Adders and dogs

This blog was suggested by Elaine Kennedy's post on the nextdoor website (https://nextdoor.co.uk) after she took her 10 month old dog Murphy for a walk near the Roundhouse. Elaine describes how they'd just got onto the path going towards the dam to start their walk: “I saw Murphy jump and run away looked over and there was an adder which had clearly bit him. Took him immediately to the nearest vet where he was for hours but then got transferred up to the vet school in Glasgow. Please be very careful when out walking not only for your dog but also yourself as these snakes can also give a nasty bite to humans.” Murphy was given antivenom drugs, his face and neck were very swollen and he was in a lot of pain. But Elaine tells me that he now seems to be fully recovered and back to his “mischievous self”.

Elaine reminds people to be careful where they’re walking - although adders are part of Loch Doon’s rich wildlife it’s very uncommon for human’s to get bitten by them. But it isn’t so unusual for dogs. And not just in the summer. Adders can also be active on warm sunny winter days as one walker here found out when he realised his dog had been bitten in the chest. And not just dogs. A cat belonging to one of our residents’ was bitten under the chin. Both animals recovered, but dogs and cats are curious and playful and it seems like adders don’t beat a rapid retreat from them as they do if they’re aware of a human approaching them. And please don’t behave as stupidly as one of our visitors - he picked up an adder, it bit his hand, he dropped it, then he picked it up again and - guess what? - it bit his hand again. But unless you tread on an adder by accident - or deliberately pick one up - you’re unlikely to be bitten. And don’t kill them - adders are a protected species.