Its a lovely morning for an early morning walk.  The hay was cut last night in the fields behind our house and I was out by 5:45 am.  The dogs were in and out of the hedgerow and on a narrow part of the path in the wheatfield I spotted the biggest adder I have ever seen.    That's a bit of a contradiction really because I've never ever seen one before although we do have grass snakes at work.

I now feel sick.  I really don't like snakes and although I can maintain a reasonable amount of calm quite often, this has freaked me out.  It certainly was an adder, I've confirmed that for myself by my Fauna Britannica book and Google search.  The dogs came out of the hedge and jumped right over it and I ran!

Fortunately I was wearing leather wellies but it could easily have been sandals on a nice day like this.  To put it all in proportion, I've been walking the same fields for over eight years now and this is my first sighting; my dogs have been running in and out of the hedgerows for that long too.

How much of a risk are adders?  How many people get bitten each year?  How many dogs actually die from snake bite in this country?  Low numbers, I am sure.

I'm now off to have a good cry :rolleyes: - something to do with shock I guess.  Wimp, aren't I?

i dont know about dogs but if you are a normal person(not a child or old or sick) you would be ok with an adder bite but get to hospital asap for an anti-venom just in case. you would have to tread on it for it to bite, other wize it will slither off, Im sure theyre NICE

I hate snakes.  Just seeing them on the tv makes me shudder.

I've seen them a couple of times walking the dogs in various places.  When I was a child, our family dog, small collie size, was bitten by an adder.  It was a while til we realised what had happened then we rushed her to the vet.  He pumped her full of anti histamines, no anti venon.  She was pretty unwell for a day or so, but fully recovered.  So don't panic - just watch where you're stepping!!

Wow, interesting.  I didn't know you had poisonous snakes in the UK.  We have Massassauga Rattlesnakes (endangered and are a protected species) in some areas of Ontario, Canada, and we have avoided those areas when canoeing with the dogs.  We did see, and hear, a nice big fat fellow on one trip (dogless) right beside the portage.  Up until our sighting they were not known to be as far inland.  We are not afraid of snakes but poisonous ones I'd rather not encounter and even garter snakes will bite to defend themselves which could lead to infection.  I found out they don't like to be picked up and examined closely, LOL.

It's only adders that are poisonous here, and even they will only bite if startled or cornered. Like most wildlife, you only get to see them if they don't sense you're coming!

Our Massassauga Rattlers are similar then, in that they don't go looking for trouble, unlike many of the other rattlesnakes.  You practically have to step on one before it will bite.  Their venom is not as strong as some other rattlesnakes and the venom is delivered via a groove down the back of the tooth so that merely wearing long heavy pants, like denim bluejeans, will prevent most of the venom from going through the pants to you.  Still, a bite is to be avoided.  More dangerous snakes have teeth like needles with the venom delivered through an opening at the bottom of the tooth or fang.  Gee, that would be the part that is buried in your leg.

Ahhhh..... try not to freak out too much, they are harmless creatures, (unless badly provoked) I dare say all our dogs have come across the odd one or two and ignore them just as we should.  They have lived here for many centuries and are hardly seen by us at all, quite a fete when you think about it!

Just think of them as vermin hoovers, they stop over population and are a good friend to our planet and have no interest in us or our dogs, they are quite wonderful creatures and nothing to be afraid of at all in this country our snakes are a great help to us, not something to fear, in another country well................. run! :-D  But here,  no probs, you will probably never see one again.

When we were walking "The old man of Coniston" two years ago we were walking with 4 Weimaraners and as we came down I could see this stick in the front on the road and thought nothing of it.  My husband and friend walked up to it and stood, telling us to go around as it was an adder basking in the sun. The dogs had just run past and had not even done anything. 

However my friend on another occasion had her dog pick up the adder and bring it too her.  Also my mother in laws cat brought one in through the bedroom window and let it go in the bedroom, also a stoat, and rat.  I said I think I would keep my bedroom window closed after that, or keep the cat in the house at night. If one of my animals dropped a snake into my bedroom I know I would die.

Rachel

unless badly provoked????? in my experience they are at their worst when accidentally stepped on. we lost a springer once with the after effects of shock from an adder bite & I have seen two hounds bitten since then & both been frighteningly ill with heart racing/keeling over/shock. keep well away & as they love to bathe in sunshine in heathland, be very aware of such places.

