Wild Snake Rescue (pic heavy)

[Rebel]

I know that in some countries there are more snakes than people would like. In certain countries my first inclination might have been to bash it over the head with a spade and ask questions later. However this is England and we don't have many snakes. This one is a grass snake, it is non venomous and I thought I ought to rescue it and it was an interesting project to do with the kids.

I've never seen a snake in the wild in England before so I was quite surprised to find this one stuck on my allotment. Although I'd never seen one before I was pretty confident that it was a grass snake and not an escaped pet with enough venom to kill a horse.

It had somehow managed to squeeze its body into some plastic netting that I was covering my fruit bushes with, not just through one loop in the netting but through several, and had become stuck.

The netting is pretty tough and it was actually cutting into the snake's skin.


Here it is stuck in the netting.



I realized that I wasn't going to get it out of the netting without hurting it so I cut the netting off around the snake and took it home.

Now grass snakes aren't venomous but that doesn't mean they won't try to protect themselves. I guess they can bite and I wasn't 100% sure that my ID was correct so I made sure I avoided that possibility. The main defences mechanisms it has are to either make an awful smell from their anus or to play dead. This snake decided to make an awful smell and it was pretty bad.

Here's the snake at home under a lamp and magnifying glass with me carefully cutting the netting from it. This was difficult to do without hurting the snake. And it kept making an awful stink.



This snake was well and truly caught up in the netting. I had to cut away about ten loops that it had squeezed through. I really don't know how it managed to do this. I've used the same netting for years and never had any problems with wildlife getting caught in it before.

I had my wife call the RSPCA to see if there was any advice they could give us but as usual they weren't very useful.

Here it is free at last (that's my daughter's hand).



There were a few cuts on its body were the plastic netting had dug into it but they looked superficial and I felt confident that if I returned it to my allotment it would stand a pretty good chance of surviving (at least until something preyed on it ).

I put it in a cardboard box and let it go close to where I'd found it.

[Radix lecti]

Nice one Rebel, glad it never hit over the head with a spade..lol . It looks quite healthy now. I've handled a couple before now and been put off by the smell. Well done.Thanks for sharing.
Darren

[whale_omelette]

poor snake! glad you rescued it
not surprised rspca didnt help- they are useless to be fair... they usually have the cheek to phone you back at a later date and ask for money, dispite their rubbish advice and services

[Tengu]

Thats great

At least you didnt bash it over the head (decapitate more like) like a true animal lover would have gleefully done.

Sad to say, I have witnessed this.

[Night Phoenix]

May I be one of the first to congradulate you on youe work in rescuing this snake and the photos from one herpetology lover. Its a beautifull grass snake!
Well done mate! hopefully this is the start of a beatufiull snake-landowner relationship!

[Shewie]

Nice one Rebel, I like a tale with a good ending

[MrEd]

excelllent work!

[JonathanD]

Nice one. It's a female.

Sadly, grass snakes get caught in garden netting all too frequently in this country due to their scales allowing them to go in, but not back out.

[Mesquite]

Nice ending Rebel. The snake looks happy in your daughters hands

... It's a female.

Can you tell us how you identified it as a female Jonathan?

[JonathanD]

Nice ending Rebel. The snake looks happy in your daughters hands



Can you tell us how you identified it as a female Jonathan?

It has no penal bulge and the tail is relatively shorter compared to males.

[widu13]

Ah, yes no penal bulge and the shorter tail. I too noticed that immediately...

[eraaij]

I was looking for a small bra..

[JonathanD]

Ah, yes no penal bulge and the shorter tail. I too noticed that immediately...

It's a herping thing... first area we look at

[Ruvio]

good job! nice to see someone doing a good deed

[Rebel]

It has no penal bulge and the tail is relatively shorter compared to males.

Now I know.

I have to say that during the couple of hours I spent in the company of this snake I did grow fond of her and felt a twinge of sadness when I released her into the potato patch.

[JonathanD]

They are beautiful snakes. It amazes me how calm all our species of snakes get after being handled for a few minutes. They all calm down really quickly and alow you to handle them, even the adder (although I don't recommend anyone go out and try that observation). You certainly can't say that about 95% of the wild snakes I've caught in other parts of the globe. They just go nuts.

