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Snake Dead in Window hinge


mary
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I have just had a shock.

I opened the bedroom window on the second floor, looked down to find a dead snake caught up in the frame with it's head facing into the bedroom.

It's about 14-16 inches long, a bit thicker than a pencil, very dark slate grey, but not black. Round head with yellow markings. No other markings or colour on the body.

What worries me the most, is how did it climb up a smooth rendered wall with no trees. The window is 4 meters off of the ground, and without stating the obvious, it was going in my bedroom!

Is it just a young Grass\whip snake or a viper. I tried taking photo's of it, but I can't get the camera to focus.

I'm pretty nervous by this. Have lots of whip snakes in the garden and happy for them to be there, but in my bedroom........ugh...
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[quote user="mary"] What worries me the most, is how did it climb up a smooth rendered wall with no trees. The window is 4 meters off of the ground, and without stating the obvious, it was going in my bedroom! ...[/quote]

No it had been in your bedroom all the time and was scared as it couldn't climb down the smooth render [:-))]

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OMG

I kept the window shut last night. Hubbie wondered if it came up in the washing basket from the garden. but it was tail end on the window edge and head in the bedroom, so the wrong way around.

We often get lizzards, but a snake with no legs!!

Yes, perhaps a bird, still feel very uncomfortable by it though.

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Without wishing to worry you even more...friends had snakes nesting in their roof void. The babies started falling out onto the kitchen floor. If, indeed, one or more might have got into your roof, then they could have climbed up anywhere. I don't think that just because the wall beneath your window is smooth you can assume that it can't access via another route.

Sorry if I'm not helping.

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Not wissssshing to worry you either, we had a 5ft grass snake under our chauffage de eau, it managed to regularly climb up the outside wall in through a gap in the eaves and though a gap in the walls into the nice warm chauffage de eau box.  It did help keep the mice population down though.  I tried to unwind it from the plumbing but it was a four handed operation so I let it slither away again.

Sorry if I'm not helping either [Www]

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Would it help Mary to say that any snake you find inside the house is unlikely to be in the adder family, but the innocuous grass snake family??? I am pretty sure that adders are not keen to be where humans are, or to be indoors. They much prefer rocky places outdoors and away from people.
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  • 1 year later...
For the sake of accuracy even though this thread is more or less dead and buried only two snakes in France are known to climb to the second floor or roof of a house - Western whip snake and Aesculapian snake.

What you had would appear to have been a juvenile western whip, there is a photo on this link part way down the page.

http://wildlifeinfrance.com/western-whip-snake-hierophis-viridiflavus-couleuvre-verte-et-jaune-france.html

Chris
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I know this to be correct as the parties concerned are close friends. His mother, in her 80s was clearing straw for her house cow when she felt something scratching her leg. She thought it was just the straw pricking through her work trousers. It continued so she stopped and put down the fork and pulled up her trousers, a snake that was climbing up her leg dropped out. By the time she had stopped screaming and beating the poor thing to death there was not much left to identify. This is in Normandy.
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[quote user="Chris Luck"] ... only two snakes in France are known to climb to the second floor or roof of a house - Western whip snake and Aesculapian snake. [/quote]

Plus the fact that Adders don't occur in the Gironde, Mary.  Have a look on the distribution map on Chris' site here:

http://www.planetepassion.eu/SNAKES-IN-FRANCE/Common-adder-France.html

Or this one at  http://www.serpentsdefrance.fr/Viperepeliade.php

Craig


 

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