Why the heck did he tell me this?

[Newbie5542]

I can’t sleep and feel really terrified. My idiot neighbour this evening told me there are huge snakes where we live (in uk). I didn’t believe him and he showed me pictures on his phone. We live near a lake and I’ve been here for 2 years but not seen one. I’m terrified and can’t sleep, I know I sound crazy but please help me. I kept checking under my bed and I keep checking in on my kids. I’m a single parent and have no one in my life to help me out of this fear, I’m so afraid to sleep.

Please stop listening to this stupid man.
There are Adders here but they are very small and live well away from humans, their bites are not usually dangerous.
I believe that we also have small grass snakes but they are not even venomous.
You need some help for your anxiety, and to stop listening to stupid people

Hope you're feeling a bit better this morning OP. I understand the fear: I am scared of large spiders (i.e. the big house spiders we get), even though I know the ones in the UK won't hurt people. Back home, we used to have to check shoes etc for spiders/scorpions etc, so that's probably why I'm scared of them.

I'm not scared of snakes though - I've kept snakes since 1999! I'm in the SE and I rarely see grass snakes and adders about - but they will bugger off as soon as they see you. My own snakes have been shy, sometimes inquisitive and will hide or avoid people they don't know. They were very peaceful little guys...and lived a life of luxury in custom made (and secure/locked) vivs. I have just the one snake now: an old boy, who is 26 and has cataracts!! We have loads of slow worms in the garden and they're lovely (look like snakes but they're lizards).

I don't know if this would help you, but for me, trying to learn more about the spiders in the UK has helped me. Looking at the pictures getting more familiar with them etc. I used to freeze in fear when I saw one, but now, whilst I'm not keen on them, as long as they just hang out in a corner of a room and stay where I can see them, then I'm mostly ok with that. I am tempted to do a spider phobia course: my eldest DC can pick them up with his bare hands and take them out the house...but he's 18 now and won't be staying at home forever!

One of my workmates (from Nigeria) is scared of my Maine Coon cat (he's just over 10kg in weight) and she says that he reminds her a bit of the caracals she's seen!

They will be more afraid of you than you are of them. I've been working in conservation in the countryside since 2007 and have only seen one up close in the wild in all that time and it disappeared pronto. They avoid interaction with humans wherever possible. It will be alright. x

There are 3 kinds of snake in the UK (none of them huge): the grass snake (totally harmless), smooth snake (totally harmless) and the adder (venomous, but rarely lives near human habitation. Also not usually deadly with prompt medical treatment - I think it's been 50 years or more since anyone in the UK died from an adder bite). You're not going to encounter an adder unless you go looking for one in the habitats where they live or perhaps if you're a farmer or keep horses or similar (I know someone with horses who took a hay bale off a pile and one slithered out). There's also the slowworm which is in fact a legless lizard so looks like a snake (totally harmless). Then there's 2 species of lizard with legs. And here endeth the lesson on the 6 British reptiles - all of them beautiful and fascinating creatures.

Grass snakes are fairly common - I've seen them a few times (once, swimming across a canal. All 3 of our snake species can swim but it's grass snakes that most frequently do, and which most often live near water; it's perfectly plausible that your friend is seeing them). Repeat, they are totally harmless. I once found a baby one on a path and picked it up and put it on the verge. They're no more dangerous than earthworms. Sometimes they like to hide in the warmth of compost heaps. If you need to get at your compost, you can lift them out, do what you need to do and then put them back.

Adders do at least have the decency to look very different to grass snakes and smooth snakes. Google some pictures and remember what they look like; if you ever encounter anything with that dark pattern, leave it alone. But really, unless you're trying to, you won't. If my some million-to-one chance you do and it bites you, get to A&E pronto and you will be fine. And that's all you need to know about snake safety in the UK. There's nothing to worry about.

Adult Adders are not tiny, about two feet long, slightly larger sometimes, eg just under three feet . Juveniles are small. Grass snakes can get pretty large, six feet long sometimes, I have seen several over five feet.
People saying we have no large snakes must live in areas where snakes aren’t common.
Also people should not minimise the dangers of Adders , they can easily kill a dog or cat and dog bites are common in Adder areas, usually the face or a front leg, as the dog has tried to sniff the adder or grab it. I know of several dogs killed by adders and my own dog wasn’t expected to survive but thankfully did, although left with lifelong issues. An adder bite on a human is also dangerous, getting attention quickly is essential , hospitals have anti venom.
It is important to note as mentioned by a pp, than an adder bite on an animal or person should be treated by immobilising the victim, (eg do not let your dog walk ) and getting medical treatment straight away.
It’s not a good idea to tell children that we don’t have dangerous snakes, far better to teach children how to behave in Adder habitat, and to never walk towards or touch a snake, unless they are old enough to recognise a Grass Snake vs an Adder.
But as I said above OP - they won’t come into your house, and Adders are extremely unlikely to be in a normal garden unless you live in an Adder area with a very quiet garden.

