I had one in Southern Arizona that got one of my German Shorthairs one morning when we were quail hunting, there was actually 4-5 desert rattlers bunched up in a nest, after my dog expired, I shot them all...and will continue to do so...it's just here in Southern California and Arizona where I hunt mostly, we have pretty frequent run-ins with 'em...and we have had some close calls...so for me I don't have a problem killing them...the only good one is a dead one...the dog thing happened 31 years ago...and it still gets to me to lose a great animal.