# Snake advice



## GROUNDHOG (Mar 7, 2006)

Of course we should be honoured but hissing sid and his mates have decided to invade our garden, three today ( Grass snakes I think)

I know there are beautiful and harmless and should not be harmed themselves but is there anyway of suggesting they move elsewhere ( apart from the buzzard hovering overhead) as SWMBO now refuses to go out the door as she is petrified of the things! Not so keen myself either as it happens!!!

Thanks


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

They do not like being disturbed and will rapidly disappear if footfalls approach, BUT grass snakes are superb at eating slugs, snails etc and are a really good asset to any garden with the space to occupy them, they are likely to lay eggs in compost heaps and if they have the young are about the size of earthworms but grow rapidly.

Do ensure that you do not disturb adders - to do so, wherever they are found, is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as our Chaplain discovered when he did precisely that........ and incurred the financial penalties afterwards.....

I have attached a picture of the eyes of grass snakes and adders - they are markedly different although few people like to get close enough to verify that......

Dave


----------



## GROUNDHOG (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks Penguin, certainly grass snakes, one pretty big and I suspect the others are younger about three feet in length but much 'thinner', the longer one was probably around four feet at a guess. reckon they nested in the compost heap but we also have a wildlife area deliberately set aside - guess I should have put a sign up " sorry no snakes".

We have a lot of voles, mice and the odd rat so I guess it is like a trip to the Ivy for them!


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I remember when I was about 10 I went running into the house shouting SNAKE SNAKE my mother grabbed a bloody great knife, ran out of the house, whipped the lid of the dustbin and went looking for it, I don't know if she got it or not, I stayed well out of the way.

This was back in 1960.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Last autumn in the Lot I went rowing early one morning on one of the canals. There were several snakes swimming along and across the canal banks. 

I tried to row up to one to get a better look and the bloody thing shot out and started chasing the dinghy! (Really!). It was quite nippy an all. I lost sight of it as it closed on the back of the dinghy and expected at any moment for the thing to launch itself up in the boat at me! Either that or sink its fangs in and sink the yellow peril.

I have no idea what kind of snake it was but they don't like being bothered by big yellow rubber boats.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

barryd said:


> Last autumn in the Lot I went rowing early one morning on one of the canals. There were several snakes swimming along and across the canal banks. .......snipped
> I have no idea what kind of snake it was but they don't like being bothered by big yellow rubber boats.


Most likely a grass snake as they are frequently found along the bank of water resources, they prey on amphibians and are very strong swimmers.

They are also protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in the UK and cannot be harmed or traded without a licence, although they may legally be captured and kept in captivity.

Adders can be found in wetlands at times and can be found on the banks of suitable water courses but are not reported as swimming.

So in all likelihood the swimming snakes were grass snakes..........

The female grass snake can be up to 1.83m in length (the male is smaller and thinner).

Dave


----------



## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

One of the few things I achieved in my life was to capture the largest grass snake ever caught at my Boarding School. It was over a yard long, I think 38" and pregnant although that was not my doing.

They are lovely creatures and will sod off if you get near them and although I have handled loads of them over that period, I was bitten by one between thumb and fore finger and they exude a peppermint cream from somewhere rude which stinks like high heaven and would spoil the taste of any animal who thought they may like alfresco snake sausage.

It would indeed be a shame to get rid of them but I had to get rid of mine as my missus was scared of them. This meant my beloved pond being filled in and newts released into (near) the brook.

Spookily, my one was called Sid but also his wife and children. "Life with the Sids". I feel a TV series coming on.

p.s. Grass snakes are not grass snakes but water snakes to be pedantic or whatever the right word is.


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

snakes are beautiful

What a shame Groundhog your wife will not touch one

Chilled velvet   

In your garden sound just perfect

None now but in Israel we had plenty , adders and constrictors 

Left the adders to their own devices

But the constrictors were an absolute pleasure to touch
Aldra


----------



## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

We have seen 6 snakes in Greece 5 dead squashed on the road and one slithering at a great speed back off the road into the grass, 4 of them albeit squashed were a vivid green colour and one dead and the live one looked a black colour.......

And we stopped three times to let tortoises cross the road in front of us, how cool is that!.

ray.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We have grass snakes active in the longer grass sections of our garden and see adders every now and then, we watched a pair of males with their "dance" while trying to impress a female before mating in the road one day as we were driving back - spectacular viewing...

this shows what we saw only in our case they were in the middle of the road - it looked like some rope blowing around from the distance as we approached;






Dave


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Has anyone been to the snake place on skye, about 1/2 a mile before the Co-Op on the left coming from the bridge.

It's an amazing place you get to handle some seriously big and dangerous snakes, we try to go whenever we're up there.


----------



## ColinC (Oct 19, 2007)

Groundhog, if you are wanting advice about what to do with your snakes why not contact your local wildlife trust. Most Counties have one and they are staffed by pretty knowledgeable people and also run their own local nature reserves. Perhaps they might move them to a reserve?

Colin


----------

