Snakes??

[Welsh Dragon]

Do any of you see any snakes on your travels in the UK?
My usual area for walking/exploring is known for Adders I usually see them on hot summers days warming themselves on a patch of sandy ground, usually by rabbit warrens.
Yesterday I had my first sighting of a Grass snake (I think?), the damn thing nearly gave me a heart attack I bent down to inspect something and i as i reached out to pick something up a 3ft long olive green snake darted off into the undergrowth about 12 inches from where my hand was!

After getting home and doing some research the snake I saw didn't look like any pictures of a grass snake I found online. What i saw was about 3ft long, olive green all over with no sign of any markings and the scales looked quite small.
To cofuse me even more I came across a smooth snake which I didn't know exsisted 'til now, probably because they are very rare according to what I read, but one picture I saw of a smooth snake looked very similar to what i saw

So did i see a Grass snake or is it possible I saw a rare Smooth snake??

 

[Draven]

Just looked it up and apparantly "Smooth Snake" can refer to Coronella austriaca or Hydrodynastes gigas. Coronella austriaca (Wikipedia link) can be found in the UK.

Grass snake doesn't seem too unlikely at all.

A type of adder (European adder, vipera berus, not a particularly dangerous species) can also be found in the UK. The fields near where we used to live supposedly had some adders in them, but I'd only seen a couple snakes there...

 

[bushtank]

The grass snake has a yellow band around its neck so cannot be confused with any other snake

 

[leon-b]

i thought that only males had the yellow ?
leon

 

[Brocktor]

the only snakes i have seen are slow worms. i know of one place near me (the only place i have seen them) where they are under almost every other rock you look under, literally.

 

[Welsh Dragon]

I've just had another thought that then snake I saw seemed quite shiney and was slithering through dead bracken and grass so maybe it had just shed its skin?
would having just shed be a reason for its markings not being very prominent?

 

[bushtank]

i thought that only males had the yellow ?
leon

They both have the yellow to somtimes cream band to tell the difference between the male and female they have to be sexed the male has 68 to 72 sub-caudal scales and the female has 52 to 56 scales

 

[jon r]

I took these photos last year of a Grass Snake. I only had my bog standard camera then so i had to get really colse but it didnt seem to mind! It was in the gardens where i live. Can you tell me anything about it?

Jon

 

[bushtank]

the only snakes i have seen are slow worms. i know of one place near me (the only place i have seen them) where they are under almost every other rock you look under, literally.

Sorry but the slow worm is not a true snake it is in fact a legless lizard a bit like me now legless

 

[leon-b]

They both have the yellow to somtimes cream band to tell the difference between the male and female they have to be sexed the male has 68 to 72 sub-caudal scales and the female has 52 to 56 scales

my head hurts lol
leon

 

[Gibbsy]

I saw lots of slow worms yesterday down at my mates allotment they were everywhere.

 

[Silverback]

I've just had another thought that then snake I saw seemed quite shiney and was slithering through dead bracken and grass so maybe it had just shed its skin?
would having just shed be a reason for its markings not being very prominent?

The markings will be at their MOST prominent immediately following a shed and will be at their dullest preceeding a shed. A milky fluid secretes beneath the skin loosening it ready for the shed and at this time the eyes take on a blue appearance (the eye is covered with a clear scale which is also shed) and the skin appears to have a bluish haze over it, this normally clears after 3 or four days and the skin then appears dark and dull for a couple of days before it is actually shed. I have kept snakes for the past 13 years - I love em . My Royal Python is shedding (sloughing is the correct term) at the moment I would be happy to send the skin on (if it's a good slough) if anyone is interested

 

[w00dsmoke]

If anyone sees any reptiles they would be doing them a great favour by reporting the sightings to their local biodiversity officer or recording office. It is very sad to say that the domestic cat along with habitat loss are the greatest threats to our native reptiles. In Scotland snakes and lizards are absent from vast areas of their former range.

Incidently...when I worked in the woods I was bitten by an adder through thick army trousers and it felt like a bit of barbed wire scratching on my leg. I was lucky as it did not apear to have injected any or much poison and apart from local pain and a little swelling/headache I was fine. I was strimming gorse at the time and must have startled it.

 

[British Red]

Just wanted to say "great photos" there jon - really very, very good!

Red

 

[jon r]

Thanks red!

 

[Silverback]

Pulling this thread up again as I thought some of you folks might be interested to see a close up of the shed head skin of my Royal Python (as previously discussed) The photo shows both eye caps (also sometimes referred to as spectacles) and at the bottom of the photo on the left hand side of the skin you can see a nose plug (even the inside of the nostrils is shed!). All snakes shed the same way rubbing their heads on rocks and branches to start the skin off around the mouth then gradually turning the whole thing inside out like taking off a long sock. As previously mentioned I would be happy to send some shed skins on if anyone wants one to have a look at. I'll even pay the postage

 

[jon r]

Thats quite amazing. Thanks for sharing. Do grass snakes shed their skin too. Ive never seen one lieing around. Would they shed their skin underground in their whole or above ground?

 

[Matt Weir]

Hi Dave,

The kids would love some skin to take into school please mate. Do you still have my address from the Trangia group buy?

 

[Silverback]

Yes jon r Grass Snakes do shed their skins but you would be extremely lucky to find one as all manner of animals will stop for a nibble - birds sometimes even use them as nest material. They would usually shed above ground where they can find abrasive objects to snag the skin against and help with the shedding.

Matt - I had a good clearout of my inbox recently so let me have your address again and as soon as I get another skin I will happily forward it on. It will either be a Royal Python or a Sinloan Milksnake

 

[Matt Weir]

Yes jon r Grass Snakes do shed their skins but you would be extremely lucky to find one as all manner of animals will stop for a nibble - birds sometimes even use them as nest material. They would usually shed above ground where they can find abrasive objects to snag the skin against and help with the shedding.

Matt - I had a good clearout of my inbox recently so let me have your address again and as soon as I get another skin I will happily forward it on. It will either be a Royal Python or a Sinloan Milksnake

Very much appreciated Dave, you are a true gent - again :You_Rock_

I will pm my details.

Thank you. :notworthy