Ignorance dangerous for snake-bit Scotsman

Published: Aug. 26, 2008 at 8:47 PM

DUNDEE, Scotland, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A Scottish gardener working for the first time as a grouse beater said he risked his life because he did not realize the country has venomous snakes.

Billy McAskill grabbed the snake because he wanted to photograph it and was bitten on the thumb as it slipped away, The Scotsman reported. He stayed out with a shooting party because gamekeepers told him he had "nothing more than a scratch."

"I didn't think there were any poisonous snakes in the U.K., let alone Scotland," he said.

What he did not know was that the snake was an adder, a protected species in Britain and the only venomous species in most of Europe.

"By the time we got back to the bothy five hours later, I was feeling really bad and my hand had swollen up to about three times its normal size," he said.

McAskill spent a night in a hospital in Elgin and went home to Dundee to recuperate.

"That was my first time grouse beating and will definitely be my last -- not for 35 pounds ($70) a day, anyway," he said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
NHL: Ottawa 4, Anaheim 3 (SO) (33 min)
COL BKB: Villanova 95, Maryland 86 (34 min)
NHL: Detroit 3, New York Rangers 1 (35 min)
NBA: Detroit 98, Washington 94 (36 min)
UPI NewsTrack Sports (56 min)
Alabama, Texas to vie for national title
UPI Thoroughbred Racing Roundup
fark
After closed meeting on openness, Obama talks up the downside of the left being right about looking...
U.S. Air Force ends ban on recruits with tattoos on their saluting arms, admitting yeah, they'll...
Some people lift huge weights. Some people pull trains with their teeth. And then there's this guy...
Photoshop this armor
Tiger Woods' fifth (and counting) mistress emerges from the rough, complains the golfer "used her...
Bandits steal $318 worth of gum from gas station. Although it blows for the victim, police say their...