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Published:
April 26, 2009
Exclusive: Brean postman attacked
by adder as he empties post box
This
post box at Brean has been taken out of use after the village's
postman got bitten by an adder lurking inside.
Shocked
postie Alan Wakley, pictured, was bitten on the hand by the sneaky
snake as he emptied its contents at Brean Cove last Thursday.
 He
told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "I opened the box to empty the post
and expected to find a couple of letters and a few snails, which
often crawl in through a small hole in the bottom."
"But
when I opened the door and put my hand in, I could hardly believe
it when a snake jumped out and bit my hand. Its fangs went straight
into the back of my hand, giving me a very sharp pain."
"It
felt like a nasty bee sting and made me jump - I hauled the snake
out of the box and threw it onto the grass where it quickly wriggled
away."
"I
think the snake was as shocked to see me as I was to get bitten
by it! It was unmistakingly an adder - its markings were exactly
like the ones I've seen in pictures before."
Alan,
who has been a postman for 16 years, sucked at the scratch marks
on the back of his hand to remove the poison and added some antispectic.
 He
added: "I didn't go to hospital. My hand didn't swell up
and I felt fine, so I decided not to take it further."
Alan
also revealed that it was not the first time he has been bitten
by a snake locally.
"I
was actually bitten once before while playing golf on the course
at Berrow a couple of years ago," he said.
"My
golf ball went off into the rough and when I reached into the
grass to collect it, a snake bit me. I do seem to attract them!"
Meanwhile,
Royal Mail has sealed off the post box next to Brean Cove cafe
as a precaution.
Tape
has been placed around the front of the box and a written message
on it reads: "Out Of Use. Caution - Snake (Adder)."
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