I’M sure we would all agree that this hasn’t been the greatest summer when it comes to the weather.

However, if you were an adder – Scotland’s snake in the grass – you wouldn’t be bothered about that.

The adder likes to sleep somewhere dark, where nobody will disturb it. A compost heap would do the job nicely.

If you are a gardener or have a plot to tend to, you may already know all about this and be on the lookout for one of these snakes making its way towards you.

If not and you disturb one, well, you’ll need to have your wits about you.

If an adder strikes and bites you, you could be very ill for some weeks.

Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often but I did meet a man in Erskine once who disturbed an adder which was lurking in a compost heap.

He didn’t know the snake was in there and, when he disturbed the heap with his spade, it didn’t take kindly to being woken up.

The adder, being much quicker to react than us humans, managed to bite the man.

Fortunately, he knew what type of snake he had been bitten by and realised he had to make his way to hospital.

However, as he made his way there, the effects of being bitten started to hit him.

His temperature shot through the roof and, even though he immediately doused himself in cold water with a garden hose, it didn’t help much.

Then the pain and shock began to take over.

He did get himself to the hospital – not highly recommended but no-one else was around to help and he knew he had to get to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Thankfully, the doctors knew what had happened to him before he lost consciousness.

After a week or two in hospital, which he didn’t remember much about, the man recovered.

I don’t want to alarm anyone but just be careful if you are tending a plot and have a compost heap or are walking on a trail or hillside, as an adder might just be moving nearby.

And you don’t want to get in its way.