An unwanted visitor has taken up residence in next door’s barn, but don’t worry it’s a grass snake and not an adder. Surrounded by heathland and water, both snakes are common in our area of the Surrey Hills and in the summer it is wise to keep your eyes open for adders, especially if you are taking the dog for a walk.
So how do we know this is a grass snake and not an adder? Both look similar in size and markings. The grass snake is more olive in colour, the adder brown with a darker zig zag and a ‘v’ on the back of its head. The way to know for sure is to look it in the eyes, the grass snake has a circular pupil, the adder has a vertical ‘slit’.
The grass snake next door is a small one, they can grow to over a meter long, it is probably young as they tend to hatch in early September. It is likely that it had been looking for a good place to hibernate last week as they tend to bed down in October.
UPDATE: I believe that it has now moved on, probably due to the hot weather over the weekend.
