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Snake Gloves, handling

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Feb 2006 at 4:34am

I thought free handling was when you let the animal pass through your hands like you might a grass snake? In which case I agree with Tony's comment that anyone doing it deserves a bite. A quick 'google' will reveal a number of accounts of UK adder bites where inexperienced handlers allowed animals to move freely in the hands and were subsequently repaid for their stupidity!

I would not class tailing for the purposes of securing the animal in a tube, bucket or bag etc as free handling or am I missing something?



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Wolfgang Wuster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Feb 2006 at 5:26am
Gemma is correct IMO.

"Free-handling" is the entirely unrestrained handling of snakes without trying to keep any particular part of the snake away from you.

Tailing, on the other hand, is a controlled way of handling a snake that is intended to keep your bits out of reach of the business end of the animal. Obviously, with some snakes, this method is grossly unsafe, but with adders, it is indeed a generally safe standard method, as most people here will know.

Real free-handling is just asking for a bite - I have had too many harmless snakes (incuding some that supposedly never ever bite, according to the books) coil contentedly around my fingers and hands, only to suddenly turn round and go *chomp* without apparent reason. With a hamrless snake, this is mildly annoying, with a venomous snake, it would be asking for a Darwin Award and intense posthumous embarrassment.

Glib statements that one has had many bites but doesn't worry about them are not exactly signs of good handling skills (would you want to go for a drive with someone who boasts about how many car crashes he/she has had?). Moreover, multiple bites are an excellent way of developing a venom allergy that could potentially lead to a rapidly fatal anaphylactic shock after one bite too many. Don't become a statistic, and, more importantly, don't become a negative, anti-adder newspaper headline!

Cheers,

Wolfgang

Edited by Wolfgang Wuster
Wolfgang Wüster

School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor

http://pages.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote herpetologic2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Feb 2006 at 1:17pm

 

Sorry my mistake - I always tail any adder that I need to capture with a snake hook (a small one) and get them into a bag - I never let the animal pass through my hands without gloves (those american gloves are perfect for this) thought you do not grip the animal too hard - you support the animal with your gloved fingers - the adder is non aggressive and if it has been calmed down in a bag or covered vessel then they tend to coil up in a gloved hand - once you are finished with the animal it can be liberated at the point of capture.

With the protocol for the Make the adder count most surveys would not require capturing any of the adders you see - reminder send in any counts for 2005 to HCT!

 

 

Report your sightings to the Record Pool http://arguk.org/recording
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jopedder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 6:02am

I've read this thread with interest, and wondered what forum members would consider using (in the way of gloves, hooks or bare hands) for handling grass snakes. 

Are hooks useful for getting hold of active grass snakes, I would imagine that when disturbed they can make away at quite a pace, and getting a hook safely under them could be difficult.

I've had a look at the hooks on sale at Alana, one looks like the traditional metal hook and the other looks like one of those litter picking claws.  Has anyone used one of these?

Slightly nervously approaching a situation where I may need to handle grassies,

Jo

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote herpetologic2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 6:34am

 

Bare hands, or if you are surveying near bramble, nettles etc then a garden glove would be useful to prevent any stratches, cuts and stings - a long sleeved top would also help when you are diving into bramble after a large grassie!

The litter picker thingy is not worth using on british snakes - using a snake hook on a grass snake is also not necessary but of course you have to catch them first - I regularly go and search for grass snakes at my local study area by visual survey and when spotted I normally catch the animal by hand - so far I have caught 9 out of 12 spotted - two were fleeting glimpse encounters and another got into a large pond with no chance of catching -

Regards

 

Jon

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jopedder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 6:42am
Thanks Jon, what i'm most conserned about is distressing the animals, the grass snakes i've encountered before have always made a quick dash away from me, but i've not been interested in catching them before.  I take it that you do need to dive for them when spotted, or are encounters more usually along the adder lines, where you can sneak up on them whilst they are basking?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 6:52am

Bare hands, a hook would not help at all and with gloves you will likely lose any feel. Hooks are useful for controlling the head of adders and supporting the body whilst they are tailed. A grassy would most likely wrap itself around the hook.

Just believe and grab.. it works! Though grassies may struggle initially, if you keep a firm hold by the time they have skunked you they usually calm down and can be freely handled until release. If you need to catch them in any numbers.. use cover objects, it does take a long time for grass snakes to make use of them though at many sites.

If your still in doubt I'm sure someone on here would go out with you and show you how it is done.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jopedder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 7:13am

I guess the bit that I'm not looking forward too is when I've got the animal in my hands and it is struggling.  Slow worms can really freak out, and I have in my head that I'll be holding a meter long snake whipping about trying to get free.  Although, as there is no risk of tail shed with grassies then the risk of them harming themselves while they calm down must be fairly minimal. 

When you say to keep a firm hold, do you hold them against the ground when you have 'believed and grabbed' (might become a useful mantra!) or in the air, against your body? 

And one for the health and safety form - being bitten is pretty unlikely and no worse than a domestic cat bite, right?

Thanks,

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 7:41am

You want them off the ground ASP.. else they will get their heads and forebody in the undergrowth.. no choice then but to release them as trying to pull them out backwards will very likely damage them.

Best grab and lift, then let the snake coil around your hand, hold firm (not tight just enough that you have control) and after an initial thrash they will calm down. I usually do this at arms length, though I personally quite like the smell of grass snakes most people don't

A cat bite is about a million times worse than being snagged by a grassy, trust me I was once hospitalised by a cat! Grass snakes very very rarely bite in any case but it is no more than a few pin pricks that tend to bleed a bit more than you would expect, it really isn't an issue, your are much more likely to snag yourself on brambles whilst catching them than be injured by the snake.

Believe and grab, believe and grab etc

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Aug 2006 at 7:46am
When you lift a tin up with adders and grass snakes under the latter will be off pretty quickly. Adders hang around or move more slowly off. A tin, or other cover, with just a grass snake under requires you to pounce pretty quickly - two person job really, one for cover holding and one to do the grabbing - and yes they do a fair bit of squirming and you will be covered in their smell. I hold them out from my body as it's easier to look at them. If you are uncomfortable holding a slow worm you might never be comfortable holding snakes. I don't touch many snakes but I've been doing it since I was a kid and it's just one of those things you get used to after a while.  Perhaps best if you were to squat or sit down with the snake so it didn't have far to go if it slithered out of your grip. Maybe dropping them doesn't do much harm but it would be kinder to have them nearer the ground if you're unsure of your grip.
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