Anyone know anything about snakes?
Discussion
I was canoeing up the kennet canal near Nebury today and saw a snake in the canal. It was swimming very strongly with it's head out of the water towards me. I paddled around behind it (it ignored me) and wandered off the the bank. The snake was about 60cm in length, green, had a narrow 'neck' which widened out quite a bit at the head. It was about 2pm.
Was it a grass snake. I've never seen one before and was quite surprised to see it let alone see it swimming in the canal.
Cheers,
Mark
Was it a grass snake. I've never seen one before and was quite surprised to see it let alone see it swimming in the canal.
Cheers,
Mark
I was canoeing up the kennet canal near Nebury today and saw a snake in the canal. It was swimming very strongly with it's head out of the water towards me. I paddled around behind it (it ignored me) and wandered off the the bank. The snake was about 60cm in length, green, had a narrow 'neck' which widened out quite a bit at the head. It was about 2pm.
Was it a grass snake. I've never seen one before and was quite surprised to see it let alone see it swimming in the canal.
Cheers,
Mark
cut & paste..
Fifty years ago the grass snake, Natrix natrix, was very common in Great Britain; it could be seen in quite large numbers at a good site. Now it is quite rare, because of loss of habitat and food. In October 2001, over 140 grass snakes, many being juveniles, were found in warm places in the Dilke Hospital, Gloucester. The name natrix refers to the grass snake's ability to swim, which it performs well, with a sinuous motion. Grass snake often live near water, and frogs figure strongly in their diet. Click here for a simulation of a swimming grass snake. The great reduction in the frog population has done the grass snake no good at all; their numbers have dwindled alarmingly over the last fifty years. Grass snakes can also, if infrequently, be found at a considerable distances from water.
My house backs on to the canal at Aldermaston Wharf - where were you canoeing?
Bennno
Yesterday I got in at Thatcham railway station and went to Newbury (library carpark, couldn't get any further yesterday as there was a canoe race on) and then back to Thatcham (about 7 miles and 5 or 6 locks each way).
My house backs on to the canal at Aldermaston Wharf - where were you canoeing?
Mark
>> Edited by dern on Monday 24th March 07:08
There are actually 3 types of British snake - the Adder, the grass snake and the (very rare) smooth snake - found on small numbers of heathland sites in Surrey, Dorset and Hampshire.
Where do snakes live?
Grass snakes often live near water, where they swim and feed. They also live in damp woodlands and meadows. For overwintering they like high, dry banks covered with brambles and rabbit burrows, and also garden rockeries. Kent is a stronghold for the grass snake.
Adders are found in a variety of habitats but not generally in areas of human habitation. In Kent adders are now restricted to chalk downland and other areas with free-draining soils. They are in serious decline in Kent.
How can I tell the difference between a grass snake and an adder?
Adders are rarely more than 65cm in length. The usually have a greyish/brown colouration with a continuous black zigzag on their back and roundish blotches on each side. The zigzag is usually preceded with a V-shape mark on the back of the head, though this mark may be X- or H-shaped.
Grass snakes are longer than adders – adults reach between 80cm and 120cm. Their background colour is olive-green, grey or brownish with a distinctive, usually whitish-yellow and black, collar. This collar is occasionally absent in larger individuals. Black vertical bars and spots run along each side.
In the grass snake the eye has a round pupil – in the adder it is vertical.... so how close to it did you get?
... might have been a slow worm... but then, I'm not sure if they swim or not!
Where do snakes live?
Grass snakes often live near water, where they swim and feed. They also live in damp woodlands and meadows. For overwintering they like high, dry banks covered with brambles and rabbit burrows, and also garden rockeries. Kent is a stronghold for the grass snake.
Adders are found in a variety of habitats but not generally in areas of human habitation. In Kent adders are now restricted to chalk downland and other areas with free-draining soils. They are in serious decline in Kent.
How can I tell the difference between a grass snake and an adder?
Adders are rarely more than 65cm in length. The usually have a greyish/brown colouration with a continuous black zigzag on their back and roundish blotches on each side. The zigzag is usually preceded with a V-shape mark on the back of the head, though this mark may be X- or H-shaped.
Grass snakes are longer than adders – adults reach between 80cm and 120cm. Their background colour is olive-green, grey or brownish with a distinctive, usually whitish-yellow and black, collar. This collar is occasionally absent in larger individuals. Black vertical bars and spots run along each side.
In the grass snake the eye has a round pupil – in the adder it is vertical.... so how close to it did you get?
... might have been a slow worm... but then, I'm not sure if they swim or not!
Adder's wont bite unless provoked... and grass snakes are friendly! 
bennno said:
should have hit it with a paddle
my wife now dislikes backing on to the canal
whats the best way to kill a grassnake, stamp on its head or cut it in half with a shovel??
Bennno
Why kill it? Grass snake won't harm you... to be honest it's probably more scared of you, thatn you are of it!
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