Visitor to area in "Serves Your Own Right" shocker.

Snakes. Dangerous things eh? Especially the venomous ones. There's only one breed of venomous snake in this fair isle, and that's the somewhat crap Adder. You've got to be a real idiot to get bitten by one of these things. They are known to be placid and shy, more into flight than fight. Kind of the Lord Lucan of British Reptiles. Deadly, but under the radar.

Anyway, we can't be having that around here, as this article from the 10th September's Leader shows:-


"FOR mum-of-three Amanda Corkhill the day was a chance to enjoy some late summer sun with her family.

But now the 36-year-old believes she is lucky to be alive after being bitten by a venomous snake.

Amanda had enjoyed a picnic with her partner and children at Loggerheads Country Park when she stopped to look at the reptile.

She was bitten on the finger when she moved in to take a photograph.

Amanda was rushed to hospital when she collapsed an hour later and spent five days under the watchful eye of doctors.

She told the Leader: “We’d had a fantastic day at the park and were walking back to the car to make our way home.

“We noticed a crowd of people pointing and taking pictures of something on the ground so we went to investigate and saw that it was a snake.

“I crouched down to take a picture on my mobile phone and suddenly it launched at me.

“I was shocked. I could see the puncture marks where it got me. It stung a little bit and began to swell so I thought it would be best to check it out at the hospital.”

But as Amanda was being checked by a nurse at a local community hospital, she collapsed and went into anaphylactic shock.

She was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital where she spent five days seriously ill.

“I was in and out of consciousness,” she said. “My hand ballooned and my entire right arm was also swollen. My finger is still completely black.

“My partner Chris gave doctors a picture of the snake which they identified as a European Adder.

“They consulted with hospitals in Liverpool and Cardiff to try to find me an anti-venom.

“A doctor went by police escort to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to fetch me this anti-venom

“I’m OK now but I’ve still got a blood clot in my arm and it’s completely numb. It feels like I have a metal rod in my vein.

“I’m lucky to be alive.”

Active Amanda, who lives in Noctorum, Birkenhead, can no longer compete in a martial arts competition in a couple of weeks time.

But she is more concerned that the reptile had a large slit on its underbelly.

“Doctors said the slit could mean two things,” she said. “Either it had recently shed a skin or it had just given birth, which means there are more of those dangerous snakes in the park.

“In a way I’m glad it bit me because I am a healthy lady.

“If it was a child or a pregnant lady, they would not have been so lucky.”

Gary Dickinson, who runs the North Wales Raptor and Reptile Sanctuary, studied our pictures of the snake and believes it was likely to be injured.

He said: “Adders are the most beautiful little creatures and generally they keep out of your way.

“That’s what makes me think this one was hurt. They should have taken it to the vets rather than stand around and take pictures of it.

“The most dangerous animals are injured animals.”

Amanda is calling for warning signs at the beauty spot to advise walkers of the risk of snakes.

David Shiel, countryside officer with the Clwydian Range, said: “It is likely given the number of people surrounding it this adder felt threatened and struck as a last resort in self defence.

“It is not advisable to approach or to attempt to pick up any wild animal particularly if it is shows signs of distress.

“It is extremely unusual for people to come across an adder at Loggerheads.

“For this reason it is not considered necessary to place warning signs relating to adders.”"


The first thing that comes to mind is... The Stupid Bint!

Why are you going up to a Snake that looks a bit injured, or possibly even given birth, and say "I know what'll be a laugh, why don't I get right fucking close and take a picture of it, eh? That'll be a cracking story!". It's a poisonous fucking snake! It has poison in it's big two teeth. Poison that can kill people. Ok, it rarely does, but it could. In the grand scheme of things Phil Spector rarely killed people, but I wouldn't give him a shotgun, a box of cheap wine, and a free shot at my cranium.

Why would you pick up a snake anyway? I've seen that cannibal film where they tie and aardvark at a tree and let one of those big pythons at it, and I shat myself for days. And they aren't even poisonous. I reckon a Grass Snake could give you a nasty nip as well, can't be trusted, their eyes are too close together.

Martial Arts is a pursuit of intelligence, and it's said in the article that she had to miss a competition due to her injuries. Well if you piss about with snakes, you weren't likely to win anyway. I sincerely doubt The Karate Kid spent his spare time pissing off Funnel Web spiders, for instance. No, instead he learned how to clean stuff, and that got him victory.

Adder related Mongatry isn't just confined to around here. This is from "The Scotsman" newspaper in 2006.


"A HILLWALKER who nearly died after he was bitten by an adder revealed that he picked up two of the snakes so his brother could take a photo of them with a mobile phone.
Robert McGuire was bitten last Saturday while holidaying on the Isle of Arran.

The 44-year-old suffered a severe allergic reaction to the bites and had to be taken to hospital by air ambulance from a remote area of Goat Fell. He spent six days receiving treatment.

Speaking for the first time since he was released from hospital, Mr McGuire described the moment he was bitten.

"I was out for a walk with my brother Steve and his kids. We were going off to have a picnic at a local beauty spot.

"The next minute, one of the kids ran up and said there was a snake in the grass. I just thought it was a grass snake.

"I just bent down to pick it up so my brother could take a photo with his mobile phone. Suddenly a massive black snake just appeared, so I picked that up too. It was then that the second one just sank his fangs right into my hand and then the other one did the same to my other hand." "

Hopefully I'm not the only one laughing to myself about this tit standing in the crucifix position with big fuck off Adders having a chomp at his hands, looking like he's holding a length of hosing in each, screaming. The words "A massive black snake just appeared, so I picked that up too" fills me with great glee. Obviously, the first thing you do when you see a "massive black snake" is pick the bastard up and hope for the best. Or perhaps fashion it into a lasso and wave it about your head like a reptilian spaghetti Western. Perhaps starring David Icke. Can't have reptilians without David Icke.

My personal favourite line comes later on it that article:-


"I woke up in hospital, and I kept biting my tongue because it was that big. My lips looked like Mick Jagger's, they were so swollen.

"I felt dead weak and all bloated. I was like Hulk Hogan, my arms were really blown up."


Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant. You couldn't make it up.