When Ivan Hecimovic saw his dog Charlie pull a snake from the garden at their Lambton home, he did not immediately realise his pet had suffered a type of bite considered by experts as rare in the Hunter.
With some emergency treatment from Broadmeadow's Animal Referral and Emergency Centre - including an overnight stay - Charlie survived the tiger snake bite last weekend.
Mr Hecimovic said he was not sure at first whether Charlie, a mixed breed rescue dog who is at least eight years old, had been bitten by the dead snake.
"He wasn't showing any symptoms," he said.
"I saw him in the shrubs, he had a snake so I went and got a shovel to try to get it off him.
"He actually clean decapitated [the snake]."
A trip to the vet confirmed that Charlie had the snake's venom in his system but Mr Hecimovic was told it was a rare occurrence for a tiger snake to bite a dog in the Hunter.
Emergency and critical care vet at the Animal Referral and Emergency Centre Dr Natashia Evans told the Newcastle Herald it was "fairly uncommon" to have cases of tiger snake envenomation in the Newcastle and Sydney areas. Dr Evans said vets were more likely to see bites from brown snakes and red belly black snakes.
She said tiger snakes were more common further south, in the area around Canberra.
"I think it is a little unusual," she said.
"I personally have not seen a tiger snake envenomation in Sydney or Newcastle.
"Tiger snakes are around - we just don't tend to see them as much."
Hunter Reptile and Vermin Control snake catcher Dean Hunter agreed that tiger snake sightings were rare in this region - he said he had received only two or three call-outs for that type of serpent in the past couple of years.
Mr Hunter said most venomous snakes that he had to deal with were brown snakes or red belly black snakes.
He said it was the right time of year for snakes to be out and about.
"We've been getting called quite often in the last couple of months," he said. "All the heat brings them out and makes them very active."
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