WHY I TELL GUESTS TO BEWARE OF THE ADDERS

DEATHS from adder bites are vanishingly rare. But Britain’s only venomous snake still packs a toxic punch.

The Mail reported last week how Lewis Wise, aged three, had been left ‘temporarily paralysed’ and hospitalised after being bitten by one he had accidentally stepped on in a park in Surrey.

His father, Daniel, who happens to be a ‘ snake enthusiast’ with a collection of 47 (non-poisonous) pythons and boas, said: ‘I heard a massive scream and realised he’d been bitten.’

I feel fortunate this never happened to any of our children. Our home In East Sussex is a magnet for adders. It is in the sort of open woodland habitat and sandy soil the snake thrives on.

When we moved in, we found the previous owner had left us some anti-venom in the fridge, with a note saying: ‘You’ll need this.’ Once, we were having dinner when we saw an adder slithering across the floor. One of our guests, who’d just driven in from London, could not believe his eyes. We affected nonchalance, of course.

But neither we, nor our children, have ever been bitten by any of our resident adders. However, we used to have a giant dog, a Leonberger called Zulu, who was once over-curious in his approach. We knew he had been bitten when he emitted a weird bark and shot off to immerse himself in our mill-pond (presumably to cool off the bite).

He then came galumphing back, and, covered in slimy detritus from the muddy pond, proceeded to ruin every carpet in the house as he hurtled from room to room, yelping piteously.

Happily, he recovered from the bite. But still, we warn visitors with dogs to beware of the adders.