Snake bite

[Tinkerbell]

We - husband and I - have just spent a few weeks down in Cornwall, which included gardening for my Mum. As he pulled out weeds from the overgrown flowerbeds, my husband felt something grip the skin on his upper hand and as he retracted it found a snake attached! It was about 2 feet long, greyish in colour and may have been in the process of shedding its skin.

Any ideas what it might have been? It had rows of very sharp teeth. Presumably all our native species do, but we don't often get to see inside their mouths!

The wound turned pussy but became no more infected than that and eventually cleared up. Not a nice experience, and it certainly put me off going around bare foot. A couple of days later we saw another snake, slightly larger near the compost heap - I'm afraid I just stood in one place, aimed the vegetable waste in the right direction and tossed it across the last few yards, hoping it would hit the spot.

Tinkerbell

[demicav]

The compost heap makes me suspect a grass snake, yet it doesn't sound like one. I'm puzzled . Adders are not grey, although the males can sometimes appear grey, you could not mistake the dark pattern. I doubt it's a Smooth snake as they're rare and only found in Dorset and a few other southern areas. They can appear grey but do have subtle markings. Did your snake have any distinct markings ?? Could be an alien species, apparently they're becoming more of a problem.

[Cotham Marble]

I would not want to hazzard a guess but really unless it was something exotic (very unlikely) it was either a grass snake or a large adder. Grass snakes will bite if they feel under attack, and you raise an important point - just because a bite is not venomous, does not mean it is without problems. Anyone who is bitten by any animal should make sure their tetanous shots are up to date - any doubts get medical attention asap.

Do remember though all UK snakes are way more afraid of you than you should reasonably be of them.

CM

[demicav]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

I would not want to hazzard a guess but really unless it was something exotic (very unlikely) it was either a grass snake or a large adder. Grass snakes will bite if they feel under attack, and you raise an important point - just because a bite is not venomous, does not mean it is without problems. Anyone who is bitten by any animal should make sure their tetanous shots are up to date - any doubts get medical attention asap.

Do remember though all UK snakes are way more afraid of you than you should reasonably be of them.

CM

Yes I agree , it sounds like a grass snake more than anything, more so because of the habitat.

[Tinkerbell]

Popular belief by those who saw it was that it was either an adder or alien. The thing is that you just react and don't necessarily take it all in at the time. We'll be down there again in the not too distant future and will be a bit more observant next time, if there are any snakes about.

One thing we did see was several baby slow worms with their beautiful copper coloured skin.

Tinkerbell

[phil2]

lol arnt they lovly slow worms,i seen a few babys in wales and there were lovly.where in cornwall did you go?

[ceterach]

Should be easy to determine whether it was an Adder, how was your husband afterwards? If it was an Adder and had injected venom, then his hand would have been swollen and very painful for a while, a bit like a bad bee/wasp sting perhaps going up his arm. However if he just ended up with tooth marks then it must have been a Grass Snake or a non-venomous alien. As stated above, mention of a compost heap really suggests a Grass Snake.

All the best