I have a lot of respect for adders, as I was once bitten whilst filming, during my early years of photographing nature, It was my own fault, stupidly holding a camera in one hand and a stick in the other, to distract the snake for a side view of its head. Photographing in a local forestry commission, from what I thought was a safe distance its fangs struck me between my finger and thumb. Very quickly my armpit and back was aching, not helped by pumping my left hand on a heavy clutch on my motor bike, I arrived in Hospital and felt very ill. I was doubled over with intense pain, massive swelling of hand, arm, face, neck and throat, and a severe headache.
My eyes had dilated and when laying on a stretcher I was suffering from convulsions. There were many doctors helping me and ironically, it was me who had become the subject of there photography in the hospital. The doctors injected me with anti-venom, my body felt like it was on fire at first, including my testicles, I wish now I never screamed my balls are on fire as the doctors tried to get them out with a camera in hand and many doctors and nurses called to watch me suffer as a education trip, I was not to happy. Later the pain eased. I spent the first night dipping my hand in a bowl of ice, to try and keep the swelling down, as my hand looked like a blown up rubber glove, as well as being connected to a drip feed. The second day my hand was up in the air in a sling. I remained in hospital for one week and was off work for another two, suffering from hallucinations and other effects. It surprised me to be so ill over something that happened in a fraction of a second, the hospital told me the snakes fangs probably went straight into a vain.
It shows just how little venom a snake needs to kill its prey, the picture of the black adder above left is the adder that attacked me, the story has been published in a photo magazine and published on disk for students education, to teach them to stay away from adders if nothing else.
Well my picture tells a story, friends and work colleagues all had a good laugh with funny cartoons of me and the snake stuck to walls, except my wife who was not pleased, as she hates snakes.