There I was, just pootling along on a climb up the back of Ben Wyvis when I saw a twig in the road.

Barely had time to think it’s taken me 12 years from leaving Oz to stop thinking every branch or twig is a snake, when it turned out to be just that, and sunning itself on the warm road.

Stroppy wee bugger it was too. Kept trying to have a go at me, but I was worried it would get squashed by a car, plus there was a buzzard in the vicinity, so I picked it up and put it in the bushes.

I’ve handled friendlier death adders. 🙂

BTW what is it? It looks like an adder to me, but I don’t know British snakes.

Adder, baby.

You were lucky to survive that encounter, could’ve ripped your arms off.

Melanistic Adder I reckon. It’s certainly very dark.

FYI we only have three snakes in the UK. Grass, Adder and Trouser.

Melanistic Adder I reckon. It’s certainly very dark.

OP did say it was sunning itself. 🙄

Stoner overlooking the ubiquitous Projectus Managerus in his British snake run down there.

Stoner for the win 🙂

takisawa2 – Member
Stoner overlooking the ubiquitous Projectus Managerus in his British snake run down there.

I’d leave one of those to get squashed by a car or taken by the buzzard, I’ve heard they’re very poisonous. 🙂

I’m not surprised it was cross.
You pedalled up to it, stood over it taking its photo then picked it up 😯 and chucked it in a bush thus ruining it’s sun bathing.

😛

Baby Robin-snake.

EDIT: I should read the whole thread thoroughly before mentioning baby robins 😳

Beautiful adder you lucky bugger, really want to see one of those in the wild. Seen plenty of sand lizards up here in the North west but no snakes.
p.s. I’m sure you know but Anacondas aren’t poisonous…

that is a small snake. Or a really massive chainset…

Similar lies about size are told about the legendary trouser snake magnificous

Looks just like a little adder I almost stood on in Scugdale a few years back – I had always been told there were snakes in NYM, but had never seen any traces of one.

It was fascinating to see one in the wild, until I took a look at the shoulder high bracken I had to walk through and thought that it takes a mummy snake and a daddy snake to make a baby snake – I pushed the bike out in front of me rationalising that it was easier to fix a snakebite in a tyre than a leg.

MTB rider? on the road… some exaggerating going on here.

that is a small snake. Or a really massive chainset…

If you know epicyclo you’ll know he normally rides weird bikes, so I’m assuming that chain has a 4″ pitch and the snake is in fact normal sized.

Lots here (southern heathlands). Very beautiful, but they do tend to lie right in the middle of trail so you have to be careful not to run them over.

This is what I would like to find:

Smooth Snake

I have been bitten by an adder.
Pulling dinghies up in to long grass at Galloway Sailing Centre – felt a sharp ‘sting’ on my Achilles. A few minutes later took my wetboot off to find a bright red, bleeding pair of tiny puncture holes.
Cue phone calls to local doc – who assured me that seeing as I hadn’t dropped dead yet, I would survive. I felt like absolute sh*te for the evening – flu like and really painful bite.
By morning, back to normal.

I have pic of the puncture wound somewhere, I will try and dig it out and scan it tonight.

He looks a keen little bugger – shame his sunbathing was ruined…

Damn nature, U scary!

Saw one in Yorkshire in summer. Out for a ride on the CX bikes with waterrat off here and passed what I thought was a stick, did a double take and there was a lovely little adder. It was only small but quite aggressive. Apparently young adders are worse than adults – adults will only bite as a last resort and even then rarely deliver much if any venom but young ones don’t have that control and will bite and give you the full blast.

This one just hissed for a bit, long enough for Emma to capture it on Instagram and then we left it alone to continue its sunbathing.

Encountered them frequently on the SW Coast Path usually after our humphing great basset hound has trampled over them as they bask, lying across the path – fortunately it was usually early in the day / a bit cool so they weren’t fully warmed-up. Rarely see them on my local trails, but also encounter common lizards and slowworms in the really sandy areas. Best was a 3ft-long grass snake that was snaking down the trail in front of my front wheel – it could really move!

Why do I always click on these snake threads! got the heebie jeebies now.

epicyclo – Member
Giant poisonous anaconda…

tuskaloosa – Member
…got the heebie jeebies now.

Yes, that really is stuck in the forks

#findoutwhoyourrealmatesare

Yeah, point of order – if you include ‘trouser’ the UK has four – missed off the Smooth Snake.

Mind you, what about Beer Snake?

I just managed to avoid this one the other day.

MSP – Member
MTB rider? on the road… some exaggerating going on here.

I was being eco-friendly, not driving my car. I was heading out for a ride – it’s 11 miles to get to the start, and about 18 at the other end to get home.

It was worth it.

nickc – Member
that is a small snake. Or a really massive chainset…

Definitely an enormous chainset. Would I dare exaggerate to STW? 🙂

On a more serious note. I’ve never handled such a small snake before so it’s difficult to know how firmly to hold it. Any herpetologists got any tips in case I run into another wee one?

I’ve never handled such a small snake before so it’s difficult to know how firmly to hold it. Any herpetologists got any tips in case I run into another wee one?

Only for the trouser variety 😥

As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any poisonous snakes in the UK.

There’s one venomous one, but I’m not sure you’d die if you ate an adder…

The adders around here are q small. But the grass snake in my garden is really surprisingly large.

Pyro – Member
As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any poisonous snakes in the UK.

There’s one venomous one, but I’m not sure you’d die if you ate an adder…

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sands – Member
Yes, that really is stuck in the forks

That looks a bit like home to me in the rubber plantation. (tree not fully grown or tapped)

Consider the snake lucky otherwise it would go straight into the pot, that is a local python by the looks of things.

I used to ride in the rubber plantation when I was back home.

The adders around here are q small. But the grass snake in my garden is really surprisingly large.

And as for my Trouser snake, it’s positively pythonic!

[/url]DSCN0200 by rick.campbell, on Flickr[/img]
On the Loch Callater landytrack last spring.

And as for my Trouser snake, it’s positively pythonic!

No adders (yet) but I did see a couple of vipers…

Looks just like a little adder

Is that for sums up to 1000?

I was pushing my bike in the forest one day, when I heard a hiss from the rear tyre and thought “oh no, puncture”, when I looked there it was an adder