...catch an adder

[safronsue]

Hi all, long time no post!
I rather like snakes, but not venomous ones in my garden. My husband killed a viper, (sounds more dangerous than addder) yesterday. Like most greeks he hates snakes. I felt guilty as i alerted him to it and am wondering how i could've trapped and then just removed it. The snake was actually cornered by my dogs so i'm thinking if i had just put down a box with a hole it would've just slithered in.

What would YOU have done?

[doofaloofa]

What would YOU have done?

bar-b-que

[safronsue]

hmmm, i guess no one has ever tried to catch an adder on here. strange.
really not enough meat to warrant lighting the barbie either

[oldjerry]

Somewhere in circulation(think I saw it about 30 yrs ago) there's an old photo of the last adder catcher in the New Forest.I reckon it was taken about 100 yrs ago there's a wizened old bloke outside a an old wooden hovel surrounded by hundreds of adders all strung up....pretty sure they had a price on their heads back then.
Personally I think they're OK ,used to see lots back in Cornwall,curled up in the sun ,leave them alone,they'll do the same to you.\\\\\having said that,I know (from bitter experience )how paranoid Southern Europeans are about snakes.....''SERPENTI......!!!!!!......Porca Miseria!!

[diggernotdreamer]

I did catch an adder. A few years ago, there was a big hoohah out in the yard and all the men were shouting and hollering and I went out to see what had happened, there was a poor adder on the tarmac outside a shed, it didn't want to be here and the all men were shouting kill it and all the women were saying leave it alone. I got someone to find a box, put the box down on its side near the adder and with a stick just guided it towards the box and it went into it, probably glad to find a dark place to hide. Flipped the box back to the right position and shut the lid down and put a bit of tape on it, took the box up the the railway line where there was some lovely undisturbed scrub and let it go. My boss (a university educated chap) said it was dangerous and should be killed as his children sometimes go there, I said the poor thing was terrified and probably go where it was by accident and also they are protected and you could be fined if you killed it.

why did the viper wipe her nose, because the adder had her hankerchief (one of my dad's finest jokes)

[doofaloofa]

I did catch an adder. A few years ago, there was a big hoohah out in the yard and all the men were shouting and hollering and I went out to see what had happened, there was a poor adder on the tarmac outside a shed, it didn't want to be here and the all men were shouting kill it and all the women were saying leave it alone. I got someone to find a box, put the box down on its side near the adder and with a stick just guided it towards the box and it went into it, probably glad to find a dark place to hide. Flipped the box back to the right position and shut the lid down and put a bit of tape on it, took the box up the the railway line where there was some lovely undisturbed scrub and let it go. My boss (a university educated chap) said it was dangerous and should be killed as his children sometimes go there, I said the poor thing was terrified and probably go where it was by accident and also they are protected and you could be fined if you killed it.

why did the viper wipe her nose, because the adder had her hankerchief (one of my dad's finest jokes)

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Personally I'm fond of snakes and very happy to have them in the garden, but I have to move snakes fairly often because the guests in the gites sometime freak out when they come across them. If they don't move out of the way quickly it is because they are shedding skin or feel cornered. Sometimes these are asp vipers or adders, but more usually they are grass snakes or western whip snakes. I use a forked stick and a pair of leather gloves to pick them up - I was shown how to do this years ago and it is trickier than it looks. The ones I really hate are the western whips which can be very aggressive - they're poisonous, but they still have teeth and really pack a punch when they strike. I've been bitten twice. It hurts.

[safronsue]

yes, a forked stick and thick gloves approach is one i was considering but thick gloves mean less dexterity i guess and it must tricky. good on you for persevering Jon. My dogs, terrier types, were stars in the drama the other day, barking like mad and keeping the serpent cornered where it was hissing and spitting. who told them that snakes bite?

[mishkin]

When I was a child in the French Alps, we were told to immobilize them with a forked stick behind their head before picking them up... I never tried, they terrify the living day light out of me as do all snakes even the harmless ones, but I wouldn't kill them not just because they are protected but also because they are a useful part of the eco-system! My cats however don't care about my phobia and brought me a big fat one once...alive, apparently they do that a lot, cats.
Very brave of you Riff-Raff! diggenotdreamer, I assume that wasn't in the West of Ireland ;-) you add this encounter?

[MKG]

Dunno about the rest of Europe, but adders in the UK are relatively harmless unless you have an underlying weakness to start with. They're also very shy - you'd be bloody lucky to see one unless it's sunning itself and a bit on the torpid side.

99% of household adders (old advert reference - it doesn't mean there are household adders!) will get out of your way long before you know there's one there. And they're getting scarce. And even if you get bitten, it's usually nothing more than a slightly severe wasp sting.

As far as the UK goes, just make a noise - you'll never see an adder.

[boboff]

I am with Mike, scare them off, they are a dying breed, and we should live and let live.

Having said that all snakes scare the SH!t out of me.

[doofaloofa]

i am surprised and dissappointed that no one has had a 'Cunning plan'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ7JYkj4lk8

[MKG]

Oh that ... easy peasy.

Wait until they start mating. You could set a bomb off next to them then and they'll ignore it.

Mike

[safronsue]

the latest old boy story about the evil serpent. ....and i cut off the vipers head with my shovel and bent down with my knife to flick the offending head away off the path and the demon jumped up and bit my hand.
?!