Snakes Alive!!

thatscold

I've just come back from a great ride around Swinley Forest this morning. It was only my third visit, but I think I found some of the decent trails this time.

Even though it's the school holidays it was really quiet, I hardly saw another biker the whole time I was there. But I did come across this on one of the trails


Only a baby, but it's the first Adder I've seen. Apparently they are quite common around here.[/img]

BlackSpur

I saw the exact same thing in Ashdown Forest a few years ago. Almost shat myself when i realised I was just about to put my foot down on it!

thatscold

I did stop rather abruptly, otherwise I would have ridden straight over it. It certainly surprised me. I don't know how big they actual get?

The picture's a bit crap as it's from my mobile phone. The snake's colouring was very vibrant.

Surf-Matt

Yikes!

Nearly trod on a King Brown snake in Oz and narrowly missed a Red bellied Black snake - both deadly. I hate snakes!

xtreem

Thank god here in Macedonia we don't have poison snakes.
And if you see them early, stop and they'll get away.
They only attack if they feel as they are in danger.

switchback18

thatscold wrote:

I did stop rather abruptly, otherwise I would have ridden straight over it. It certainly surprised me. I don't know how big they actual get?

The picture's a bit crap as it's from my mobile phone. The snake's colouring was very vibrant.

Awesome - it's definitely an adder, but they're not very poisoness. It's the standard '3 times worse than a bee sting' thing.

They get to about 3 feet max.

Never seen one yet - if I do, there'll be a pic up here, hopefully having caught it, just for the shock value! Used to keep snakes at home, so nobody else try picking one up...
Found a dice snake (bit like a European Grass Snake) in Spain, that was cool.

dan1983

I nearly ran one over up at Hamsterley last summer (I posted about it). However, taking a pic was the last thing on my mind!! :?

marfis

We were involved in moving over 100 adders last summer before we carried out a construction project. We were advised by the ecologist that if we were bitten, go to A+E and ask them to monitor us but not have any anti venom. Apparently it causes more side effects than the venom!

taff_94

Hey,

I saw an adder when i was younger on our patio and i shat myself, later to my suprise i came home after being at a freinds house to see it crushed after a car had hit it. not the nicest site in the world but still cool to see a snake.

Taff

chrisga

Weird, I nearly ran an adder over at Cannock on Sunday, it was basking on a bit of baking fire road. It moved off before i had a chance to get the camera on it. I had only ever seen one snake before in the uk, and that was about 20 years ago, and now I have seen two in the space of about a month as I moved something on the patio and a grass snake appeared!

Surf-Matt

Not quite the same but I went to put on my cycle shoes for the morning ride today and found a very large toad in the left one! Took a lot of cajoling to get it out and really made me jump!

tjm

is it definitely an adder?
it is very hard to tell from that picture but it could be a grass snake. See the top picture in this link
I'm not saying it isn't an adder, there are loads round here but there are also loads of grass snakes and I have seen them being mistaken for adders before.

There are pictures of adders and a comparison to grass snakes can be found here

MrKawamura

Saw a snake at Afan Forest a couple of weeks ago, about a meter long. Close encounters like this are one of the joys of cycling in my book, as long as the buggers don't jump in my spokes.

taliesyn

Certanily looks like Vipera berus to me

tjm

a metre long means it was almost certainly a grass snake - I think they are then only ones that get that big.

In case anyone cares, a quick summary of the main characteristics:

Adder: Generally very distinctive zig zag pattern on its back, V or X shape on its head and vertically slitted pupils. Colour can vary from light grey with black markings to dark reddish with brown markings. Up to 60cm long and less slender than grass snakes etc.

Once found one in our garden and our neighbours report finding a nest of them!

Grass snake: Can look very like an adder but marking is less distinctive and not really a continuous zig zag. Dark band round its neck and sometimes a light band in front of it. Round pupils. Up to 100cm long and much more graceful looking than an adder.

Regulars in our garden.

Smooth snake: I always get these mixed up with grass snakes! I think they are smoother looking(!), smaller and with less destinctive patterning. Have a dark stripe horizontally along the side of their face, through their eyes.

Slow worms: Silvery, creamy colour. Sometimes look quite pink. Sometimes have dark sides or a slightly mottle colour. Head is very streamlined, looks somehow too small. Small compared to other snakes. (actually it is a legless lizard, not a snake)

We always have these nesting in our compost bins.

Surf-Matt

We get loads of slow worms here. Ran one over (by mistake) with the mower last week - not a pretty sight

jam1e

I was in Grizedale a few weeks back and saw 1 adder in the bracken which slid off and then ran one over on some singletrack before I could stop. It just played dead until I gently poked it with a stick to see if it was actually dead - it wasn't and I nearly shat :shock: Had visions of being the next Steve Irwin! Hadn't seen an adder for years then 2 in 1 day - coincidence?

That "3 times worse than a bee sting" is bollocks as well, I remember a friend of my dads getting bitten by an adder hiding in a crate of milk bottles (the snake was doing the hiding...) and his entire arm swelled to several times its normal size and turned black - straight to hospital and a couple of weeks off work. He might have been particularly sensitve but I wouldn't risk getting bit to find out!

tjm

well the official line from NHS direct is:

It is very rare to suffer serious injury or death from an adder bite.

If you are bitten by an adder you may not experience any symptoms at all. Often a snake will give you a dry bite containing no venom.

Some people develop symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea shortly after being bitten. The area around the bite may swell up or go numb. If you develop symptoms such as paralysis, dizziness or fainting you will need medical treatment.

It is best to go to A&E after being bitten even if you feel fine, just to be sure.

If the doctor finds that your have low or unstable blood pressure you may need to have anti-venom treatment (see 'treatment' section).

and on treatment it says

If you are bitten by an adder, keep the bitten area still so the venom does not travel around the body and go to A&E, where you may require anti-venom treatment.

Do not try to suck or remove the venom from the skin yourself.

Some people may try to stop the venom travelling from the bitten area by using a tight band (tourniquet). However, this is not recommended if you have no medical experience, as it can cause permanent damage, and may result in loss of the limb.

Anti-venom must only be given by a health professional who has carefully assessed the situation. This is because some people can have an allergic reaction to the anti-venom. Therefore, anti-venom is usually only given to patients who show symptoms. Anti-venom is not usually kept by vets.

Anti-venom is usually given using an intravenous drip. The sooner after being bitten you have the anti-venom treatment the better.

Seek medical help if you are bitten by a snake when you are abroad.

jam1e

Like I said, the bloke might have been sensitive to snake bites etc.

NEWS JUST IN! - But in a massive coincidence take a look at the Sky News homepage - Girl bitten by snake - leg 3 times normal size and turned black (well according to the text, the actual leg just looks heavily bruised to me but hey, why doubt SkyNews, the home of good journalism? )

tjm

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Adder-Bite-Mollie-Hawker-Bitten-By-Snake-At-Bournemouth-Nature-Reserve/Article/200807415059269?lid=ARTICLE_15059269_Adder%20Bite:%20Mollie%20Hawker%20Bitten%20By%20Snake%20At%20Bournemouth%20Nature%20Reserve&lpos=searchresults

for those that can't be bothered to search.

Doesn't sound very pleasant......