Snakes: have you ever seen one in the wild, in the UK or anywhere else ?

[WildRosie]

I haven't so my contributions here will be limited. However, I find snakes fascinating creatures, even though they give me the creeps and I sometimes have nasty snake dreams. I'd love to see a grass snake catching some rays after laying her eggs in the spring, or an adder mellowing out among the heather. But I haven't yet. We don't get smooth snakes in Yorkshire so zero chance there. Please share your legless reptile stories. Slow worms don't count.

Found a corn snake living behind the fridge years ago in UK. I lived next door to a reptile shop and the previous owners hadn't had much control.

After that I lived in the woods in Northern California for six weeks a few years ago and there were snakes everywhere. One time I almost stepped on a rattlesnake and another snake slivered past me and my ex boyfriend's feet as we were hugging. Saw a baby rattlesnake in the road and asked the ex move it with a stick so it wouldn't be run over. Regularly would see and hear a few slithering by. Was a bit scary- especially at night. We were sleeping in a car and I used to get frightened one would get in. We had a tent but I tried that one night and it was the scariest thing ever as I could hear them rattling away.

I consider myself someone who likes snakes. I like them in tanks in zoos and I’ve held them in those contexts. But when a large one wriggled across my path in the woods outside Jackson hole in the US I had a visceral fear reaction. It was so unsettling. My reaction felt like something ingrained and evolutionary.
(No idea of the species but I’d guess 3-4 ft long and about 10cm diameter)

I nearly stepped on a baby adder once, luckily I caught sight of its movement and stopped. It was ever so cute and not bothered at all by me nearly squishing it. This was south east Wales

Pop a piece of corrugated sheeting in a sunny spot the garden in spring and keep checking under it - you might be surprised! The gravitate towards the warm metal when the weather's still a bit chilly

Does one falling from the sky count?
I was walking in a village in France, once and a snake dropped from the sky infant of me and slithered down a nearby drain.

*in front. Not infant.

Seasnake on a beach on a little island in Fiji. I don’t know if it was a poisonous one though..

Im picturing all these yorkshire snakes wearing flatcaps and refusing to cross into lancashire now

Yes quite a few as a child, adders and grass snakes - but that was long ago

I saw a huge snake in Greece lying across a path must have been 4 feet long

Like the previous poster I have pet snakes, I have quite a few actually. These three I bred this year. I own a lot of various reptiles.

I have never seen any in the wild though

To answer the question if a non native snakes got out? It may survive, depends where is gets out, some species brumate (like hibernate but for reptiles), so they would be fine for quite some time, i brumate my colubrid snakes. Most snakes species can can quite some time without food too. So they probably could survive short term but they wouldn't thrive and reproduce or live for years etc.

@user1471565182

Im picturing all these yorkshire snakes wearing flatcaps and refusing to cross into lancashire now

Lancashire has plenty of reptiles of its own. I've seen slowworms and lizards, and the adder-bitten molecatcher upthread was in Lancashire too. If we can extend to amphibians, then we also have natterjack toads.

Loads but I live in Caribbean - they're Cayman racers, totally harmless, eat lizards etc.
Docile and the kids handle them regularly.

Here is my gorgeous boy

@Someonesayroadtrip They’re gorgeous 😍

I've seen a couple in the uk, in the Yorkshire Dalles. I also used to live near the Everglades in Florida, so plenty there.

No, but I have seen a slow worm (a legless lizard - not a snake). We were at a country park and somebody found one in the boot of their car.

I saw a beautiful snake in Greece, twice. I walked out of my studio for a breath of fresh air at about 2:00/3:00 in the afternoon. The courtyard was paved with grey and black mossiac pebble s. A five foot snake came out of the shade and slid into my terrace. It was white and black, so not easy to see.

I saw it again, later in the same holiday.

A coupe of adders on two separate occasions in the UK both on extremely hot days.

I've also seen quite a few slowworms meandering across woodland paths.

I live in Australia & grew up on a remote farm. Soooo..... Yes. My DB & I were never concerned even as young children as we knew how to react. There was a terrible incident where a king brown ended up with my mother in the greenhouse so she jumped on a table & unfortunately the dog came in, and, well, didn't end well for the dog. Since then I became petrified of them.

Only red belly blacks will chase you if feeling aggressive. The rest you stop, walk backwards away quietly and they'll slither off. Watch where you walk in bushland though. Easy to miss & they don't like being stepped on!!

Have seen a cottonmouth swimming in a stream in Texas. In New York I've seen garter snakes and rat snakes.

Saw a slow worm once and thought it was a snake...does that count?

I live in the Cotswolds and was walking my dog by the river 2 weeks ago and came across a very large grass snake.. it saw us and slithered away. I saw it (I assume it was the same one) in the same spot a few days later too.

I also rescued a teeny weeny baby grass snake at our local riding stables.. it was in the middle of the path where the horses were being led, so I picked it up,..about 6 inches long and the width of a pencil and it reared up at me trying to look scary There were always loads living in the compost heap there.

My cat used to bring in slow worms and drop them on the kitchen floor!

I have seen a couple of ‘nope ropes’ yes 🤣.

One adder which in my memory was about 10 foot long but was probably normal adder size, which slithered out right in front of my toddler dd and my very small dog. Neither of them noticed but I shat myself 🤣.

And then in Thailand there was one slithering up the concrete track as me and the DC were walking back to our villa one evening. It was yellow, that’s all I can tell you.

And seen a few squished ones on the roads in the U.K.

Ooh actually there was one in the recently dredged swimming pool at work a few weeks ago, swimming in the shallow water that had gathered in the bottom of the pool from rainfall. I had no idea snakes could swim until then!