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EVENING NEWS (Norwich, UK) 03 August 04 Holiday snake horror
A city schoolboy was left shaken after he came face-to-face with a poisonous snake at his parents' holiday home.
Elliot Brooks, 11, suffered the terrifying ordeal with the 20-inch adder in the bathroom of the holiday chalet, in Eccles-on-Sea, after it had slithered in under the door.
The quick-thinking youngster, who attends Avenue Middle School, jumped from the toilet into the bath in a bid to save himself from being bitten and the snake slid into the corner of the room.
His distraught parents Richard and Roz shouted advice to him from the other side of the bathroom door, but steely-nerved Elliot managed to make it out of the room without being bitten.
The plucky schoolboy, from Earlham Road, Norwich, said: "I was very scared at first. I heard my mum scream that there was an adder coming into the bathroom. I didn't know what to do, but I jumped into the bath and was able to get out.
"It wasn't the first time I have seen an adder, but it was the first time I have ever got that close to one. I'm quite glad it's all over now."
Once Elliot was safely outside the bathroom, Mr Brooks quickly cut a piece of wood to block up the small gap at the bottom of the door and trapped the snake inside.
It marked the start of a 3.5-hour ordeal for the family as they tried to get the snake out of the bathroom.
Mr Brooks phoned the RSPCA and North Walsham police but eventually managed to scoop the snake out of the window using a fishing net, before letting it escape on to the dunes.
Mr Brooks, a doctor at Little Plumstead Hospital, added: "It was a bit of a palaver.
"I think Elliot was quite cool, although it was pretty scary at the time. I was not sure how he was going to react, but he did really well.
"Our main concern was that Elliot would be bitten, but thankfully that did not happen."
The common adder is widely distributed in Europe and can be found as far east as Siberia.
It is a short, sturdy snake that lives on the ground. Being slow-moving, adders do not chase prey, but wait in a concealed position to ambush lizards, mice, voles, shrews, and frogs.
The adder is the only venomous snake in Great Britain, but adults can usually recover from the effects of its bite.
Holiday snake horror

The RSPCA probably couldn't stop laughing long enough to drive over...

"It's about 20 inches long! It's just sitting in the corner, but it's ready to fly at us at any moment! My son barely escaped with his life! Please hurry!"

Oh yeah, everybody knows that when a snake sees a person, its first thought is to slither right up and bite them. Wait a minute, did I say slither? I meant a dramatic leap into the air with fangs bared and dripping, slavering for a taste of human flesh.

Sheesh. I put vipers in my bathtub on purpose when they need extra humidity for shedding. They don't bother anyone else who goes in to use the toilet.

At least they were nice enough to let the snake go and not kill it. But they have a pretty silly idea of what the risks are to any alert person who sees the snake and refrains from handling it or stepping on it.

They still don't sound like nearly as big of a bunch of pansies as the rowing team in the northeast U.S. that was "attacked" by an otter.

>>The RSPCA probably couldn't stop laughing long enough to drive over...

Actually, the RSPCA are just about as clueless as the newspaper reporter and the family when it comes to snakes. News reports showing RSPCA inspectors wading in in full body armour to collect some escaped corn snake, and then expounding at length about the unacceptable risk to the public that herpetoculture represents, are frequent and would be a cause of much mirth, if it weren't for the fact that the RSPCA is a very powerful organisation that has the ear of governments and the media alike.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
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