Bit by a dog
One of the most common questions that I’m asked by customers is “have you ever been bitten by an animal?” The answer is no, I haven’t. In all the years I have been removing wildlife from people’s homes I have never been bitten by an animal. I’ve come close to getting gouged by raccoons a few times but I’ve always managed to get out of the way.
Two years ago I arrived at a customer’s house to perform a bat inspection and was met at the door by the customer and also his cocker spaniel. The dog was barking and very excited as most dogs usually are. The customer told me “let him sniff your hand and he’ll calm down” So I extended my hand toward the dog’s nose and she lunged forward and bit my hand and would not let go. I finally managed to get my hand out of the dog’s mouth and saw that I had 3 puncture wounds from the dog’s teeth in my thumb. That was the first time I had ever been bitten on the job. By a dog of all things!
Last week Mike joined the dog bite club. In a very similar situation he had a golden retriever take a chunk out of his hand while inspecting a customer’s house for squirrels. A quick thump with the flashlight made the dog let go of his hand. He also had 3 puncture wounds on his hand. Luckily the dog had just had his shots and the customer had the paperwork to prove it.
I find it amusing that we can remove angry gray squirrels by hand and wrestle raccoons in hand to hand combat in attics but the true danger that we face in this business is from our customer’s dogs. Would would have thought?
Matt Grady