Where do you live? I'm in the New Forest and we definitely have adders here. Apparently it was a good breeding winter for them so they are in abundance but they are not "big", just, well, snake size!

He probably means adders, they're not that big though.

An adder will not come inside your house, upstairs, to approach you or your kids.

Honestly, it's a completely irrational fear.

Even when I've seen adders in the wild, as soon as they sense you there, they're off!

oh well if its on facebook.....

We have three species of snake in UK. They are all very small and they do not go indoors. Grass snakes would be the ones found near a lake but they are completely harmless and shy and wouldn't leave grassy wet areas. I've lived near water many times and they do not come inside, it would be completely foreign place to them. They just mind their own business. They wouldn't crawl in a window. Please don't worry.

Adders are not likely to come into your house.
They are timid animals and will keep themselves separate from humans. You may see one occasionally but I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

Were your parents scared of snakes OP? Irrational fear of animals (and various other things that can't hurt you) is usually learned behaviour. Try not to pass it on to your kids.

FGS, calm down. I live in Australia where there are loads of snakes. We still leave our doors and windows open, because snakes will avoid coming into contact with humans, pets etc. They are far more afraid of you than you are of them.

With all due respect OP, I think you need to get a grip. I have an irrational fear of bugs and spiders, but I don’t lay there awake at night thinking a tarantula is gonna come in a devour my kids. Maybe look into some form of therapy because that level of fear of something that isn’t going to happen, isn’t normal

Calm down i said what i think not what i know.

You need to get a grip and pull yourself together as you are going to pass this ridiculous fear of wildlife onto your children which is just unfair.

Yes they can be long but relatively they are small (compared to species found abroad) telling op they are big isnt helpful. They're small compared to other species around the world.

British snake are generally rare and shy. A lot of people will never see one in their lifetime. Unless they are out in the countryside a lot or actively looking for them (like I do).

I lived rurally when we were still in the U.K., right by a nature reserve with a river running through it. We’d see the odd snake hiding in the long grass at the reserve, but mostly we would only see them smooshed on the backroads when they’ve tried to make it across and not made it all the way 🫣🫣
Now I live in the desert, on the west coast of the US, and Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Sidewinders, Mojave Greens and a ton of other species of snake are really common. We had a rattler who’d taken up residence under our A/C unit a couple of weeks ago. Generally speaking with snakes: if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you 🤷🏻‍♀️ We called the snake guy, he came and gently picked up Mr Rattler and took him away to be released in open desert at the end of our road.
Scorpions on the other hand? Bastards.
They’ll sting just because they can 🫣 Don’t think I’ll ever get out of the habit of shaking my shoes before I put them on 🫣😵‍💫

Ticks are the spawn of Satan. I live in an area with loads of the little fuckers and have to remove 2 or 3 embedded ones from about my person every year 😬. Now have a special tool for twisting 'em out.

I agree with you.I was blessed with a fascination for wildlife and have kept it up from childhood-so although I accept I know more than the average Josephine due to a lot of avid reading and exploring, I also accept and am grateful that there's always more to know. There isn't a world that's humans with other animals featuring in it. There is a world where all species have the same ultimate goals, to grow, reproduce, evolve and thrive. And we are not any different to any other animal in that way.

Hard agree!!!
Cant see a tic until it’s on you, attempting to suck your soul out.
At least a rattlesnake gives me a fair, audible warning before it gives me a spicy nip 🫣🫣🫠😵‍💫

Am I right in thinking that Grass Snakes aren’t actually ‘snakes’ per se, that they’re a type of legless amphibian which is why they like long grass near water? I saw one when I was about 9… that’s 50 years ago….

@jasminocereusbritannicus no, you've mixed up Slow Worms (neither slow, nor a worm, or a snake) with Grass Snakes.

Grass snakes are a snake - they like to live near water as their preferred meal is frogs/stuff that lives near water (they're not fussy though, happy with a rat or a mouse too).

Slow Worms are a legless lizard (not an amphibian either) - they're small and a browny bronzey sort of colour, if you see a glimpse of one in the sun it may well look almost metallic. They eat inverts like slugs, worms, a variety of insects.

They are definitely lizards, they have eyelids and blink, which snakes cannot do (no eyelids).

They like a variety of habitats with somewhere to sunbathe but also lots of low lying ground cover to find food in and hide in.