PEAK DISTRICT: Nurse saves snake bitten puppy

The seven-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier, Buddy, was bitten by the snake while out walking on Curbar Edge with his owner, Nathan Hurst, 28 and his nurse mum, Gail Hurst on May 6.

“We were walking along and Buddy ran off,” said Gail. “Then we suddenly saw him leap in the air yelping.”

“We ran over thinking he had been stung by a bee, but saw this snake, about two foot long.”

Gail Hurst is pictured with Buddy, Natalie Packer with Roxy and Nathan Hurst following a family walk to Curber where two of their dogs were bit by an adder.

Gail – who works for NHS Sheffield – immediately sprung to action to help save the whimpering pup.

“I just thought, if it was a human that was bitten, what would I do?”

She made a makeshift tourniquet for his injured paw out of a shoelace and Nathan carried him the two miles back to the car.

They took Buddy to the emergency vet in Sheffield who managed to save the animal’s life.

Gail, who lives in Woodseats, Sheffield added: “He is recovering really well at home. But I just worry about children playing in the long grass there.”

But Chris Monk said adders – which are Britain’s only venomous snakes – pose little harm to humans.

“The threat posed by adders is not huge,” he said. “There are thousands of people who visit the area every year and most never even see one.

“If your dog does get bitten, though, owners must pick it up and carry it to a vets straight away for treatment. In the vast majority of cases the animals will be fine.”

Andy Farmer, field services area manager at Peak District National Park Authority, said: “Curbar Edge is a wildlife habitat and people should be aware that encountering an adder is a possibility. Adders are a special part of the national park’s biodiversity and they are something we should be proud of.”

Have you seen adders in the Peak District? Email [email protected]