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I saw a snake swimming across the river yesterday at my mooring, and then again about half an hour later sunning itself on a log.

 

I wouldn't have thought much of it but it was over a metre long. Do grass snakes or adders grow that big? 

 

It was green and brown with diamond patterning. I don't think it was an escaped pet because when it saw me and another moorer looking at it from about 10 yards away it slipped off. So it seems like it's wild rather than used to humans and domesticated.

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An Adder and a Grass Snake can look very similar, but a GS has its darker markings on the side and an Adder has its darker markings on the top. The head of a GS is more rounded, smoother. The GS can grow much longer, though I think English Adders grow longer than Scottish one. Adders are more grey/brown GS more green/brown. GS prefer more watery areas so I would hazard a guess that what you saw was a GS, Adders prefer Moors and Heaths. 

 

An Adder will prefer to avoid you but if disturbed it will bite, though it's not always fatal it absolutely can be; it can however kill your dog or a child. 

 

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/species/adder/

 

 

iu.jpeg

Edited by Tumshie
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8 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Deaths are very rare with 14 reported since the late 1800s and the last about  40 or so years ago.

Deaths are very rare but that does not mean living should be taken for granted, especially if you're in a very rural area when bitten. 

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1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

Deaths are very rare but that does not mean living should be taken for granted, especially if you're in a very rural area when bitten. 

Having a couple of friends who have been bitten and not realised it for a couple of hours or so and then only had mild symptoms, I suspect you would need an underlying condition such as a bad heart.

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12 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Having a couple of friends who have been bitten and not realised it for a couple of hours or so and then only had mild symptoms, I suspect you would need an underlying condition such as a bad heart.

Not necessarily, snakes don't alway inject venom when they bite, which might be why your friends only had mild symptoms, if they do you really know about it and very quickly, it can be a very unpleasant experience. A grown man is very unlikely to die from a snake bite unless like you say they have a health issue of some sort but people have had allergic reactions where they can go into anaphylactic shock, similar to nut allergy or bee sting allergy. 

 

If you live in a more populated area then the likely hood of you getting medical attention quickly is good but up here we might be a bit more paranoid than down south. ?

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34 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

 

If you live in a more populated area then the likely hood of you getting medical attention quickly is good but up here we might be a bit more paranoid than down south. ?

Can't exactly call Cumbria populated with the only permanently manned hospitals being Carlisle,Whitehaven 40 miles away(on the coast) and Kendal 45 from Carlisle with the mountains in the middle.  Not perhaps the greatest of distances but by the time you are off the fell down the little country roads and then the major roads to the hospital quite some time can have elapsed.  Mountain rescues often take hours just to get the casualty off the fell.  Not that I have ever heard of a snake bite needing the rescue teams.

 

I am well aware of dry bites, my daughter keeps snakes.  The fact remains that with 14 fatalities over about 100 years and an average of 100 bites a year that works out at 1:714 risk approx.   Not high, I suspect crossing some roads in some cities gives a greater risk.   The risk is probably nearer 1:1500 (or less) as only half the snake bites reported for the UK are from the Adder (Vipera berus) and only half of those required anti venom.

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11 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Can't exactly call Cumbria populated with the only permanently manned hospitals being Carlisle,Whitehaven 40 miles away(on the coast) and Kendal 45 from Carlisle with the mountains in the middle.  Not perhaps the greatest of distances but by the time you are off the fell down the little country roads and then the major roads to the hospital quite some time can have elapsed.  Mountain rescues often take hours just to get the casualty off the fell.  Not that I have ever heard of a snake bite needing the rescue teams.

 

I am well aware of dry bites, my daughter keeps snakes.  The fact remains that with 14 fatalities over about 100 years and an average of 100 bites a year that works out at 1:714 risk approx.   Not high, I suspect crossing some roads in some cities gives a greater risk.   The risk is probably nearer 1:1500 (or less) as only half the snake bites reported for the UK are from the Adder (Vipera berus) and only half of those required anti venom.

Yes you win - it all a competition and you win :rolleyes:

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On 25/05/2019 at 17:13, blackrose said:

Looking at those pictures I think it must have been a grass snake as it was darker.

Very likely to be a grass snake, as even though an adder can swim it is an incredibly rare event, as is a specimen of a metre in length. Grass snakes of over four feet are relatively common, and they love water.

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