You don't think being stepped on is a provocation?

Oooooh no snakes I have a very big phobia about them and come out in a cold sweat and feel physically sick :(

I am sure where we go there must be plenty of them and in this weather I am sure they will be more active

I am not sure what I would do if I met one but think I would just panic :rolleyes:

Big Hugs as I know what you must be feeling

Lucy
xx

Lucy i'm with you on this i'm petrified to the point of being sick with snakes :-(
I can't watch them on the tv, or look at pictures of them.
When our local pet store held an exotic pet day (i didn't realise they were holding one) i walked into the store unawares and straight into man with snake round his neck
I thought i was going to collapse, i turned and got out of the shop fast, it was awful.

Take care

I'm still wearing my wellies :D (if Kate Moss can look glam in her Hunters at Glastonbury, then so can I!!)
Jackyjat,
Stomp!!! (the vibrations will scare them off) tho' they are a bit more languid in this heat..

I had a bitch that was bitten by an adder a few years ago. It bit her on her face & even now you can see the teeth marks. It was touch & go for a while but she's here to tell the tale thankfully

I went on a new walk today & saw a grass snake so won't be walking there until the winter:rolleyes: There are loads of snakes around where I live so in the summer it becomes a problem as to where we can walk the dogs.

It's a shame you had such a fright. I myself love snakes and nearly bought a ball python once (then I remembered they grow to 5 feet... just a tiny bit smaller than me!) What you should remember though is that snakes (especially adders) in this country are incredibly shy and you're one of the lucky (or maybe not so lucky) ones to spot one. Adder venom is not all that strong and you'd need to provoke it to a large extent for it to bite- making venom takes a lot out of a snake energy-wise and it will rarely waste any unnecessarily, it's far more likely to run away.

Don't know if that's helped to ease your mind at all. Hope you won't worry too much while out on your walks.

Thanks everyone.  I completely understand that snakes prefer to avoid humans and only bite when provoked.  As I said before, I have done the same walk 2 or three times a day for 5 or so times a week for the past eight years and have never seen a snake before so they usually do a pretty good job of avoiding me.  Why did they have to be so careless today?

I wouldn't want a snake to be harmed and I understand their value, but I just wish I could go back to blissful ignorance.  I will take my beating stick with me later (that'll upset the dogs as they'll think the shooting season has started early!).

You could always move to Ireland....a bit extreme maybe but at least you can be sure there are no snakes ;)

If I saw asnake I,d be straight on to the next boat and over the water

i dont like spiders and the sight of a tarantula majes me feel sick, then last month i met a woman that breeds them and has several dozenany way she persuaded me to come round and overcome my phobia (assuring me they wouldnt come out of their cages) i went round had a look and learnt about them and now feel a whole lot better about them....(not saying i wouldnt run a mile if one appeared in the room now) but that helped me.

Funny you should see one so close J/J, same things happened to me the other wk
Like you we`d just had out field cut down but I won`t go in their just yet, still waiting for the lorry to take the bales away:rolleyes: so we`ve stayed up round the house.

I`ve seen a few snakes here over the years but at enough of a distance not to be too scared;) but about 10 days ago was watering the veg patch in the orchard which I do every morning, it where our well is & I go in there at least once a day for something or other. Was bending down lifting the corgettes when thought I saw the earth moving, looked properly & there was a big very fat snake slithering past my foot about 2 inches from it & it went & settled under the pumkin leaves

When I got my breath back I gave a little scream turned tail & ran out, went in the house & shut the doors!!! I`ve never seen one there before why now & why did it have to go in my orchard, in my veg patch, right next to me while I was there, for goodness sake I`d just finished watering & been making a racket??? & it was the only time I had flip flops on not wellies which I usually have on

Anyway it did & now I`m so uneasy when I go in there, I won`t go in alone, certainly won`t get down to sort or pick the veg either I take my stick & have wellies on but just can`t wait to get out of there now :(

Understand your fear, they`re orrible slithery things!!

Is there something about the weather this and last year that has caused an increase in the numbers?  I've seen two other people this morning that have seen sightings in different parts of my route and both people said they had seen snakes in other places too this year, having never seen one before!

I was out early this morning complete with big wellies and stick! 

PS Is it true or an urban myth that there are no snakes in Ireland?

It's true.

Ok well thats it if i ever see one i'm moving there straight away :-)