From ASPCA:

Planning any nature hikes this summer? Take care to prevent your curious pets from painful encounters with snakes. This applies to urban, suburban and deep country animals alike.

Take Stone, the four-year-old pit bull who was surprised last Tuesday, when a diamondback rattler, likely an escaped and illegally kept pet, bit him on the face in a Bronx, NY, park. Stone's owner did exactly what he should have: he immediately brought his dog to an animal care facility. Stone could have died from the snake bite within 24 hours had he not received the antidote, two injections of antivenin, so quickly.

Dr. Safdar Kahn, Director of Toxicology at the ASPCA Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, offers the following bite prevention tips:

Walk your pet on a leash.

Steer your pet clear of long grasses, bushes and rocks.

Tidy up your yard by clearing away undergrowth, toys and tools that make great hiding places for snakes.

Clean up spilled food, fruit or bird seed, which can attract rodents -- and therefore snakes -- to your yard.

A snake can strike from a distance equal to about half his body length, so if you see a snake, head back the way you came.

If you think your pet has been bitten, keep him calm by limiting his activity.

For a complete list of snake bite prevention tips and symptoms that may indicate a bite, visit ASPCA.org.