The Kintyre Forum

Surely the "Courier" can do better than the quality of journalism shown in their "Kintyre woman survives adder attack".

The first paragraph does not even make sense.

"She" is used 13 times in the short article. We are not told the lady's name although "Gloria" is mentioned at the beginning of the 5th paragraph.

I would normally hesitate to criticise anyone's work but even if this is a young fledgeling journalist starting his/her career, or even a student on work experience, I would have thought that there should be someone proof-reading and picking up such mistakes before the paper goes to print.

i agree and i surely would hate to be an adder after this, the headline makes them sound like the most poisonous beastie ever to slither across the ground. In reality an adders bite will just bring mild symptons (although i'm sure someone will have a different opinion on this). I think if folk read this headline and perhaps don't know any better, they will eliminate any snakes they come across for fear they (the adders) will prey on other innocent walkers. I thought it was ill advised to use that headline. x

Agreed, I thought exactly the same. an adder is not a cobra or a krait, and as far as I know, we are not going to be overrun by them. This is a very isolated incident, as they are very timid creatures who take off when there is any movement in their vicinity. It does happen, but only if the adder has no other option. They are not aggressive. A worse threat when walking in rural areas are ticks, which can transfer Lyme's Disease, a very debilitating illness which can stay with you for a long time. An adder bite is just an annoyance compared to this.

I knew about adders from a very young age, when I used to go hillwalking with my father, and his technique, when in areas where there might be adders was to have a stick with you, and keep it in front of you, always prodding the grass or heather, so that they became aware of your presence and made off before you stood on them or surprised them, when they would strike.

Just as an aside, I have heard that sheep are very adept at disposing of adders. Don't know whether this is an urban myth (or rural myth). If it's correct, I suppose sheep have to be good at something! Maybe some of the farmers among the forum members could advise on this?

Come on Emdee - I thought a person of your intellect would have know that it's cows that have adders, is that not those things the milk comes out?

Noo, wherz ma jaiket!

i thought it was a deadly wee piece of scandal! well, not deadly but more interesting to me than reading about a coo thats better than another coo or some pap about the pipe band or something similarly droned on about.

although usually i only pick up the courier to look at the pictures and to read the police files

It wasn't the story itself that got me, it was the way it was written. I read it and had to read it again to see if I'd missed the name of the person that had been bitten. The way it was written wasn't very proffesional.

Write to them to complain then?

All talk and no action

What would I write.....eh...your reporters' grammar is crap?????

Just tell em the whole things crap,spend your paper money in the Bermuda triangle and get the real news.

I see in today’s paper that a Dundee man is recovering from an adder bite which he sustained while grouse beating on Glenlivet Estate.

Apparently he picked up the snake so that his brother could take a photo of him holding it. It swung round and bit him on the opposite hand. Fancy that? Maybe he thought they liked being picked up.

I would have thought that anyone involved in grouse beating would have known better than that. They’re not difficult to identify.

This seems to have been a particularly bad year for adder bites. Anything to do with climate change?