JoGill

Thanks Chris...just my luck to buy a house with rare snakes in on the price. If they want to come and take them away, and make them rare somewhere else, Id be delighted for the nature association to take a look.   jo 

yep definatley common (too common for my liking) adders. Ive been really brave and looked at some pictures that show the difference....no turned up snouts on these ones. We are in 71, the heart of Charollais country just between Charolles and Ciry le Noble. jo

I thought Id come on the forum to see if anyone could help me with my snake problem....seems Im not the only one! We have just bought a rennovation project near to Charolles in southern Burgundy and have spent the last two weeks out there starting to do some work on it. First job was to clear the acre of land from chest high bramble, nettle and grass. The first week and a bit was ignorant bliss strimming and scooping up armfulls of undergrowth (...felt a bit like david bellamy) until we found an adders nest in the dry stone wall right next to the house. Now Im normally quite a rational person but if I have one phobia in life its snakes (Ive even tried hypnotherapy to deal with it). By the end of the 2 weeks my nerves were so raw that I was seriously considering putting it back on the market! Weve seen 4, basking in the sun. 2 large (one grey, one brown) and 2 small (both grey and black). They are definatly adder berus and I know they are protected, but I must find a way to get them at least further away from the land than they are or my french dream is ebbing away. One of my main concerns is a very bumbling and inquisitive old english sheepdog who if finds one, will try and play with it! Everyone keeps telling me that If I keep the land strimmed and take away their environment and food source (ther are losts of small lizards on the walls and crickets) they will go and find somewhere else to nest. We may also try and pull the wall down, rebiuld it once they are gone and point in the gaps. The house is sourrounded by cow pasture and has dense woodland not far away. We also have a couple of large barns which Im frightened thell be in as well. Anyone got any other suggestions, solutions, advice. Im not naive enough to think I can get rid of them completely but this really is make or break Thanks Jo  

Thanks everyone, for your replies. I feel like I am a sponge soaking up as much info as I can get! We are flying ot to Rodez tommorrow morning (if the snow doesnt scupper everything) to take a realistic view of the house and also be really critical about whether the rurality of the location could really support a business. Im grateful for all of your advice and it will help us not to look at it too much with rose (or is that frost?) tinted specs cheers Jo

We run a small bespoke kitchen and handmade furniture workshop here in the uk (www.allthingstimber.com) and are looking to transfer the business out to france in the near future. Thought that it may take a year or two but weve just fallen in love with a property in the Aveyron! Well probably have to stay put for a while and do the rennovation to both the house and barns (for a workshop and possibly a gite) as and when we have the time....and whilst the garunteed money is still comng in. We were wondering however if anyone out there could give us a bit of advice.... What do we need to do in terms of registering the business and my husband as an artisan (he has no formal quals but has had 5 yrs of running the business)? Will our 3 phase machinery work in France or how does it need to be converted? Is there the call for our kind of work in SW france? At first we thought it was more exciting than scary.....not so sure now cheers Jo