dandaz Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Hiya....I August my French next door came round and asked me to remove a snake from her house [he husband had locked himself in the bedroom]being a macho builder type I went round.... I saw the snake and grabbed the tail and then the head ,it was about 18 inch`s long I decided to walk to the wood and let it go.... I was yellow and black ,I was just thinking could this little blighter have killed me...?? I`m near Saintes btw if that makes a difference... Mick... http://www.vw-france.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/278.shtmlIt sounds like a grass snake, but we had a long skinny silver snake on our window sill under the shutter the other week, keeping cool, it was about 75cm long, and the girth of a thumb, i shooed it away and off it went, I was convinced that it was a slow worm or grass snake, as adders, I thought, are are normally fatter, shorter and striped. When we moved some old slates a week later, we found it again curled up asleep under the slates, I was just about to poke it to move it when my French friend shouted NO, DON'T TOUCH IT!!!!!! That's a viper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mochas Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Or have a look at thishttp://perso.wanadoo.fr/guy.vanlangenhove/galeries%20pour%20le%20site/GALERIE%20SERPENT/for a pictorial view of native French snakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Or you can look at Snakes of France on our site - pictures and full fact sheets for all species found in France. Best, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 There is 1 fewer in 46. Yesterday one of our hens was spotted galloping around her compound with a small grass snake in her beak. Galloping to keep her find to herself rather that having to share with her fellow inmates.Other than that they are seen rarely, the most common being the one-eyed trouser variety, a shy animal reluctant to venture forth in daylight and never near the poultry.Johnnot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 [quote]Or you can look at Snakes of France on our site - pictures and full fact sheets for all species found in France. Best, Chris[/quote]Had a quick look at you site and it is excellent. Will have a more detailed look later.Last year I saw a snake (?) swimming along the bottom of a stream I have. It was actually red and beige and could not find anything in my identification books or internet. So I asked some locals (being rural). They only seemed to need to be told “long and thin” to identify it as a viper. I have the impression that anything even snake like would have been a “viper”. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I think that just about says it all Ian, that has been my experience as well for the last 10 years in France - every snake is a "viper" and must be killed. In fact where I live the impression given by most of the local rural population is that almost every living creature is a danger of one sort or another and should be killed. This summer I actually came across two older French women busy killing Stag beetles because "they are bad".That was one of the reasons for the snake pages, to at least give English speakers the chance to understand and identify the snakes in France. The truth is that adders are on average small snakes and are not that common in most places and bites are extremely rare! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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