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My first wild Snake (1 Viewer)

R

River Wye

Member
Last Saturday i decided to have a walk by the river not far from my home. After about a hour observing the wildlife i decided to head back home, walking along the path i noticed something on the ground moving.
As i got a little closer i realised it was a Snake, it was a large Grass Snake about 1.5 metres long. I could not belive my eyes it was such a shock.
It is something i will never ever forget, it was beautiful as it disappeard into the hedge.
A huge first for me and i was delighted, one thing that sticks in my mind was the large yellow patch just behind its head.
Can someone tell me was it a male or female.
 
Both sexes are fairly similar. Maybe someone else will correct me? They can get quite big, can't they?
 
The usual size is about 120cm, though they can get to about 2m. Females tend to be larger than males, so my guess it was a female.
 
Natrix natrix helvetica grows up to 200 cm, and that is the subspecies in the UK.
Females tend to be twice as long as males, and a whole lot "fatter", so this was a 100% female.

Was that large yellow patch just one patch or 2?

They are beautiful, especially when they get to 1 m or longer. Then they're very hard to miss.
 
MlZad said:
Natrix natrix helvetica grows up to 200 cm, and that is the subspecies in the UK.
Females tend to be twice as long as males, and a whole lot "fatter", so this was a 100% female.

Was that large yellow patch just one patch or 2?

They are beautiful, especially when they get to 1 m or longer. Then they're very hard to miss.
Click to expand...


It looked like just one patch almost diamond shaped, she had very light patterning down her body that sort of faded away towards the tail.
I could not belive the size of her, she looked quite fat as well. I was also suprised that she did not seem to be all that bothered by my presence.
It seemed she was leaving the river as she was heading away from the river bank, would Grass Snakes hunt in fairly fast flowing rivers.
I did take a photo of her, but in my state of suprise i had my camera on the wrong setting and it came out blurred.....
 
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would Grass Snakes hunt in fairly fast flowing rivers
Click to expand...
They don't have to hunt IN the water, maybe she just went to see what's there or to catch something on the bank... although they are very good swimmers and I have no doubt in my mind that she (being so big & strong) shouldn't have much trouble hunting in it.
she had very light patterning down her body that sort of faded away towards the tail
Click to expand...
Dots or lines? and what colour?
 
Lines not dots, they was quite clear just behind the head but as i said they got progressivly fainter along the body until disappearing around the tail area.
Apart from the large yellow patch and the dark lines she was green.
I am not suprised Grass Snakes get mistaken for Adders, but the old girl i seen was far too large to be a Adder.
An impressive looking Snake even so.
 
Dark lines???
I think you ran into a N. n. helvetica that had N. n. persa genes in it... a population of persas was introduced to a small area of Surrey and their genes may persist in the local helvetica populations, as striped individuals have been seen... according to my book.
But persas have a light stripe, which, if faint orange, can resemble a dark one...
That makes your Grass Snake even more special.

I am not suprised Grass Snakes get mistaken for Adders
Click to expand...
I am. Adders have a zig-zag, Grass Snakes don't. It's very easy to see that difference even when both of 'em are moving fast. Oh well, when people panic...
 
MlZad said:
Dark lines???
I think you ran into a N. n. helvetica that had N. n. persa genes in it... a population of persas was introduced to a small area of Surrey and their genes may persist in the local helvetica populations, as striped individuals have been seen... according to my book.
But persas have a light stripe, which, if faint orange, can resemble a dark one...
That makes your Grass Snake even more special.


I am. Adders have a zig-zag, Grass Snakes don't. It's very easy to see that difference even when both of 'em are moving fast. Oh well, when people panic...
Click to expand...


Thank you very interesting.
Everybody i have told about all say "sounds like a Adder to me", but these are people who if they see a large snake they instanly think its a Adder "well around here enyway".
The very little knowlage i have on British Snake species made me recognise it was a Grass Snake straight away, as you say it had no zig-zag markings and it was far to large to be a Adder, also "i may be wrong" wrong type of habitat, Grass Snakes i think tend to live close to water while Adders tend to live in woodland scrub and heathland.
 
Here's a list of habitats for Adders: moors, heaths & dunes, bogs, open woods, field-edges, hedgerows, marshy meadows, salt marshes (whatever that is...), mountain areas, lowlands...

