# Adder bites animal recuer twice!



## andy2086 (Dec 26, 2008)

Read about this guy in my usual paper, but this is most detail I could find

Snake bite nearly kills Sussex man (From The Argus)

It was only a baby adder that bit his finger but the doctors say it nearly killed him! :gasp:


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## snakeboy101 (Jul 3, 2006)

Did he not know they were venomous? The way it sounds to me is he was handling them as if they were harmless.

When dealing with potentially dangerous animals are you supposed to make sure you have them secured before you check for injuries?


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

I think a reaction that extreme to an adder bite is very unusual - and it said in the article that it was because of his medication. Yes, gloves would have been sensible - but they were only little snakes, so it's not that peculiar a mistake to make.


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

snakeboy101 said:


> Did he not know they were venomous? The way it sounds to me is he was handling them as if they were harmless.
> 
> When dealing with potentially dangerous animals are you supposed to make sure you have them secured before you check for injuries?


I think he did know but because the snakes were small he did not use gloves so he could handle them, I guess he took a risk not knowing that his medication would make the effect of a bite much worse than normal.
Good on him for saving the snakes I say


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## terciopelo_dave (Jun 1, 2007)

rum&coke said:


> Good on him for saving the snakes I say


Agreed, but this is a typical example of people underestimating the adder. The fact that there are few serious bites is testament to the quality of medical care in this country and the retiring nature of the adder. 
People should be under no illusion of the adder's ability to inflict a severe envenomation. 
I'm sure the rescuer could have avoided these bites, but hindsight is such a wonderful thing. 
As for gloves. One word. Pointless. Any glove that can protect against a venomous snake bite is too thick / heavy duty to allow proper control of the animal. I know how I'd have handled the situation to avoid being bitten, but discussing that is academic as the event is long gone.


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

What. like this?


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## jasper1 (Apr 15, 2007)

terciopelo_dave said:


> *Agreed, but this is a typical example of people underestimating the adder.* The fact that there are few serious bites is testament to the quality of medical care in this country and the retiring nature of the adder.
> *People should be under no illusion of the adder's ability to inflict a severe envenomation.*
> .


As long as people keep saying the bite is no worse than a bee sting or that the venom only affects you if you have an allergic reaction, then you're going to keep getting cases of people being bitten due to complacency or as you say, from underestimating them. 

This also goes for the popular species of rear fanged snakes kept in captivity.


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## terciopelo_dave (Jun 1, 2007)

kettykev said:


> What. like this?
> image


Yes, exactly like that. If there was control there would be no bite.


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## snakeboy101 (Jul 3, 2006)

I'm not trying to knock the guy or anything it's I just found it weird someone would handle a venomous snake in a way where it was so easy to get bitten.


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## cjsnakes (Feb 15, 2009)

snakeboy101 said:


> I'm not trying to knock the guy or anything it's I just found it weird someone would handle a venomous snake in a way where it was so easy to get bitten.


I was thinking this aswell, but he did say they were young an wriggely so i kno its not easy to keep hold of them by the head when they act like that 
and the fact he suffered from low blood pressure anyway made the bite worse for him


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## 50%man50%biscuit (Mar 17, 2009)

It is thought that medication Mr Weeks was taking to lower his blood pressure had increased the severity of his reaction to the venom.

Sounds likely doesn't it......?

I don't want to play down the effects of Adder bites, having been bitten twice, it's certainly not fun to get bitten, but only rare cases result in such serious health problems, there is usually some underlying health issue or complication that exacerbates the problem, and sometimes it is the well wishing medical help that causes further issues. 

HMHB


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

The only other case I heard of with a very severe reaction was a boy I went to school with, who (a) wasn't and adult and (b) had a massive allergic reaction, I think.


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## DavidR (Mar 19, 2008)

This article highlights the potential danger that European adders pose, severe reactions to genuine envenomations are not rare (note, I say envenomations rather than bites). The venom is very potent when compared to some other venomous snakes, and they are capable of delivering an appreciable (and fatal) dose of venom. One doesn't need to have any underlying health concerns (although it may not help!) to suffer a life threatening ordeal. In short, it is wise to take any precautions necessary to avoid a bite.

David.


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

andy2086 said:


> Read about this guy in my usual paper, but this is most detail I could find
> 
> Snake bite nearly kills Sussex man (From The Argus)
> 
> It was only a baby adder that bit his finger but the doctors say it nearly killed him! :gasp:


Useless Tawt comes to mind!


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## terciopelo_dave (Jun 1, 2007)

slippery42 said:


> Useless Tawt comes to mind!


That's what I was getting at Graeme. I kinda fannied about saying it though.


