing the owner’s name, address and phone number is carried." Bet you have the same or a similar reg so you are likely dead on about slob hunters.

If it's any consolation, I have never seen a dog die from snake-bite--although I am sure it happens--and her head is the classic presentation. Growing up we had a farm dog--Elmo--that was one of my most beloved pets. He was our usual dump job (we lived far out in the country on a cattle ranch. As all rural landowners know, city folks seem to always think we are in need of another dog or cat so they dump them at our farms/ranches.) but we took a special liking to him, although we cared for all. You could tell he was part German Shepard and the rest of him was true-blue American mutt--just like many of us he seemed to be a mix of every other breed.

Anyway, he had been snake bitten just like your girl, only on the TAIL! He is the only dog I have ever seen that was snake bitten on the tail. To make matters worse, it had gotten infected so the vet thought it best to amputate it. It seem to give Elmo both a pathological, monomaniacal, hatred of snakes AND a stub for a daily reminder. Like Captain Ahab he dedicated his life to a single pursuit, although Elmo had no "white whale." ALL snakes were his Moby Dick.

Within 5 or 6 months he had broken a county vet's record of treatment for snake bites in a single dog. Within a year he had been treated for snakebite more than the total number of dogs seeing that vet! The vet was a family friend and was only charging us his cost for the treatment, I think about $2.50 in those days. Truthfully, I think he was undercharging us too for the simple reason of seeing how many times one dog could be snake bitten.

Elmo's hatred of snakes was only exceeded by how bad he was at killing them. I finally was able to watch his technique--he would go directly in, getting the snake to bite him on the side of the head. Then he would quickly flip the attached snake around and bite it in two! Then he would gnaw the upper half (with the still bitting head) but close enough to the head where it could not get him. Once the head stopped biting, the fun was over and Elmo was off to his next snake killin!

By the way, he died peacefully in his sleep when I was away at college, no doubt dreaming of his next big kill.

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Possum—The other white meat!

AND--WE have a WINNER !!!!
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

Now that is one fine looking young lady!! You did good.

Looks like the dog made a good decision as where to seek help. Congrats to you both.

This is a copy my grand daughter made of a bumper sticker we've seen on several cars in our area. Since our present hound chose us 9 years ago, I'm a believer.

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Ain't that the truth.

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Don

Hey James, if I ever loose a dog, may he find someone like you!

This is a great story!

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Death? Smile back...

I wonder if she knows how lucky she is to have found you! Nice to read a story like this. Wishing a speedy recovery.

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M&P 15-22
1911

I even took in a cat once. Lived to regret that. Dogs, well, if they come in here I find their owner and if I can't they get a free pass.

Good on ya James.

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That's just somebody talkin.

She looks like a good dog and someone may be very sorry they lost her. When we lost our baby rottie someone thought that they had found a pet until we infomed them that they had our dog.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

My family had three Beagles when I was growing up. There were two Barneys and one Bridget.

This is pretty close to my story. Saw lots of our dogs and cats come home with a snake bite.

The dog I grew up with was bitten once. He never forgot. I too saw how he polished of pit vipers, like a mongoose. He would feint an attack at what would be their maximum strike distance. When they struck he would twist his head, bite them hard and fling them, they were in snake shock and would hit the ground twisting, he would grab them close to the head, bite down hard and shake till they liked it. He would fling them again and watch them. None ever survived.

And yes every fool who got tired of a dog or cat or got orders dropped their ex pets off in our drive.