Posted By Paul Leadbetter Somewhere else! Paul

Posted By John Murgatroyd Protection against killing, injuring and sale, etc This level of protection applies to the four widespread species of reptile, namely the common lizard, slow-worm, grass snake and adder. Only part of sub-section 9(1) and all of sub-section 9(5) apply; these prohibit the intentional killing and injuring and trade (i.e. sale, barter, exchange, transporting for sale and advertising to sell or to buy). It is not an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to possess these animals.

Posted By Robert K Lewis Just to pick up the construction issue, your commercial people may well have field day here as the job is not that which was priced for obvious reasons. Really depends on how "rough" you want to be with a client and PS who seemingly failed to provide some vital information which the client knew or could reasonably obtain! Certainly it could affect the final project and this may need some time to resolve. I rather doubt however that the ommission was intentional - in fact the information may not have reached the appropriate managers. Discussion with the client side is the best way forward to negotiate a sensible answer to a mutual problem. Bob

Posted By Lynne Ratcliffe FYI The adder is more afraid of us than we are of it or them (that I vehemently challenge!) Most bites from an adder do not contain venom A bite from an adder is little worse than a bee sting (again I challenge that opinion!) It hurts an adder more to bite us that it hurts us (again I vehemently challenge that opinion) Close proximety of adders can increase the ability to exercise (one 75 year old sprinted 100 yards in world record time!)

Posted By J Knight Hi to all our antipodean cousins! An adder is a european snake of the viper family, by your standards not terribly venomous, but Lynne is quite right to question the somewhat dubious information she has picked up (from lord knows where!). The bite is painful, affects a much greater area than a bee sting and can be fatal, though fatality is very unlikely and is usually related to pre-existing vulnerabilities; that is young children and people with dicky tickers might just die, the rest of us would be a bit poorl and sore for a while. The venom is classified as haemotoxic, unlike that of say a cobra which acts on the nervous system. I haven't actually heard of an adder fatality in the UK recently, though I did hear of an incident by the Guildford canal in the '80s when an excercising squaddie dropped his hat; it fell on an adder which bit him when he picked it up and he ended up unconscious and in hospital. The combination of venom and violent exercise in summer was what did for him. Adders are fairly small, a two-footer would be big, and are quite thick set, with a dark brown colouring and a zig-zag pattern of darker lines, though some I've seen have been nearly black. They are in decline, like most british herptiles, and deserve protection as they are not aggressive and bite only in self-defence or to kill prey (and no, they don't eat humans, even babies). Not quite like a Tiger snake, I know, but then you have spiders that can kill a man at twenty paces, or so I hear, John

Posted By Jim-F Oh right jom, so your snakes are more deadlier and bigger than ours, well theres a first, and I suppose your Kangaroos are bigger too

Posted By Jonathan Breeze John, No I'm afraid that wasn't me, so I can't help you there.

Posted By jom Jim-F >oh right jom, so your snakes are more >deadlier and bigger than ours, well theres a >first, and I suppose your Kangaroos are >bigger too Well, they are daedlier and bigger. And we're scared of em. Hey, there are British roos? Fantastic. Ok, jokes aside, if adders can harm you, then that's to be treated seriously. Snakes are a fact of life in Aust., they are common in all parts of the country, and an OHS problem in some occupations. However, snakebite is rare and victims usually survive. Like someone else said earlier, the snake doesn't want to mess with humans and will make itself scarce. When bushwalking, it's difficult to spot a snake and observe it - they scapa when they feel footsteps. There are plenty of pythons in Oz and they are not venemous. They can bite. Some are exquisite. Some are so big you'd die of fright if you met one in the dark. I don't think any of the fanged snakes are non-venemous. Wouldn't make sense, would it? Can you get any pix of the adders' nest, Jim? I've seen a photo of a nest of rattle snakes in Florida - unsettling. A few weeks ago I got stung in the cheek by a European Wasp. We have a nest inside the house wall. Please come and collect your wildlife, we have enough of our own. Cheers, J.

Posted By Jon Bradburn Was in the states back in '88, On too seperate occasions awoke to be found sharing my sleeping bag with an american black widow (the eight legged sort before you all start) On another occasion I saw a guy point out a brown recluse, descride in detail just as we seen on the lectures then promptly squashed it under his thumb. Rock hard or extremely stupid - dont try this at home folks. See we are the deadliest speicies on the planet! Back here I still scared $%£"less of spiders lol