Vipers in Switzerland - leave well alone!

One generally associates venomous snakes with tropical countries: India, Africa, Australia – not Switzerland. But in fact the country hosts two species of viper: the common adder (vipera berus, the same as in the UK) and the asp viper (vipera aspic).

Both, over the years, have seen their lowland habitats decimated and are now mostly found in the Alps where they can be quite prevalent in some regions according to expert Andy Meyer of the Swiss centre for the protection of amphibians and reptiles (KARCH). “It’s Impossible to say how many there are in Switzerland, but in the best possible areas, you might find five or six vipers per hectare,” he told Swisster.

Having said that, both species, which can measure up to 90 centimetres long, are protected by law and considered close to extinction in lower regions of Switzerland – few remain in the Jura as well according to Meyer. “Unfortunately this is not a protection for the habitat which has been destroyed by intense agriculture and road building,” he said.

“It’s been illegal to kill or collect them since 1967. However, there is still some illegal collecting going on and occasionally they are killed by people,” he said.

KARCH’s strategies to help foster protection of the snakes is to raise awareness through publications. One of their most popular leaflets concerns the vipers and what to do in case of snakebite – an English-language version of the leaflet has yet to be published.

“It’s not usually life threatening if you are bitten,” said Meyer – the last official fatality was recorded in 1961 though there is a disputed case concerning a child which occured in the 1990s. Symptoms include swelling around the bite zone (sometimes serious), shock, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and of course, it hurts. In rare cases however, victims have suffered severe complications.

According to the Swiss Medical Weekly, one 63-year-old woman bitten outside her Valais chalet in the early 1990s, spent five weeks in hospital before being allowed to go home.

“Nowadays you are treated symptomatically – and not usually with antivenom. There is one hospital in Zurich which stores antivenom which can be distributed to the rest of Switzerland within two hours,” said Meyer who added that the similarity of the respective venoms meant that it was not necessary to identify the species in order to be treated as is vitally important in some countries.

Pressure bandages, to reduce the poison’s spread throughout the lymphatic system and popularized by the late Steve Irwin – the Australian TV crocodile hunter and snake handler – are no longer in vogue according to Meyer. “Just go to hospital as fast as possible and take off watches and rings because of the swelling,” he advised.
As usual prevention is the key. Snakes rarely strike unless threatened or stepped on – hiking boots are essential. Also try to resist the idiotic inclination of some individuals to provoke or pick up snakes, it often results in getting bitten – a punishment which fits the crime.

Vipers like open sunny areas with plenty of rocks, where they can hunt rodents and lizards and take refuge from birds of prey – a principal predator. At their most active in the spring and early autumn, the reptiles are not fond of temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and will hide.

The common adder is predominant in central and eastern regions of Switzerland while the asp viper prefers the west and south.
According to Meyer the general pubic – including farmers – have become “more tolerant” of the snakes in recent years compared to around half a century ago.