Constricting views…

The UK is also home to its own constrictor, the Smooth Snake. Unlike the true ‘gazelle-eating’ constrictors seen in Life in Cold Blood which subdue and suffocate prey, Smooth Snakes usually swallow food while still alive. Prey is typical of the sandy heaths that Smooth Snakes prefer and the list includes Sand Lizards, Slow Worms, Grass Snakes, small mammals and even the odd juvenile Smooth Snake.

The Smooth Snake is the most scarcely distributed of all the UK's amphibians and reptiles, with the New Forest and parts of east and central Dorset being its remaining strongholds, after apparent disappearances from Wiltshire, Berkshire and parts of East Sussex. 

Sadly, habitat destruction to make way for urban development and conifer plantations have been the driving factors here.

For more information on the Smooth Snake and its conservation, contact the Herpetological Conservation Trust. 

Dance of the Adders…

Perhaps most feared of all the UK's snakes is the venomous Adder, an unwarranted reputation for a generally secretive and incredibly beautiful reptile. Adders are found throughout the UK, from Scotland to Wales but are noticeably absent from Ireland (as are all snakes, remember St Patrick?).

The Adders’ first priority when threatened is to escape, and it is only when cornered or when trodden on that bites tend to result. Although symptoms are painful, they are rarely life-threatening. Less than one-hundred Adder bites occur yearly in the UK and there has been no recorded fatality in almost three decades.

Much like the giant male King Cobras featured in Life in Cold Blood, male adders will fight over a mate and they have a similar "gentlemen's agreement" not to use their venomous bites. Instead, they perform an elaborate combat display -coined in English folklore ‘the Dance of the Adders’- where males lift themselves up and attempt to push their rivals to the floor.

You can help national efforts to see how Adders are doing by signing up to Make the Adder Count, a survey coordinated by the Herpetological Conservation Trust.

Episode 1: Cold Blooded in a Cold Climate
Episode 2: Battlefield Pond
Episode 3: Dragon's Den UK
Episode 4: Snakes in the City
Episode 5: Visitors to UK Shores
Epilogue: Froglife in Cold Blood

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BBC Life in Cold Blood
ARG UK
British Herpetological Society
Herpetological Conservation Trust