Here I go, I will probably not be too popular but .....

Black snakes are relatively harmessless to humans and a 13 lbs. furbutt. They are very beneficial in keeping the rodent population in check. A black snake bite could cause a local infection, but other than that I wouldn't worry. It would take a VERY large snake to eat your baby and snakes don't kill except for food.

I would approach the neighbor with caution, you certainly dont' want to create an environment where you have an angry neighbor - who knows they might take their frustrations out on your furbutt.

You can treat your yard for fleas and ticks and use a snake repellent around the fence line.

I agree with Villette and Judy - an unsupervised Doggy Door for a small dog is a recipe for disaster. LOL just think if Callie has brought the snake in the house - I bet you and grandma would not have been too happy about that! I

Good luck to you :)

:eek: I didn't even think of that! :eek:

Report the yard to the city ... shoudnt there be a city ordinance ... or maybe if you have a home owners association . But I am glad your baby is ok ... brave little hunter .

I completely agree that most snakes aren't dangerous, and they're valuable animals as far as pest control goes. However, many people are afraid of them, and it's still not something most people want crawling around in their yards. I'm not afraid of snakes and I've actually had pet snakes for years (not the kind you'd find in your yard), but keeping your lawn groomed will also keep down a lot of pests that snakes will pursue, so that's kind of killing two pests with one stone. Many snakes actually will bite other than for food, but that's because they will strike if threatened. They're not specifically trying to kill. They're just protecting themselves. There's nothing to a bite itself. I've been bitten more times than I can count, but of course not by any venomous ones. (My deceased husband almost fainted the first time he saw me get bitten, so I think it hurt him worse than it hurt me. Snake bites are more startling than they are painful.)

I agree about the doggie door. My girls aren't allowed outside even for few seconds without me and/or the hubby. We have a lot of hawks around here, and they can carry off rabbits that are bigger than our dogs. I realize yours is considerably bigger than any of ours, but Yorkies used to be the most frequently abducted dog in the country. I keep meaning to look into that to see if it's still the case. I'll post a follow-up when I find something on it.

To the ones who have said they think the doggy door is a bad idea, I love my dog more then life and we have put a thicker form of chicken wire around the deck and sheds preventing her from going under them and then around anything else she could get into adding to the safty of the yard and she just loves it outside and would scream and bark at the door all day if she did not have the ability to go out when she wanted to and we are always looking out there to check on her but she is in and out all the time all day. The doggy door was the only way to really train callie about a week after having it she was no longer having accidents in the house and taking her doggy door would be like killing a piece of her because she loves it soooooo much.

Yeah my grandpa seemed proud of his little hunter lol

This is my suggestion too. We use to have a similar problem with our former neighbors and had to report them quite often. The city would take care of it and if you aren't in the situation to feel comfortable to talk to your neighbor about your concerns I would definitely let the city/ton handle it for you if you have the same ordinance.

Good luck:animal36

I would check with your city by-law department, If there is a code about property maintanence , they can send a letter , if he doesnt comply they will go in and cut it and send him a bill. City by-law keeps all complaints registered confidential, but your neighbor may figure out who filed the complaint anyway.
Eileen