Dog bitten by rattle snake in back yard

The City of Austin is known for being a very dog friendly city with tons of hiking trails, dog friendly restaurants, and of course dog parks that are scattered throughout the area.

With all of the benefits that the area offers our fur babies, it also hosts a few dangers as well: snakes!

That’s exactly what Anastasia Eckhart felt when she discovered a baby diamondback rattlesnake in the back yard of her home Friday afternoon. "I'm deathly afraid of snakes. I just have this fear that they're everywhere.”

Moments before, the families French Bulldog Monte, came running into the house injured.

"Monte's face was really swollen and was under his neck. He wasn't really active either," said Eckhart. "The puncher wound from the fangs actually started to kill all the flesh so the flesh on his face is deteriorating." 

Eckhart told FOX 7 that she went into the backyard and found the snake under a wood pile ready to strike.

"The rattle snake was all wound up and ready to strike," said Eckhart.

The bite was only inches away from Monte's eye. Eckhart took Monte to the Round Rock Emergency Vet.

"We were extremely anxious about getting him help and hoping that he wasn't in pain," said Eckhart.

Treatment cost the family nearly $2,000 but Eckhart said it was worth the money to save the family pet.

"The anxiety was lifted off our shoulders and we felt so much better that we could sleep that night."

Monte is doing much better now, but his owners are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

"We don't let the dogs out by themselves before anybody comes out. I come with a shovel and bang on anyplace that I think would be a good hiding place for a snake," said Eckhart.

Eckhart said there's only so much you can do to keep the snakes out. "You can try to chicken wire around but it doesn't matter what you put down their wild animals and they will go through anything to get where they want to go," said Eckhart.