Friday 30 June 2017

Hissing Sid...


Ok so a fairly short post today but it is all about our encounter with a snake, an unexpected encounter with the infamous Cyprus Blunt Nosed Viper.  We had gone down to see Millie-Mou who has recently been bitten by a snake and I was worried about her because she is currently on her own as John and Susan had to return to the UK for the funeral of John's mum.  Yesterday on my second visit she seemed to be stiffening all down her right side and was clearly unhappy. So I wanted John to come with me today to give me his opinion because, it being Friday, if she needed to go to the vets we wanted to take her today rather than leave it to the weekend when it would be more difficult.

On our arrival John went into the gym to see Millie and I walked up onto the patio where we would normally feed her if she was fit and healthy to pick up some food to try and get her to eat.

Just as I reached the top of the stairs I could see a snake making its way towards the water bowl and food.  From the shape of its head and its demeanour I was pretty sure it was a blunt nosed viper but I hadn't seen one this close up before.  I called for John and he armed himself with the only thing to hand - Susan's mop which we will probably have to replace as it got a right old hammering.

The snake was a canny thing - and it didn't want to be moved on from the food and water.  John didn't really want to kill it and to be fair the mop wasn't up to the job so he used it to shoo it out of the garden but the snake got progressively more pissed off - if you look very carefully you can see its head in the top left of the picture - mouth open spitting and attacking the mop.  At one point John raised the mop to give it a whack and couldn't see the snake as it had attached itself to the mop and was dangling above his head!  John managed to get the creature off the premises and over the side where we saw it disappear up a drainage pipe.  We were concerned that Millie had encountered this snake for a second time (if it was the one which bit her in the first place).  What was clear was that the water left our for her was attracting unwelcome visitors so we decided to return with food bowls so we could feed her in the gym and a bigger dirt box so if she needed to use it she could as the one Susan had left was far too small.

In fact we visited Millie three times today as I was so worried about her.  I wasn't keen on the spray the vet had given for her treatment as it appears it is normally only used on livestock and can be too strong for a domestic pet and she is such a teeny tiny thing and her front leg looks very strange although it might be just that the fur is all matted having been sprayed so much.

On our first two visits she ate nothing and was lethargic and shuffled around but on our final visit she had perked up considerably, she wanted to eat and she wanted to have a lot of love which John duly supplied.  Phew relief, I think they will need to take her back to have her front leg looked at but she seems to have turned a corner.  She is such a lovely little thing and looks so scraggy in the summer at the best of times.  I should sleep better tonight as I wont be so worried.






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