And here's a list of Grass Snake habitats: damp places, moist fields & woods, near water, lowland (but can reach altitudes of 2400 m), dry woods, hedgerows, meadows, sea coasts, can be found away from water.

In Britain, you only have a couple of species of snakes:
1. Grass Snake (Natrix natrix helvetica & N. n helvetica x N. n. persa individuals, the latter in a small area of Surrey)- nonvenomous, up to 200 cm
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/NatriNatri.htm
2. Smooth Snake (Coronela austriaca)- up to 75 cm (80 cm)
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/CoronAustr.htm
3. Adder (Vipera berus berus)- up to 80 cm, rarely 90 cm; the only venomous snake in the UK, but isn't a danger to an average healthy grown up. Seeking medical attention is still recommended though, just in case.
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ViperBerus.htm
4. Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus)- up to 225 cm, introduced about 30 years ago near Colwyn Bay in N Wales.
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ElaphLongi.htm
+ one legless lizard- Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis)- up to 50 cm, but I found individuals in Croatia measuring 60 cm... http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/AnguiFragi.htm
so telling the difference between your snakes isn't that difficult. Even here in Croatia with 16 of 'em, it isn't that difficult, but that's nothing compared with 128 species found in Costa Rica...
 
River Wye said:
Last Saturday i decided to have a walk by the river not far from my home. After about a hour observing the wildlife i decided to head back home, walking along the path i noticed something on the ground moving.
As i got a little closer i realised it was a Snake, it was a large Grass Snake about 1.5 metres long. I could not belive my eyes it was such a shock.
It is something i will never ever forget, it was beautiful as it disappeard into the hedge.
A huge first for me and i was delighted, one thing that sticks in my mind was the large yellow patch just behind its head.
Can someone tell me was it a male or female.
Click to expand...
we have grass snakes around here and your right they are great but we had a walk in rendlesham forest a few weeks back and had a close encounter with an adder which was the first time i had seen one and they are really beautiful it was right in the open and we were able to follow it for quite a while,trying to hold the kids back so they didn't get to close,more for the snakes safety than theirs,it was a great experiance but when we pointed it out to some other people i have never seen people disappear so quick it was quite comical as they gathered up all their possesions and headed for the carpark.
cheers
 
I saw two of these in the same area (but missed most of it), I didnt see the head so I dont have a clue???
 

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it was about 1 meter
Click to expand...
Adult female.

I saw two of these in the same area (but missed most of it), I didnt see the head so I dont have a clue???
Click to expand...
If you look at the body colour, the belly coloration, the fact that the dorsal scales are keeled (and the location), you can clearly see that it's another Grass Snake.
 
50 years ago kids used to catch grass snakes and sell them to the local pet shop, they got one and sixpence each for them - good money in those days , pocket money was only one shilling a week, and you had to work for that, the pet shop owner then resold them as [italian] grass snakes , those were the days when it was normal for every boy to collect birds eggs etc etc. [never knew any girls that collected eggs], anyway we thought that girls were just [soft boys].
 
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You do realize that that is illegal today? And has been for some time? Also, I don't want to start about the effect that had on the local wildlife... and did you say that the pet store owner sold them as ITALIAN Grass Snakes?????
I'm sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but after attending 3 lectures yesterday about snakes (and other herps) on the Balkan peninsula and the problems they face- illegal collecting for the pet trade or personal collections, this is not something I like to hear about being referred to as "good".
The fact that hundreds of snakes (and other herps) are collected that way and that only a very small number survives... it makes me very angry.
So I don't think of that as being "the good old days...". Those "good old days" are one of the many reasons why wildlife is in so much trouble today.
 
MlZad said:
You do realize that that is illegal today? And has been for some time? Also, I don't want to start about the effect that had on the local wildlife... and did you say that the pet store owner sold them as ITALIAN Grass Snakes?????
I'm sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but after attending 3 lectures yesterday about snakes (and other herps) on the Balkan peninsula and the problems they face- illegal collecting for the pet trade or personal collections, this is not something I like to hear about being referred to as "good".
The fact that hundreds of snakes (and other herps) are collected that way and that only a very small number survives... it makes me very angry.
So I don't think of that as being "the good old days...". Those "good old days" are one of the many reasons why wildlife is in so much trouble today.
Click to expand...

that was the way things were in those days, thankfully not any more.
 
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