We came across grass snakes (Natrix natrix) regularly up at the vegetable garden this time last year and have been looking out for them again. We first knew that there were grass snakes about when I found one curled up in a compost bin a couple of years ago and then, last year, we found a discarded skin in one of the big compost heaps. We also saw them lounging in the sunshine on top of the compost, or at the doorways to their nests. Like lords of the manor, they were, spending their time sunbathing whilst we sweated in the garden.
Once again, this year they are in the compost heap and we found two of them under an old piece of carpet covering some grass cuttings. I didn’t want to disturb them, but did want to get some photographs, so my partner held up the carpet and I quickly took a few pictures. As luck would have it, one of the snakes had just shed its skin – a discarded skin was seen under the carpet - and the other was nearing shedding time. You can tell this because the skin around its eyes is loosening, which makes them look blue, whereas the snake which has already shed its skin has golden eyes.
This grass snake will soon shed its skin
This one has recently shed its skin
The interesting thing yesterday was to find two of them in the same spot; I haven’t seen that before and wondered if they had mated or were just taking advantage of a warm bed. If they have mated, the female will lay up to 40 eggs in June or July, probably in the compost heap, and the young should hatch some ten weeks later. If they survive to maturity, the male can reach up to 1m (30 inches) in length and the female up to 130cm (51 inches).
Grass snakes are not dangerous; they have no venom and are unlikely to try and bite you unless you handle one. What they will do if they are surprised is to behave as if they are about to strike, raising their heads and flicking their tongues in and out, which is what I saw yesterday. If they consider themselves cornered, they play dead, rolling onto their backs and letting their tongues hang out of their open mouths.
So, we now have a conundrum. We had been planning to turn the heaps soon, pulling out the old stuff and adding new stuff to the bottom, but now it looks like it will be better to wait until mid-August, when the eggs will have hatched and the young ones have moved away.
More about grass snakes