Thursday 6 November 2008

birds can warn dog owners of snake danger

Pay attention to the behavior of birds and you could save your dog from a snakebite.

This is the message I read in a letter by Steven Katsineris to our local paper, Heidelberg and Diamond Valley Weekly. It reinforces the message from our local park ranger, which I posted about recently. He had said to listen for constant chatter by nearby birds and try to see where they are looking, because they will have their eyes on the snake.

Steven Katsineris adds to that. He says he has seen birds diving at snakes - he specifically mentions noisy miners, little wattlebirds, eastern rosellas, magpies and says others will dive at an intruder also.

I respect Steven Katsineris' information (as I do that of our experienced ranger, of course), because Steven writes a column each month in a great little garden magazine, Australian Better Gardens and Home Ideas, that is available free at nurseries around Victoria. I enjoy all their articles, because I love my garden; but I particularly love it because it welcomes articles from freelance writers.

6 comments:

Misadventures of Widowhood said...

That's really interesting. We have a little bog on your property and I'll have to watch the birds closer out there with Levi. He encountered one last summer and I freaked.

Jean

i said...

Thanks for sharing this. It's really informative.

parlance said...

Serendipity, I"m glad it is useful information.
I just called over to your blog and I loved the story about Happy trying to steal the goodies. You're right about the fact that our dogs bring us lots of joy - as you say, it just depends on out attitude to their antics.

parlance said...

Jean, I agree that it's terrifying when these little creatures encounter a snake, because we've taken them into our homes and many of them have lost the instinct to be scared of snakes.

Amber-Mae said...

If you have monkeys living near you, they can be good alarms too! But just be sure that their not making noise becoz of your dog instead of the snake becoz monkeys don't like any strangers near their property!

Butt wiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer

parlance said...

Amber-Mae, that's interesting!
But I don't think there are too many monkeys around here, LOL. Perhaps I should think of getting one as a pet and she could help Penny and me be safe:-)

I wonder whether the monkeys would throw things at the snake to make it go away. I think I've seen things like that on tv but I don't know if it would really happen.