Author Topic: I have a baby viper in a plastic container..... (Read 9441 times)

Old bird · « **Reply #40 on:** April 21, 2009, 10:26:51 »

Just noticed this thread!

WOW!

I think it is worth mentioning that adders and most snakes/lizards are never seen by humans as they keep out of our way! They certainly don't come looking for us and just a footfall can be enough indication for an adder to disappear.

Unfortunately you have caught one early on in the year when they are slow and sluggish having just come out of hibernation. They generally are very rarely seen in my area - although there are loads of them in the heathland.

So hopefully you now recognise what an adder looks like and don't jump upon some unsuspecting and very helpful slow worm next time cocopops!

Old Bird

:o

Barnowl · « **Reply #41 on:** April 21, 2009, 13:08:25 »

No one has died in Britain from an adder bite in the last twenty years. Are French ones more dangerous?

Barnowl · « **Reply #42 on:** April 21, 2009, 13:10:43 »

PS 'In England and Wales only one death from adder bite was recorded in 1950-72, but there were 61 deaths from bee or wasp stings. '

Better reach for the insecticide!

paddy · « **Reply #43 on:** April 21, 2009, 13:47:27 »

There was a young boy bitten by an adder in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire over the weekend apparently one of his cousins picked it up and it went for them. Woodhall is well known for having an adder population but i Wonder how many children are taught not to touch?

I have been to South Africa twice and never saw one, yet Woodhall spa is about 10 miles from my home.
Its a strange world

Back to work!!

Paddy

OllieC · « **Reply #44 on:** April 21, 2009, 13:56:16 »

I had nightmares about snakes biting my children last night... all because of this thread!

Trixiebelle · « **Reply #45 on:** April 21, 2009, 16:34:27 »

In that case, you may not want to read my thread on the shoal of piranha fish I found in the pond today that stripped a whole cow to the bare bones OllieC ;D

It wasn't MY cow. Just a stray one wandering through. Must have slipped on the wet path and PLUNGED TO ITS DOOM!

Hope the snake in the original post is now slithering free :)

Borlotti · « **Reply #46 on:** April 21, 2009, 16:58:46 »

I hate snakes, I disagree with everyone on here. I think I would have killed it. When I was attacked by digging up a wasps nest we set it alight with petrol and burned it. They all chased by round the allotment and I was still holding my spade. I was too frightened to go that end of the allotment. Unless you are a veggie and don't kill rats or flies, I do not see why anyone should be concerned about a snake. When I was little, went to a ladies house in Dorset, I think, and she cut the grass snakes in half with shears. All the people that rescue chickens, I hope they don't let them have a happy life and then eat them. I expect everyone here will shoot me down in flames, but if I had children and snakes the snakes would 'be dead meat' and the children protected. My son brought home a kitten, which we called 'Baby' and had for 14 years because the farmer was going to drown the kittens and we all took one home. I feel more sorry for the animals in the slaughter house and the battery chickens which most people eat and enjoy. Double standards it seems to me. What about fish, I caught one when my son was fishing but was too frightened to take it off the hook and a man helped me, put me off fish for life. That is so cruel a big hook in it. When it is served on the table with head and eyes, it eyes are looking at me and saying 'why me'. OK it was a baby snake, let if go, but not near me.

cleo · « **Reply #47 on:** April 21, 2009, 17:08:13 »

I happened upon a fully grown adder in my polytunnel a few years back-I went out of one door and it went out the other.

We never did get properly introduced ;D

Kea · « **Reply #48 on:** April 21, 2009, 17:22:31 »

i wouldn't have gone back :o

Trixiebelle · « **Reply #49 on:** April 21, 2009, 17:49:38 »

Quote from: Borlotti on April 21, 2009, 16:58:46

I hate snakes ...I do not see why anyone should be concerned about a snake. When I was little, went to a ladies house in Dorset, I think, and she cut the grass snakes in half with shears.

