to ask advice on adder in my garden?

[vinobell]

sorry - posting for traffic.

I've just found an adder in our garden - looks like a fully grown one, its slid under our bushes. whats concerning me is we have a dog and this is the only garden space we have to let him out in, he is undoubtedly going to find the snake and i don't want our dog getting hurt. I know adders are protected....what do i do?

I can't just wait for it to leave as even then i won't know if the garden is safe for DDog!

Call baldrick and see what happens

Can you call a wildlife specialist to remove it?

Is it definitely an adder? There’s another species of snake which looks very similar..

Smooth snakes have diamonds too but they aren't very common.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/02/grass-snake-or-adder/

Snakes are great at self preservation- it’ll be out of there as soon as it smells the dog, probably before the dog even knows it’s there. There’s a reason it’s so rare to see a snake!

Are you sure it isn't a slow worm? It will keep out of your way - and out of your dog's way. I wish we had adders in our garden.

Find your local wildlife rescue centre and contact them. I am sure they are trained to remove it. Hope you are lucky.

We've had 4 or 5 recently appear in peoples houses/gardens in my town. Carefully box it if you can and release it rurally.

definitely an adder!

so I've spoken to our local farmer (where our garden backs onto), apparently adders hate noise/disturbance - and they will run slither away from it. so he told me to make some noise with pots and pans and it will vacate the premises!

Take your dog out in your garden on the lead, and if Rino is correct make sure you take it out before his walks in the back garden so he pees in it making it so the snake feels it's time to move on if there's a dog in that space!

We need a photo!

Dont try putting it in a box is likely, to put you in hospital. Get expert advice

Oh hell..this is my worst nightmare. We have adders in our area and I do tend to stamp around and make noise/vibrations when out walking although I avoid the areas where they're most prevalent.

A lot of wildlife is straying into new areas in search of water.It's parched and dry around here,and all the streams and ponds are dried up.I've put some shallow bowls in sheltered places in our garden to give frogs,hedgehogs etc a helping hand.I would definitely contact a wildlife rescue centre for advice

it is likely to be long gone before your dog gets close, but its certainly worth making sure you make loud noises before letting the dogout there

There's some bizarre misinformation on here.

Smooth snakes look nothing like adders, and there's no native reptile that does look like an adder.

Snakes have no external ears, so banging pots and pans will do absolutely nothing. They do have internal ears, though, and are very sensitive to vibrations through the ground. If you go out and stomp about a lot, regularly, you will probably scare it off.

I agree that it's probably looking for water. Pout some water on the adjoining farmland and keep it topped - you'll be doing the adder, the rest of your resident wildlife and yourself a favour.

*put some water
*keep it topped up

lucky you! I hope it goes soon though because of DDog.
We get them in the compost bin but recently they have ventured to the pond - probably for the frogs and the water.

And god no - FFS don't try to put it in a box: most bites happen when people try to catch or handle snakes.

Agree with Tatter - adders are very distinctive looking. They look nothing like other native British reptiles.
Adders like overgrown scrubby areas, so keeping your garden nice and clear can help deter them in the future (I'm not trying to imply your garden is untidy though )

As pp said it will likely have seen the dog and buggered off, but if you're really worried put on some long trousers and wellies and go stomp about the garden for a bit. It will be terrified and will scoot off to find somewhere quiet.