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Old 09-05-2011, 10:49 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Jake Jake is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2011
Posts: 795
Default Slow Worms Have a Bite!!!!

On Mon, 09 May 2011 20:05:26 +0100, Corporal Jones
wrote:

On 09/05/2011 19:29, Jake wrote:
Checked my compost daleks today in anticipation of emptying them over
the beds and borders. Happy that both look like I've tipped a bag of
multi-purpose into them (and the exit holes at the bottom look equally
good).

Made big mistake!

Pushed hand down into one to feel what it was like in the middle.

Picture this - jiggling hand around to get it down as far as arm will
reach. Nice warm feeling on hand. Suddenly, great pain. Yank hand out,
complete with two slow worms firmly hanging on to fingers by their
teeth or whatever they have.

I was whacking them against the side of the daleks for a while before
they let go and slithered off somewhere (OK they're lizards that don't
slither but I wasn't worrying about semantics at that point). Sheesh!
The amount of blood; the size of the wounds.

Note to self - don't try rescuing slow worms from cat in future!

Three hours and dollops of TCP later and the hand is still stinging!

Well that's a first for me, handled loads of Slow worms and never once
been bitten, they swallow their prey rather than chew them, if they feel
threatened they shit on you, stinks as well.
Sure they weren't young grass snakes or adders?


Deffo slow worms. I get adders in the garden a bit later in the year
but never adderlings (is that what they're called?) as they seem to
spend the early part of the season along the riverbank next door but
one (next door being a field currently of rape - thanks for inhalers -
the river's on the other side). Grass snakes tend to curl around my
hand/arm rather than bite (and are quite cute in a way). I've had a
nip from a slow worm before whilst rescuing it from a neighbour's cat
but not a pair of grab and hang ons like today.

Plus adders would have bitten and "run" (and I'd have suffered a bit
more in a different way, I think!). But I didn't panic. I tried a
Mannering lecture first. They didn't drop off (not even to sleep). You
would have been proud, watching me whacking them against one of the
daleks, in a totally non-panic mood I hasten to add Then this funny
chap appeared with some sort of device he called a sonic screwdriver.
He pointed it at them. There was a funny buzz and they let go all of a
sudden and wriggled off (not slithering I hasten to add).