Lots of people 'hate snakes' Borlotti. They've had pretty bad press over the years - a symbol of 'evil' and all that fictional nonsense.

But as far as 'being concerned' goes: The adder is a protected species and it's got just as much right to be here as any other animal.

Think about other protected species: tigers, polar bears, bees, ospreys. If they were breeding/nesting near your house would you go gung-ho and kill them just because you lived next to them and they shared your habitat?

Tigers: Can kill you yes. But keep out of their way and they'll keep out of your way.
Polar Bears: Live on ice-caps. So don't make your home on an ice cap.
Bees: Can also kill people but they won't sting unless provoked. They are now endangered as a species. We need bees to help pollenate everything on our allotments.
Ospreys: A beautiful bird. But it can swoop down on your pet rabbits and chickens and carry them off to eat. Are you going to shoot it?

The list is endless .....

As far as my philosophy goes, I say that each and every animal/bird/plant etc. has just as much right to be on this planet as us. They shouldn't have to adapt to what WE want, we should understand, adapt and attune to THEM.

Not understanding, adapting and attuning is one of the major causes of the demise of so many species on this earth and will probably be the end of it.

A case in point is the Dodo. You know ... the 'extinct' bird! Man thought it was great that a bird was so stupid that it stood still to be shot. So they shot them all. The penultimate Dodo was shot so it could be displayed in a museum as an extinct bird. The LAST dodo died in a zoo.

I went to a wood a couple of weeks ago - my dad 'caretakes' it and looks after the wildlife there. My little lad Alfie went as well, to look at the grass snakes that were living in there. After 3 hours we only caught sight of THREE grass snakes tails! Disappearing into the undergrowth. They certainly didn't want to see us and they CERTAINLY didn't want to jump up and coil themselves round our necks and bite our earholes!

So, the lady in Dorset that cut the grass snakes in half? Shame on her

Borlotti · « **Reply #50 on:** April 21, 2009, 18:01:09 »

Therefore if any animal has a right to live, am I wrong for putting frontline on my cat, as I hate fleas. Had Council in to spray the house with insectide, good. Do we have to live with headlice as they have a right to live on hair. Do I have to have ants in my kitchen and not put ant powder down, or use slug pullets to protect my plants from being eaten. Also use fly spray as I hate flies. I can just about live with the pigeons but they are becoming a pest. Lucily I have no grass snakes in my garden but unless it was against the law would certainly get pest control in. We kill rats so why not snakes.

Trixiebelle · « **Reply #51 on:** April 21, 2009, 18:14:18 »

Protected species.

Hyacinth · « **Reply #52 on:** April 21, 2009, 18:16:57 »

back to vipers...but what "we" are allowed by law to do in Britain isn't what other laws in other countries take as their benchmark, where different conditions apply - and Coco is in rural France. ::)

I wonder if the Extreme Gardening you did disturbed a nest, btw? I'm sure, whatever, your farmer neighbour will teach you the country lore round there for you to keep you and yours safe, and you'll take his advice. I reckon a couple of sentences of his are worth tons more than 3 pages of comments on a board in the UK designed for hobby gardeners :-\

.. back to this 'protected' business, tho...here, bats are Protected....in North Carolina if you have a bat(s) in your house your first call is to 911 - our 999 - and this triggers an immediate result. And why? Cos it's estimated that 1 in 100 bats there are rabid, is why..death to the bats and blood tests for the family cos apparently the puncture marks are so small they can easily be missed..

All the best Cocopos,

Lishka

Barnowl · « **Reply #53 on:** April 21, 2009, 18:21:32 »

Just wondering if we've a bit of confusion here between the Common (European) Adder and the Death Adder, which is pretty lethal but only lives in Australasia.

wetandcold · « **Reply #54 on:** April 21, 2009, 18:29:33 »

Personally I wouldn't ever kill anything at all unless I was going to eat it (which other animals do to each other - it is natural for some species' survival), it was constituting a serious problem or it was very ill and after exploring all other options I considered it best to put it out of it's misery.

