Help out Grass Snakes in your garden…

Froglife receives thousands of enquiries about snakes each year, many of them from members of the public with concerns about snakes in their garden. After identification many of these sightings turn out to be Slow Worms (see Episode 3: Dragons Den UK), but occasionally these are identified as Grass Snakes.

In some parts of the UK, suburban areas have become excellent places for Grass Snakes to hunt since they provide adequate cover, hibernation sites and have plenty in the way of prey (partly because of a rise in the number of ponds). Encounters with these animals are often fleeting but should be cherished.

As habitat loss has contributed to declines in Grass Snakes in the wider countryside (as it has for nearly all species of amphibian and reptile in the UK), people and their gardens could become key to keeping the Grass Snake around locally.

You can find out more about snakes in gardens by downloading Froglife’s advice sheet: Snakes in Gardens’ or Froglife’s ID chart: Identifying British Snakes. Making a Grass Snake-friendly compost heap, in which eggs can be laid, is another great way to do your bit for the nation’s snakes. For more information see Froglife’s advice sheet: Making Grass Snake Egg-laying Sites in Gardens.

Episode 5:Visitors to UK Shores

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