A San Diego resident is warning fellow pet owners to be wary of rattlesnakes, no matter the time of year, after her dog had a scary encounter with a baby rattlesnake.
Bay Park resident Paloma Acosta said a baby rattlesnake slid into her home yesterday afternoon, wiggling into a small gap and hiding under the doorframe.
“There’s a gap in between this door and this door,” Paloma said, showing NBC 7 where the snake hid. “He crawled underneath the front door and was nestled in between the two doors.”
When Acosta opened the front door to let her friend Jeff inside, her four dogs at her feet barking, she immediately noticed the snake.
Jeff managed to quickly kick the snake aside once he spotted it, but in those few seconds, the damage was already done.
“Then, about 20 minutes later, I noticed Bane was limping and shaking,” Acosta said. “He didn’t want to move.”
Bane, her three-year-old shepard/chow mix, was bitten by the snake and had to spend the night at the animal hospital. His paw is still swollen and bruised.
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“The vet, she reiterated baby rattle snakes are very dangerous, and because the hot weather they look for cool places,” Acosta said. “And the scary thing is they're born in litters, so when you see a baby rattle snake, it usually means there's more nearby."
The information made Acosta nervous, because she has never seen a snake near her home. Her friend Jeff killed the snake with a shovel, but even after its head was cut off, it continued to bite.
San Diego County Department of Animal Services Deputy Director Daniel E. DeSousa told NBC 7 the department has received more rattlesnake calls this month than this same time last year. They received 52 in October so far, compared to 38 for the same time last year, likely due to the ongoing warn wather.
"Even in the winter months, we receive calls regarding rattlesnakes," DeSousa said.
“People think that you normally have to just look out for snakes in a canyon,” Acosta said. “It can happen anywhere. It literally got into my house and almost bit me.”
Her dog, Bane, is expected to make a full recovery.
After the visit, Acosta started a GoFundMe to help pay off her dog’s $1,100 vet bill. https://www.gofundme.com/banesrecoveryfund
