[Kelloggs]

Do I have to worry about my growers being attacked by snakes  I had a small one last year what I took for a walk up the lane so as not to worry my birds but today I found a large one near the chicks run in the orchard. He was over three feet but slim-ish and was green with dark marking...........I'm guessing a grass snake but a little to fast for me to catch  Chicks are penned til around 10 weeks so are fairly large when they can roam.

If he is no threat, I will let him stay as although we have had problems with rats the last couple of week not one..............no sighs of any  So not sure if hes solving my rat problem or the barn owl is back 

[evie2]

Hi Kelloggs, we have only 2 native snakes the Adder and grass snake who have a yellow band on the back below the head (I've been watching Wildlife SOS ) and there are probably more in our gardens than we realise, particularly if you have a pond, because they tend to shy away from humans.  They like frogs and frog spawn to eat.  As a rule of thumb a snake can only eat food as thick as the fattest part of their body and as wide as their mouth when fully articulated, so I would think your chickens would be too big.  

[cluckingnuts]

We have 3 native snakes, adder, grass + smooth. From your description it seems to be a grass snake.

[Kelloggs]

Thanks, I've just read that they will eat moorhen chicks and we do have them living in with the brahmas but all my small ones are in runs til older and bigger so hopefully I'm ok.

[Chablis Dog]

The adders have slit eyes and the rest (the harmless ones) have round eyes.  I know it isn't always easy to see this detail though.  My understanding is that the hens will peck at snakes which they don't like and so they will stay away.  They will also avoid areas where there is a lot of disturbance.  I have a large pond in front of the house and when we moved here I gritted my teeth, expecting to see them availing themselves of its benefits.  After nearly four years, I still haven't seen a single one which I think is courtesy of my dogs who rampage around it all the time.  Snakes don't have ears and so can't hear but they pick up vibrations from the ground and will move off if they detect movement.

[Sassy]

We have 3 native snakes, adder, grass + smooth. From your description it seems to be a grass snake.

Isn't a smooth snake technically a lizard?

[heatherw]

No, that's a slow worm.

[hillfooter]

No, that's a slow worm.

A slow worm is a legless lizard which is what you are probably thinking about.  Smooth snakes are very rare confined to very localised pockets in southern England.

Your sighting was Britains largest snake ,a grass snake, once common but now becoming rare and threatened.  All snakes are very shy and avoid areas where there's much activity.  It's extremely unlikely that a snake would take a chick unless it was just a few days old and roaming about on it's own within the snakes habitat.   Waterfowl chicks are more vulnerable as grass snakes are good swimmers and often are found around ponds where their normal prey of frogs, toads, lizards and newts habitate.

HF

[Kelloggs]

Thankyou, its just with him laying against the chicks pen I was a little worried 
but guess it was quiet under the trees and the sun was just shining through them. Then I had to disturb him

[pigeonpie]

We're really lucky as we still get grass snakes around here in pretty reasonable numbers and a family usually nest in our garden or in the surrounding field hedges.  A few years back when I had rabbits I went down to feed them in their large run in the orchard to see a very large grass snake coiled back so it's back end was on the ground and it's front end was up in the air.  I sat and watched it for a while and it spent ages just watching the rabbits hoping around.  It eventually moved off as I drew closer (I had to top up the rabbit's water and needed to go out).  I spoke to the vet about the risk and he said that although they wouldn't be able to eat such a large animal the snake may still bite them if it felt threatened and the risk of infection from a bite would be very high.  He said that they do see a few snake bites in animals during the year but none that are too serious.  Having been bitten by one of the grass snakes when I was clipping around the bottom of a hedge and without thinking put my hands in to the undergrowth I can assure you that it is quite painful!

[Sassy]

I'm phobic about snakes anyway but I did not know that you could be bitten by a grass snake. Yeuch!!!!