Snake nightmare

[Ferretfancy]

Adders are always said to be the only poisonous native snake in the UK, though its not impossible that some non-native exotics have been brought in as pets, then escaped. I believe two or three people die of adder bites every year. My neighbor was recently nearly one of them, he was playing with his daughter on some short grass behind his house and rolled across one, which bit him on the stomach. He was very ill, but has recovered OK. Good thing it bit him and not the little girl. I was rather alarmed, because I had always associated adders with dry heathland, not the green grass of Devon. I'm quite cautious when I'm gardening.

Grass snakes and smooth snakes could perhaps bite a small child, but they seem to be non-aggressive and are always said to be harmless. Slow worms are definitely harmless, unless you are a slug, of which they apparently eat large quantities.

Of course, if Sydney is in Australia (tee hee, yes I know Sydney is in Australia), that's a different matter, Oz has a rich variety of deadly snakes.

Grass snakes defend themselves by squirting a very smelly fluid from their cloaca, I kept a grass snake as a pet once, nowadays that's illegal. Slow worms are not snakes at all, they are legless lizards. London Zoo keeps many venomous snakes, but there has only been one case of a keeper being bitten in the last thirty years or so. He was bitten on the fleshy part of his thumb by a mamba, and made a good recovery. They keep a very expensive store of anti venin, but this has to be administered very carefully by the hospital to prevent anaphylactic shock which is a more frequent cause of death than the bite itself.

Irrational fear of snakes leads to the deaths of thousands of these creatures every year.

[Lateralthinking1]

But that is a white top table on a pink floor surely?

[vinteuil]

... from yahoo news today :

An Australian mother has found a box of deadly snakes in her three-year-old son's wardrobe. Donna Sim, from Townsville in the state of Queensland, gave her toddler a plastic container when he was playing in the garden a few weeks ago. Kyle Cummings put some eggs he had found inside the box and left it in the warm confines of his wardrobe. But, when Ms Sim opened the wardrobe this week she got the fright of her life, seeing seven baby snakes writhing around inside. The reptiles, later identified to be eastern brown snakes, are regarded as the world's second deadliest species behind the inland taipan. Fortunately, Kyle had clamped the lid of the container down firmly, and the snakes had not yet grown large enough to push it off and escape.
"I was pretty shocked, particularly because I don't like snakes," Ms Sim told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper. The snakes were handed over to wildlife carers in Townsville. North Queensland Wildlife Care reptile co-ordinator Trish Prendergast, who released the seven eastern browns, said: "This little boy was extremely lucky he didn't get bitten."
Ms Prendergast said it was illegal to interfere with protected wildlife but the mum and her family would not face any charges. The reptile co-ordinator said eastern browns were "born killers" and even as babies have enough venom to kill people, although their fangs are very small when they are young.
"If he'd opened the container he might not be here today." she said.
He's always out in the yard, he always loves playing out there," Kyle's older sister Shannon told the paper. "He's a real country boy. He was a bit sorry to see them go. He wanted to keep them."

[Flosshilde]

Then take your kettle of boiling water, hand-torch in the other hand, illuminate the entry hole, pour in hot water and go back to another bottle of cut price red.

Q. What do you get if you pour boiling water into a rabbit hole?


A. Hot cross bunnies



Well, it is the season

[Flosshilde]

The reptile co-ordinator said eastern browns were "born killers" and even as babies have enough venom to kill people,

Are they really 'born killers', or just very effective at defending themselves? (or immobilising their food)

[Bryn]

Are they really 'born killers', or just very effective at defending themselves? (or immobilising their food)

Quite. I doubt very much that they will have evolved to waste their precious venom on non-threatening creatures to big to eat.

[Stunsworth]

Looking at the photograph, I'd try prodding it with a stick - it worked for Albert in Blackpool.

[Bryn]

Looking at the photograph, I'd try prodding it with a stick - it worked for Albert in Blackpool.

Well it certainly worked or Wallace, but I don't think Albert did so well out of it.

[Flosshilde]

I kept a grass snake as a pet once, nowadays that's illegal. Slow worms are not snakes at all, they are legless lizards.

I had some slow-worms as 'pets'. One was a bright gold/bronze colour. I called it Simon.

[scottycelt]

I had some slow-worms as 'pets'. One was a bright gold/bronze colour. I called it Simon.

So presumably you were just as legless as your pets ... ?

[Flosshilde]

So presumably you were just as legless as your pets ... ?

I'm not sure how you draw that conclusion, Scotty. & I was only twelve, & not living in Glasgow

[teamsaint]

I had some slow-worms as 'pets'. One was a bright gold/bronze colour. I called it Simon.

we get quite a few round here. Never saw one before we moved to this house.
They are beautiful, but I don't know any of their names.
But your post has given me some ideas about animal naming.......

[Flay]

I'm not sure how you draw that conclusion, Scotty. & I was only twelve, & not living in Glasgow

Flossie, if I may come to scotty's rescue and quote Wiki: <<Although they are lizards, slow worms have lost their limbs completely and are often mistaken for snakes.>>

We used to keep newts and frogs in the back garden when we were kids. I shudder now to think about it - I don't think they were protected species in the 1960s, but we didn't protect them properly. They kept disappearing, presumably snatched by birds.

[Flosshilde]

I was wondering how/why Scotty should assume that I was legless just because my pets were. "presumably you were just as legless as your pets ... ?"

'armless yes, but legless? No.

[Ferretfancy]

Quite. I doubt very much that they will have evolved to waste their precious venom on non-threatening creatures to big to eat.

Very true Bryn, and this particularly applies to vipers, of which our native adder is one. It's amazing to study a viper's fangs, which are retracted when not in use, and the snake has immature fangs which are ready to replace damaged ones. The fangs are hollow down the middle, just like a hypodermic syringe, and the snake can control the dose ! Naturally, as you say, he's not going to strike unless he's sure of success