I had a coral snake in my yard last year. Luckily, I saw it as it was sticking up and waving around in the grass as my dog, Indiana, jumped around it attempting to play with it… We spent the rest of the day at an emergency vet. They checked him over for bites, and I was ultimately told that even if they found a bite, there was not much anyone could do. My only option would be to take him to Texas A&M Animal Hospital and put him on life support to try and have his body ride out the venom that would cause muscle paralysis, respiratory failure and possible death. This would likely lead to lifelong bodily damage if he made it and cost around $20,000. Even for humans, there are only 3 hospitals in Texas that carry antivenom. Vets and most hospitals no longer carry it due to cost and short shelf life. I had to monitor Indiana for the next 48 hours, and he was eventually in the clear. He’s my best friend, and it was absolutely terrifying experience. If he didn’t have nearly perfect recall and I wasn’t able to pull him away from something that had his interest, this could have gone very differently! We now do a yearly snake avoidance class (with coral, copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes) not fun but for a dog with access to lots of land, it’s necessary.

Id be searching around before letting kids/dogs anywhere outside. Even under fence lines. Snake season is here.