Poskok (horned viper, Vipera ammodytes) is the most dangerous European snake.

Tourists in Croatia often end up in problems thanks to their bizarre behaviour, but a woman from the Netherlands could easily win the competition for the most stupid act, reports October 24, 2018.Tourists in Croatia often end up in problems thanks to their bizarre behaviour, but a woman from the Netherlands could easily win the competition for the most stupid act, reports Index.hr October 24, 2018.

During her stay in Croatia, she and her partner went hiking on the Biokovo mountain. The young woman stumbled upon a viper and decided it would a good idea to try to pet it. She tried to do it, but the snake did not share her enthusiasm. It bit her middle finger of the right hand.

Since they quickly realised the bite was not harmless, they immediately called for help and she was picked up by an ambulance from Makarska. “The young man who was with the woman was calm and used their car to drive towards the foot of Biokovo. Our staff caught them halfway there, and our doctor immediately identified what kind of wound it was. He marked the bite with a pen in order to be able to follow the spread of poison in the body,” said Mate Kasalo from the local emergency medicine department.

The patient was then urgently transported to the Infectology Clinic. During the drive, her entire forearm had swollen. Immediately after reaching the clinic, she was given an antipyrin serum which is mandatory in such cases.

Kasalo pointed out that it was better for a patient to receive this serum in the hospital than in an ambulance because of possible reactions and side effects. “In this case, we cannot say it was an accidental bite. The snake was provoked since the person wanted to have a contact with the snake. It was a young horned viper,” he said.

The whole incident got even more bizarre after it was discovered that the girl initially tried to remove the poison from the wound on her own and thus possibly made her condition even worse. “She tried to suck the poison out, and in that way, she actually sucked the poison into her body. There were two ways the poison could have entered the body: through blood vessels during the bite and through the digestive tract. This must never be done because if the person in question has a bad tooth, they can make the situation dramatically worse because poison can be absorbed more quickly into the body,” said Kasalo.

Still, the whole incident ended in the best possible way since the woman, after spending a few days in the hospital, was well enough to go home.

These kind of vipers are the most poisonous snakes in Europe and people should not come near them under any conditions, let alone try to pet them.

Translated from Index.hr.