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## smart1 (Oct 16, 2007)

slippery42 said:


> Useless Tawt comes to mind!


 
everyones gotta learn and he was only trying to "help" after all wasnt he?


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

smart1 said:


> everyones gotta learn and he was only trying to "help" after all wasnt he?



He obviously hasnt a clue about wild snakes and should stick to fluffy critters and should have got someone who new what they were doing to check the snakes out.

A complete idiotic episode.

Imagine what the press would have done had he died!

The resulting coverage would had been seriously detrimental to adders.


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## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

cjsnakes said:


> I was thinking this aswell, but he did say they were young an wriggely so i kno its not easy to keep hold of them by the head when they act like that


I've held a lot of wriggly hatchlings 'by the head', and it's not that hard!

If it was venomous, I certainly wouldn't let it get its head free......



slippery42 said:


> He obviously hasnt a clue about wild snakes and should stick to fluffy critters and should have got someone who new what they were doing to check the snakes out.
> 
> A complete idiotic episode.
> 
> ...


Harsh, but probably true! :2thumb:


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## smart1 (Oct 16, 2007)

slippery42 said:


> He obviously hasnt a clue about wild snakes and should stick to fluffy critters and should have got someone who new what they were doing to check the snakes out.
> 
> A complete idiotic episode.
> 
> ...


 

that may be the case ,but everyone has to start somewere!! so comeing across as the big know it all just because you have had so many years dealing with (dwa) doesnt do people with little or no experience any favours does it ??? i think you need to not get so worked up , like on my thread with the adder .... tell me what im doing wrong then i can learn from the mistakes but there is a real diffrence between telling and coming down and putting somone down just because they havent done something just right .


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

smart1 said:


> that may be the case ,but everyone has to start somewere!! so comeing across as the big know it all just because you have had so many years dealing with (dwa) doesnt do people with little or no experience any favours does it ??? i think you need to not get so worked up , like on my thread with the adder .... tell me what im doing wrong then i can learn from the mistakes but there is a real diffrence between telling and coming down and putting somone down just because they havent done something just right .


Yes in a way i agree that everyone starts somewhere. But if you get it wrong and then court the press for attention then you really have no hope.

As for being a know it all I'm afraid you are way off the mark there. In fact almost everyone I know in the venomous community are the exact opposite.

If you are having a dig at me perhaps you should ask around and check me out?


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## trueviper (Jan 13, 2008)

It's great that this guy was trying to help the pair of Adders but perhaps he should have taken greater care whislt handling them.

They are venomous after all.....:lol2:


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## paraman (Oct 27, 2007)

DavidR said:


> This article highlights the potential danger that European adders pose, severe reactions to genuine envenomations are not rare (note, I say envenomations rather than bites). The venom is very potent when compared to some other venomous snakes, and they are capable of delivering an appreciable (and fatal) dose of venom. One doesn't need to have any underlying health concerns (although it may not help!) to suffer a life threatening ordeal. In short, it is wise to take any precautions necessary to avoid a bite.
> 
> David.


Steve Backshall was on the telly today, it was an older repeat of a deadly 60 that he did. He was laid up in a hospital bed for a few days with a huge swelling on his ankle and bruising all the way up his leg. He trod on an adder by accident. There is a certain irony in that he was looking for them at the time:blush:


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## Lamprophis (Jun 12, 2008)

smart1 said:


> everyones gotta learn and he was only trying to "help" after all wasnt he?


You simply cannot afford to "learn" like this and you're a fool if you think learning by risking your life is the way forward! As Greame states if the worst happened that guy would have done more harm than good for adders across the U.K.

I'd like to go back to the news report - "carefully checking"?! - so careful that he was bitten, TWICE!


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## OddlyWeird (Mar 20, 2010)

jasper1 said:


> As long as people keep saying the bite is no worse than a bee sting or that the venom only affects you if you have an allergic reaction, then you're going to keep getting cases of people being bitten due to complacency or as you say, from underestimating them.
> 
> This also goes for the popular species of rear fanged snakes kept in captivity.


I was gonna write somethin, but your pic tickled my fancy and i forgot :2thumb:


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## Sid crock (Apr 10, 2010)

My phone was off,this would have been my callout. He's not got much knowledge of reptiles.


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

I heard that European Adder cenom is 25 times more toxic than some rattler venom?


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## slippery42 (Mar 23, 2008)

Sid crock said:


> My phone was off,this would have been my callout. He's not got much knowledge of reptiles.


We all noticed that!

Shame you hadnt gotten it.


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## jasper1 (Apr 15, 2007)

OddlyWeird said:


> I was gonna write somethin, but your pic tickled my fancy and i forgot :2thumb:


You do know I'm a fella, don't you? :gasp:


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