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Venomous Snake Warning |
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AGILIS
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Gemma you mean where there are no snakes not beds keith
Edited by AGILIS - 25 May 2012 at 8:47pm |
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LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Snakes on heathland?? Who ever heard of such a thing Keith? If I saw any I would report them immediately to Natural England so they could be eradicated as part of their ongoing holistic approach to nature conservation.
Good job we all have a sense of humour on here it isn't it
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sussexecology
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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Injury from falls is right i would say I remember when I fell off a gate back in 2006 and I was off work for at least 6 weeks, and when I went back to work I was still limited in what I could do. I apparently snapped a ligament in my knee and was very lucky it wasn't more serious than that (hospital staff said i was very lucky). Can't imagine anything worse than that to be honest but it happened right in the middle of the survey season a Top tip for prevention: Don't climb over a gate if you can open it, especially if you are tired!!!! Accident could have been prevented def but i was too lazy to open the gate.... Was just annoyed by people ringing me constantly on the mobile, despite me saying i was off sick at the time. cheers regards SE Reptile Ecologist |
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sussexecology
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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Most definately Life is too short so we need a sense of humour but apparently we do have on here - which is good to know. Which reminds me what happened to that thread with the pictures and captions ....it seems to have disappared and not been touched for ages..............think we need to start that up again for sure. Snakes on heathland ............ yeap better inform the people in charge who willl no doubt destroy the population in the foreseeable future. You know I'm kidding right so please don't take the above comment as it sounds, regards SE Reptile Ecologist |
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AGILIS
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1689 |
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Well just back from a scorching boot sale this morning ,On the way going there at 6am radio Suffolk news reported that the Suffolk wild life trust is playing down their snake bite warning that they put out a few days a go, because of this hot weather according to them brings loads of snakes out I think its the opposite ,what a load of panic stricken bloody cretins to think these people hold some form of authority within the wild life trust, I am sure their raising the alarm has done a world of good within the public vigilantes beating the heaths with their anti snake sticks to rid us of dangerous beasts that lurk threatening their dogs and kids on a hot day keith
Edited by AGILIS - 27 May 2012 at 11:04am |
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LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I think we would all agree the hot weather makes snake encounters far less likely.
What happens is that more people go out in the countryside on nice days. As it appears that many these days have absolutely no sense and will pick up snakes, sit on them and walk around on heaths and in long grass in nothing more than sandals or trainers, a handful of them get bitten each year. I think in many cases adder are blamed for any bites, where certainly some can be attributed to insect stings, spider bites and simply thorns. Plenty of reported cases of 'adder bites' crop up where none have ever been recorded. It's no surprise to me a Wildlife Trust would consider itself an authority on the subject. EWT even take on consultancy work. You can guess the results, considering they came up with the gem that there were no suitable sites iin Essex for the translocation of the Gateway animals. I guess Suffolk Wildlilfe Trust were just afraid someone might get bitten at one of their sites over the weekend and sue them. I can quite honestly say I now feel there is absolutely no place for a native reptiles in the current picture of wildlife conservation. How terribly sad that is.
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tim-f
Senior Member Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Location: Bristol, UK Status: Offline Points: 208 |
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26 degC on Mendip and definitely not the best conditions to see herps. I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of (I think) a Common Lizard and also what was probably a female Adder disappearing very quickly. Otherwise diddly.
I did though see a superb pair of Redstarts - my first for about 20 years. This snake bite scaremongering is similar to the bad press that sharks get. Periodically a holiday maker will see a Basking Shark off a Cornish beach and assume it's a Great White. Of course the newspapers love that, as "Benign Plankton Eater Seen Off Coast (Which is Actually Quite a Common Occurence)" isn't much of a headline. I went to a lecture by the Shark Trust, about shark attacks in the UK. Not surprisingly there've been very few. As I recall the only fatality was many years ago when (probably) a Basking Shark knocked a small boat and someone drowned as a result. Other UK shark attacks include a pub landlady who received head wounds, when a stuffed shark fell off the wall and onto her. Then there was a chef who was driving to a resaurant with a 2m Porbeagle on ice in the back of his van. When he braked sharply it shot forward and its teeth gashed his arm. People kill 70 to 100 million sharks each year, primarily for their fins. The fins are cut off and the sharks thrown back into the water to die. Is there nobody or no body that could be lobbied to help protect British herps? What about the HCT and/or Amphibian and Reptile Conservation people? Apologies if I've missed reference to these organisations. Edited by tim-f - 27 May 2012 at 7:04pm |
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Chris d
Senior Member Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 79 |
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sussexecology
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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Chris: Think you should be ok, unless you are sleeping in a tent. Gemma; That is very sad, and a reason why I don't want to move into the conservation sector, because they haven't got a clue on the needs for reptiles. Regards SE Reptiles Ecologist |
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sussexecology
Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411 |
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Reptiles pretty hyperactive at the moment Having said that, I was on a site earlier in the week and the temperature when I started the survey was the upper limit, and I was wondering whether it would be worth terminating the survey. However, I was still finding slow worms under the refugia - but must admit now it is getting too hot even for me to be out surveying. Refugia was Onduline so heats up far faster i reckon than roofing felt. Lizards basking on top of my onduline too so altogether a good session. If you want to find reptiles in these conditions, go much earlier in the day before it's heated up.............. Waiting for a break in the weather, like rain though and forecasts look like that on Monday afternoon...... Oh dear though, it is that another weather warning i see. Do people (reptile ecologists) die in thunder-storms then ??? Esp if you have corrugated iron on your site and you pick it up at just the wrong moment. Ouch! Regards SE Reptile Ecologist |
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