Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

Peter Parrot · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject: Adder hysteria

Taken from page 2 of yesterday`s (Thursday, June 19, 2008) South Wales Evening Post;

A teenage girl needed emergency hospital treatment after being bitten on the hand by a poisonous snake in Gower.These things are nothing but a dangerous nuisance--I hope that this young girl recovers fully from her experience, and it will not deter her from visiting beautiful country areas in the future. Meanwhile, if these creatures are known to live in certain areas, let`s see some warning signs to alert people. This girl could have lost her life.

Liz, Swansea

The article can be viewed in full here;

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161366&command=displayContent&sourceNode=161366&contentPK=20891285&folderPk=88499

Some interesting comments have been left in the feedback section.
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slippery42 · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject: Adder Bite

I thought some of the comments were great !!!!

I laughed out loud to be honest (in case your wondering I mean to the comments and not the bite)

I do wonder what led to the girl being bitten???

Do we think she picked it up?

Bet she'll not do that again!!!!!
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lol93 · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:11 pm Post subject:

What a fuss. How many kids are savaged by pet dogs every year?
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Peter Parrot · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject:

I have wondered too! The odds of it happening, and right on the finger as in this case are very slight as you know Graeme, unless the snake was poked or provoked. The scenario where someone would literally place a finger within striking range of an unnoticed adder is extremely unlikely, but I suppose it could happen. The odds of it actually happening like that would be something else though!

I was going to add a comment also but it seems to have been well covered. Wink

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Peter Parrot · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject:

All is revealed!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7459825.stm
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Peter Parrot · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:26 pm Post subject:

It`s all happening now; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1518699.stm
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Lynne · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject:

what a terrible shame these gorgeous snakes are being harmed because of ignorant human beings.
im going a walk organised by fraser to look for them. but obviously you should look and not touch.
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brettmarcwebb · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject:

we have to go there and help them out how dare they hurt those gorgeous animals. news like that make my blood boil Shocked

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Peter Parrot · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject:

It`s all calmed down a little now, thanks to a few well worded responses from people qualified to do so.

What actually happend was that the young girl saw a young adder on the tarmac and picked it up thinking it to be a slow worm in an effort to save it from being run over her, bless her. I certainly hope that she has recovered well and has not been put off from having an interest in our native wildlife through this incident. It will also hopefully have encouraged her to brush up on her ID skills.

The knee jerk hysterical reaction of the feedback was from one person. The balance has been restored somewhat now that a true representation of adders and any associated risk has been portrayed through the words of Steve Langham who responded in the feedback section.

Quote;

I am the Reptiles Officer of the Surrey Amphibian and Reptile group. In the UK there are well over 100 adder bites per year reported against people; mostly men, who have caught the snake by hand!. Nobody has died in over 30 years. There are only 12 recorded deaths in the UK in over 100 years, and these were probably due to extreme reactions to the venom, and less sophisticated treatments. Adders are beautiful and shy creatures that will flee at the first sight of a human, and are legally protected from harm or killing. If you consider adders to be a serious risk to life, then you should never leave your house, as there are much higher risks run in every day life.
Steve Langham, Farnham, Surrey
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www.btcv.org
Visit our website - Gwelwch ein Gwefan
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