[Shewie]

They are beautiful snakes. It amazes me how calm all our species of snakes get after being handled for a few minutes. They all calm down really quickly and alow you to handle them, even the adder (although I don't recommend anyone go out and try that observation). You certainly can't say that about 95% of the wild snakes I've caught in other parts of the globe. They just go nuts.

Is that for business or pleasure JD ? I saw loads in Mexico but the last thing on my mind was to try and catch one. The ones that swam up beside me in the lagoon gave me the creeps.

[JonathanD]

Is that for business or pleasure JD ? I saw loads in Mexico but the last thing on my mind was to try and catch one. The ones that swam up beside me in the lagoon gave me the creeps.

Bit of both. Even when I'm on holiday I always seem to be looking for the native reptiles.

[TomBartlett]

That's great, well done on the rescue. I remember doing a similar thing a few years back with a hedgehog that got caught up in some netting, it's a great feeling to help out some wildlife.

[Bush_Man]

Nice action by you Rebel. Didn't knew that snakes were so difficult to find in your country. Here it's normal to hear the debris on ground movin' because a snake is avoiding me and very often I see them. In Portugal they are called "Cobra de Água de Colar", wich translated means "Collar Water Snake" and they're often found near rivers or humid places like high grass and it's not unusual to see them cross some local roads.

Unfortunetaly many people in my country are not informed and think that this and other snake species only do bad thing to their chickens and cattle so whenever they see one snake they try to kill them

[red dreads]

Reb ,you're an absolute star ,Kudos to you mate. What a beautiful Grass Snake,wow ,totally stunning.

[Wayland]

Well done.

[Melonfish]

well done dude, always nice to see a good deed!
and yes the RSPCA are about as useful as a wet paper hanky in a hurricain.
actually thats being unfair to paper hankies...
want to help an injured wild animal, don't call the RSPCA want to get sued for dispatching virmin? RSPCA it is. (i realise there's more context to it then that but just look at the track record)

[badgeringtim]

Good efort a nice rescue!

As a thought if you need to do a lot of handling for the animals own wel being it can be worth putting them someplace cool for a while first as this slows them dwown making the job easier for you and making sure the snake doesnt use up to much energy and likely to help with it not making 'the stink'. Not in the fridge although in a cool box with a well wraped up ice block (to prevent cold damage) for a little while will make them very slow and easier to deal with.

Im suprised its not been mantioned (unless i missed it) but as we know ALL reptiles (snakes and lizards) are protected from killing in the UK

:-)

Yes nice female - most larger grass snakes will be female - the males tend to be significantly smaller - nice to know for those who might not want to try spotting the mini bra

;-)

[Tengu]

notice the eyes. why do grass snakes have round pupils where other snakes have ones like cats?

I for one have little trust or faith in the RSPCA...and look at the court cases they get called in as expert witnesses

(I thought expert witnesses were supposed to be neutral)

[1972]

Good effort Rebel, a lot of people wouldn't have gone to those lengths

[JonathanD]

notice the eyes. why do grass snakes have round pupils where other snakes have ones like cats?

I for one have little trust or faith in the RSPCA...and look at the court cases they get called in as expert witnesses

(I thought expert witnesses were supposed to be neutral)

The majority of snakes have round pupils (cobras, mambas, colubrids etc) and two of our three species. This suggests a more diurnal existence. Snakes with elliptical pupils have eyes more suited for nocturnal pursuits.

The RSPCA don't like dealing with reptiles, native or not, for obvious reasons. They normally call in private herpetologists.

[Ph34r]

The majority of snakes have round pupils (cobras, mambas, colubrids etc) and two of our three species. This suggests a more diurnal existence. Snakes with elliptical pupils have eyes more suited for nocturnal pursuits.

The RSPCA don't like dealing with reptiles, native or not, for obvious reasons. They normally call in private herpetologists.

Living up to your title there! Interesting to know

[william#]

good job rebel !

there is a great organisation in sussex called "East Sussex
Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance"

i always have its number in my mobile as have worked with them before and they tend to know far more than the rspca

there url is

http://www.wildlifeambulance.org/

even if you dont live in sussex they can offer you some great advice on pretty much everything wild and in need of help.

[william#]

good job rebel !

there is a great organisation in sussex called "East Sussex
Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance"

i always have its number in my mobile as have worked with them before and they tend to know far more than the rspca

there url is

http://www.wildlifeambulance.org/

even if you dont live in sussex they can offer you some great advice on pretty much everything wild and in need of help.