Fleas on a cat are of very little threat to a human but do cause the cat a great deal of discomfort and, as a human, I would decide that killing a few fleas would be the better option as opposed to letting the cat suffer needlessly. Headlice are the same. And the common thread with these, and ants and pigeons, is that they are largely a problem because of human intervention in the first place - fleas just love the warm environment in a house, headlice like clean hair and large gatherings of people to spread around and ants are just using the environment we've created to re-make their nests that we built upon.

Now I hate wasps but I just avoid them - I don't think wasps will seek me out to sting with intent! Just because you don't like snakes doesn't mean you should wish them all dead. An adder is a pretty rare reptile (as most are unfortunately) and you are very unlikely to ever see one let alone ever be bitten by one. Grass snakes are totally harmless unless you happen to be a slug. What is the problem here? Why would anyone want to kill a small snake only because you don't happen to like it?

Luckily I think most people on this board would decide to use the intellect that we have as a 'higher' species to make an informed decision about the welfare of an animal and decide that killing it wouldn't be an option. I can't comprehend for a second why the person who started this thread didn't just drive a mile up the road and pop the snake in a hedge somewhere quiet well away from her and her children ?Seems like an attempt to stir up some controversy to me...

And Hyacinth - how would you intend to get bitten by a bat? In the 1990's there were only 5 reported cases of rabies in the whole of the USA.

flossy · « **Reply #55 on:** April 21, 2009, 19:03:37 »

Recently my son , now bordering 50, told me how he and his mates came across a viper/adder

when they were young - school age, he said they were in awe of its markings and size,

What happened next ? I asked -- we scarpered he replied !

He new what it was and to leave it alone .

floss xxx

cocopops · « **Reply #56 on:** April 21, 2009, 19:13:02 »

I have just typed a huge response, with pic of the released snake. Did not copy it and was too big (+300K).

I do not want to go through it again so big thanks for the PM's and those that have stuck up for me.

Just a few points, 15 died last year in France from snake bits, 55 from wasps. If I wanted to be an attention seeker, trust me this is the last way I would do it.

I loved this site, yes my life is different, but I love gardening and poultry keeping. The advice I have receved up 'til now has been fantastic.

Thanks again to those that empithise, I will PM back.

Bye, Alison Hayes aka Cocopos

OllieC · « **Reply #57 on:** April 21, 2009, 19:23:41 »

Please don't take most of the criticism personally - there's nothing wrong with thinking something or someone's wrong. Well, not in my world anyway.

Apart from a couple of responses from people who have been genuinely upset by what you were suggesting, most of the replies have simply been saying that you shouldn't kill it.

You've taken this advice on board, and I for one am pleased to know someone who is prepared to question their viewpoint & to do something differently out of consideration for others. So good on you!

Thanks!

Ollie

cocopops · « **Reply #58 on:** April 21, 2009, 19:34:26 »

Thanks for that Ollie,

When I was driving for ten miles,with a viper in container, I did sort of wonder why I was doing something on the sayso of a website that I love.

It has gone, end of story for me.

My tom cat is not very popular at the moment though.

Borlotti · « **Reply #59 on:** April 21, 2009, 23:02:10 »

(Personally I would not kill anything unless I was going to eat it.) So you would killl a snake if it tasted OK. What a load of old tripe, it is OK to kill a lamb and eat it, or a chicken, but a poor baby snake, has to be saved and put in a field. What is the difference between protected species, OK to kill pigeons, rats but not snakes. Kill enough pigeons and rats and they will be protected species. I do not understand the logic. If I had a snake in my garden it would be dead, and I would kill it, and I also stamp on flying ants. The reason dinosaurs died out was because they couldn't survive, that is natural survival of the fittest.

News:

Author Topic: I have a baby viper in a plastic container..... (Read 9441 times)