I'm a little bit annoyed at this article on the BBC Wales news site. In brief, a teenage girl was bitten by an European adder, at an unnamed caravan park on the Gower Peninsula. To me, this article is sheer scaremongering. Although I'm glad the girl has made a full recovery, by printing some of the mother's comments, the BBC has suggested that adders go around leaping out at unsuspecting children and biting them. Not so.
In this particular case, the girl picked the snake up. Not a clever move. If I was a snake, and someone picked me up, my immediate thought would be 'aarrggh! predator!' - and I'd strike. You can't blame the snake. Sadly, the girl who got bitten mistook it for a slow-worm. I'd say that was an issue of education. European adders are a type of venomous viper. Slow-worms are not even snakes. They're a type of legless lizard, and totally harmless. Furthermore, adders and slow-worms are not especially alike. Take a look:
Slow-worm
European adderI have often met up with European adders, and have never been threatened or harmed by one. As a child, I often came across them hiding under the flower urn on my grandfather's grave. They were usually juvenile adders. Instead of striking at me when I took a cautious peek, they simply slid away. I had a run-in with an elderly man at Rhossili one day. As I sat on the cliff, an adder came along, and settled about three feet from me, enjoying the sun. I was in my element, as I have a soft spot for these creatures. The next thing I know, some silly old fool decided to be my knight in shining Hush Puppies. He approached, walking stick raised, shouting 'snake, snake'. I gave him hell, and told him to leave the poor snake alone. When the snake eventually departed, it slid right past my foot. I felt privileged, rather than scared.
The bottom line is that European adders are not aggressive snakes. They would sooner flee than fight you. Their venom is precious to them. They need it to kill their prey. Without it, they starve. Once an European adder has envenomed something, it takes a while for it to produce more venom. If the adder has its way, it's not going to waste precious venom on humans. We're not prey. But deliberately or accidentally hurt one, or make it feel scared in any way, and it may well bite. It would be a fool not to.
The adder's venom isn't strong enough to kill an average, healthy adult. But small children, the elderly and the infirm are at risk of death from an adder bite. That said, anyone unfortunate enough to be bitten needs immediate medical help, as they will become quite ill from the venom. Also all snake bites inject large amounts of bacteria into their victim, even if the snake itself isn't venomous. There is also the risk of allergic reaction to the venom, which can lead to very serious medical problems.
Luckily, European adders rarely bite, and only in response to threat or injury. If you're worried there may be an adder nearby - stamp your feet loudly on the ground. The vibrations will alert it to your presence, and it will depart. Remember - treat the European adder with respect, and it won't hurt you.
Images courtesy of Wikipedia.
