Snakes in Scotland - a warning

Liz · Snakes in Scotland - a warning

There have been several incidents recently of dogs being bitten by adders in the Gorebridge area, just south of Edinburgh.

2 Yorkshire terriers died after being bitten, and a third, bigger, dog survived – luckily its owner recognised the symptons in time to get it to the vet.

What a terrible shock for the owners – these snakes are not normally found in the field where the incident happened.

weima

Pagan was bitten by an adder a few years ago - not a pleasant experience I can tell you.

Pitbull

What are the symptoms.

Helen

We have adders around here. There was a time when Rob's pointer used to point them but releived to say that she has stopped!

He was doing a count with a colleague when his dog was bitten (colleagues). He yelped, and his face started swelling up very quickly. He couldn't breath very easily and was getting a bit dopy. Rushed him to the vet and he was fine.

Helen

johnhod

I hope it's too cold for them further north. We're heading for Pitlochry/Aviemore at the end of the month.

The ticks and midges are enough to cope with.

windem bang

I think you will find there are adders up that way too. If you see your dog circle or start to bark at something while hunting this could be an adder. I don't know how they know it's dangerous but some dogs do seem to realise this. I have seen dogs circle and I've seen dogs bark at them BUT I've also seen dogs try to investigate at close range.

Maybe I've been lucky, I've worked dogs in adder country for 40 years without any dog of mine being bitten. The adder does not set out to attack the dog it only defends itself if pressed too closely.

Bill T.

Greyghost

I was talking to some locals in Cyprus this year and they carry anti venom out there for their hunting dogs. Another guy told me he carried something to dope them so it would imobilise them. They need to be kept as still as possible and stopped from running around so that the blood does not travel round the system quickly.

Frightening.....

Pitbull

Plover

Hi All

I thought I'd add my tuppence since I catch adders as part of my job (I am an Environmental Consultant).

Despite our staff picking up and moving thousands of adders since we have been doing this, very few actually try to bite. We are obviously wearing large welding gloves but the adders don't know that and probably less than 5% actually try to strike at you. Of this 5%, very few actually try to inject venom when they are doing it. So you would really have to p**s them off to make them bite.

In most instances, adders bask close to cover so are more likely to dive for cover than to attempt to bite. If one is facing your dog you just need to lead the dog away (from behind so that the adder doesn't strike at the movement of your hand). I can't remember the exact statistics, but I don't think there are any records of of a human dying from an adder bite in the UK or maybe its over the last 50 years.

Our Company policy is to stay calm and get to hospital. After that, it is your decision whether you have the anti-venom or not. Apparently the anti-venom makes you more ill than the adder bite so if you are a healthy adult, you may choose to opt out. I guess the same can be said for dogs. I can't imagine that many vets actually have the correct anti-venom for adder bites. Mine certainly doesn't. So they may just give a dog something to calm it down. The main thing is not to panic yourself and upset the dog. In all reality the dog wont die if it is a large healthy dog. DON'T try to cut off the circulation to the bitten area by tying a piece of string or the like above the bitten area. This will only cause the heart to pump faster to try and get blood to that area thus spreading the venom faster and stressing the dog.

Also, be aware of baby adders. They are much more likely to bite and much more likely to inject venom because they are more vulnerable....and their venom is just as toxic as the adults. They are just like little stripy shoe laces with a scowl but don't be fooled by the cute factor.

Anyway, adders are all over the place where there is a mosaic of structure in the vegetation and basking sites. You are probably most likely to come across one if you break down and have to stand on the motorway verge than anywhere else.

Jackie

DesO'Neile

In August 2000 I was training on the middle section of the Invercauld Estate. Not knowing the lie of the land and thinking there was a steep drop the other side of a stone wall I climbed up on top of it to look for a colleague's dog that I thought had disappeared in that general direction. There was a steep drop but there was a small headland maybe twenty yards long, mostly covered in heather but with a huge rock at it's end that was catching the sun. My shadow crossed the rock and a few of the five or six adders sunning themselves made for the thick heather. I told the men in the company that night but I didn't tell the ladies, as it was our intention to be on the same hill the next day and on Balmoral the day after that. Effectively just across the Dee. I remember my wife's reaction when we saw what looked like rattlesnakes in the Sinai. She would have been car bound the rest of the trip. (I also remember her reaction when after being missing for about six months, Baldrick, my son's garter snake was found by her in my son's bed as she was making it.)