Snake bites after boy's grave mistake (From Stroud News and Journal)

Snake bites after boy's grave mistake

A BOY has been bitten by a poisonous snake in Stroud.

Jake Gardener, 12, had a lucky escape after a close encounter with an angry adder in the town's cemetery this week.

The youngster spent two days in hospital waiting for the swelling to reduce in his arm.

On Wednesday Jake was playing football with friends in Daisybank and went to get some rocks from the cemetery to use as goal posts.

But he disturbed an adder and the surprised snake lunged at him, piercing his hand with a poisonous fang.

"Jake pulled back quickly," said the youngster's mum Sally.

" The snake only caught him with one of its fangs. "That was lucky really because it meant he only got half the amount of venom."

Jake was rushed to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where he was pumped full of medicine and kept wired up to a heart monitor for the first night.

"It was real shock when it happened," said Mrs Gardener. "Jake came running in completely hysterical - his arm was really inflamed and he was in a lot of pain."

Now Jake's mum and Stroud Town Council staff who look after the cemetery are hoping the boy's experience will act as a cautionary tale to other youngsters.

"We are keen to get a warning out to the children who play in the area," said head groundsman Brian Riley.

"Adders are quite common up there and not just in the old Victorian cemetery. "They have been spotted basking on the tarmac in the new cemetery in the hot weather we've been having recently."

Children frequently explore the old graveyard, turning over rocks in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a lizard or slowworm.

Colin Studholme, head of conservation for the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust said: "Adders are not really aggressive as such."

"They have very good senses so usually they will hear people coming and slither away.

"But sometimes they get caught out if someone disturbs them and they strike out as a natural defence.

"They don't lie in wait to ambush people."

He said an adder bite could be fatal, particularly for the very young or infirm, but deaths from bites were rare in this country.

He said: "To put it in perspective more people die from bee stings than they do from adder bites."