Adders during Winter?

[JonathanD]

"The NHS said about 100 cases of adder bites are reported in the UK every year.
Since records began in 1876 only 14 people have been reported to have died from adder bites - the last in 1975."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13177046

Nasty but not that much to worry about.

Being shot isn't necessarily fatal either. But you really need to worry about it if you are, and get medical treatment immediately. The proteins that make up adder venom are very complicated. They contain neurotoxins, haematoxins and cytotoxins. A very nasty little mixture that is.

 

[Ecoman]

My missus is a GP on Arran and she says that they carry a good stock of anti venom as there are plenty up here. According to the records there is at least one or two bites per year go through the hospital and most of them work in forestry or farming. Toursts only tend to get bitten if they are clumsy or stupid!

 

[JonathanD]

Anti venom can be more dangerous than the actual venom itself. It's the anti venom that brings on anaphylactic shock.

 

[Ecoman]

So what other way is there to treat an adder bite?

 

[JonathanD]

Stay calm, don't panic and let your body do the work. The lymph gland is the biggest asset in fighting adder venom. Anti venom is great, but there is that risk.

 

[Uilleachan]

Their size and venom yield per bite are not as great, but the venom toxicity is right up there with the big guns of the vipers. They can still kill if they hit you in a major vein or if you are young or old or infirm. But the main reason they haven't killed anyone since 1976 in THIS country is the small fact we are not more than ten minutes from medical treatment wherever we are in the UK. A bite can have effects on your health for life even if you are healthy, and a good dose of venom from a large specimen giving you a full dose can keep you awake at night begging for pain relief or death. It bloody hurts. I've been bitten three times now by them, and that juvenile bite on my right hand had the same pain as being repeatedly being hit by a hammer on my hand and lower arm for 24 hours solid. It also felt like I'd been kicked in the nuts which kept up for about 36 hours. An interesting side effect. Any movement down there was agony for two days. Very tender

Err, not my part of the country, sure we have the doctors surgery just 5 miles along the road, a small hospital 17 miles away with two doctors. Nearest Accident & Emergency is 75 miles away. Depending where one is when bitten (location rather than anatomy ) one could be a few hours from medical attention. Even the air ambulance takes 30 mins to get here and then it need somewhere to land, the regular ambulance, depending where it is when it receives the call, can take from 1 to 45mins to get to someone roadside in my location. Off the road is a different story.

 

[Uilleachan]

Interesting info that JonathanD.

One thing I have noticed on a few occasions, just before I've seen an adder close up, is that I feel strange/funny, as if I can feel their presence.

The reason I said;

" I was being cautious when I bent to investigate a rather unusual black piece of drift wood poking out from beneath the heather "

in my post above, is that I had that strange feeling at that time. It's a weird allergic type sensation/instinct that I've learned to trust.

 

[Bowlander]

I know a shepherd in Northumberland who picked up a bale of hay which had gathered up an adder. It was injured after its trip through the baler and gave him a nip on his finger, his hand was left semi paralysed.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

 

[Tomcoles]

I defiantly know what your talking about when you say u could almost sense something was there before u saw the adder. It sounds almost unbelievable but I had a simaliar situation in a jungle section in Tobago. I was walking with my brother and wife and turned round and said be careful I think I can smell a snake. And sure enough there was a snake about ten feet away that we spotted just after. On a previous trip to Tobago a guide had pointed out this smell a very faint musky smell much like fox poo but much much fainter. I had obviously smelt it and made me cautious. It's amazing what the human senses can detect sometimes unknowingly. It's in those situations where u know something's not right that u need to be ultra cautious.

 

[Uilleachan]

I defiantly know what your talking about when you say u could almost sense something was there before u saw the adder. It sounds almost unbelievable but I had a simaliar situation in a jungle section in Tobago. I was walking with my brother and wife and turned round and said be careful I think I can smell a snake. And sure enough there was a snake about ten feet away that we spotted just after. On a previous trip to Tobago a guide had pointed out this smell a very faint musky smell much like fox poo but much much fainter. I had obviously smelt it and made me cautious. It's amazing what the human senses can detect sometimes unknowingly. It's in those situations where u know something's not right that u need to be ultra cautious.

That could well be it and thanks; your post makes me feel less of a nutter.

When I was just a little Uilleachan I took some flak from a pal my brother and uncle, because I refused to go any further through the high heather when we were walking up a forestry break. The uncle; "why not". Me "because there's a snake". Result; I got slagged to bits, and still do if it's raised at family gatherings.

It was quite a few years later I saw my first adder, I recognized that feeling like a bolt from the past as soon as it came. I was digging a ditch and had just arrived at the spot, as I lifted my spade by the handle from the ground (left where I'd finished the day before) scanning around, there was an adder curled up under the metal bit. That sensation has happened a few times since, I've not always seen a snake though. I think there's something in it, if I feel it, I trust it.

Once again thanks for the post.

 

[JonathanD]

I generally know there is a snake there before I see it. It's a defence mechanism that registers with your body movement and instinct before you are conscious of it. You have actually seen it, but your cognitive skills don't make you visually focussed on it before your body has reacted. It also works within the limits of your peripheral vision and gives the impression that you have got some sort of preternatural sixth sense. The brilliance of evolution.

 

[rik_uk3]

Being shot isn't necessarily fatal either. But you really need to worry about it if you are, and get medical treatment immediately. The proteins that make up adder venom are very complicated. They contain neurotoxins, haematoxins and cytotoxins. A very nasty little mixture that is.

14 dead in 137 years and no deaths since the 70's. You've more chance of dying from hypothermia from using vintage kit in bad weather because its 'bushcrafty'

 

[Uilleachan]

I generally know there is a snake there before I see it. It's a defence mechanism that registers with your body movement and instinct before you are conscious of it. You have actually seen it, but your cognitive skills don't make you visually focussed on it before your body has reacted. It also works within the limits of your peripheral vision and gives the impression that you have got some sort of preternatural sixth sense. The brilliance of evolution.

There's likely quite a bit in that.

I know from my days tree planting that eventually one gets tuned into whats going on on the type of ground one is working. For the first week I was planting I didn't really see much in the way of the many small mammals present. Then, by week two or there about, I began to notice (or perhaps it was "take notice") some movement in my peripheral vision and gradually started getting fleeting glimpses of voles wood mice etc as they darted off into cover.

After a couple of weeks I actually started picking them out of my peripheral vision and generally I'd get a good square look at the wee beasties before they ran off. I'd imagine if your out and about looking for reptiles you'd soon get tuned into their ways.