I do not know what it is about snakes but, even when I know it�s a grass snake and therefore quite harmless, the hairs on the back of my neck still stand on end! We first saw one in the garden 5 or 6 years ago. A baby snake slithered over my boot whilst I was standing on the compost heap, reducing me to jelly. It was about a foot long and as thick as a pencil. The next summer we saw its Mum, as thick as a cucumber and about a metre long, but since then we have only come across the bits of skin that she sheds as she grows, mainly around the compost heaps. I have given up turning my heaps between June and October so that I don’t break any eggs or spear any young. Well that’s my story anyway! So hearing David yell “Ahh SNAKE” was not a big surprise, but I still got the same funny feeling!

It was definitely a grass snake, basically olive green/grey, with a yellow and black collar. Generally they can vary in colour quite a bit, but they always have the collar so that’s the bit to look for. We looked it up on the internet and were surprised to find how little they eat, only 5 frogs, or the equivalent, a year. They also take newts and mice so I was hoping this one would head for our vegetable garden which is currently over run with mice. I am guessing it has laid eggs in the compost heap again as there is a lot of shed skin there. These will hatch in September having been incubated by the heat of the heap. Then they will be looking for a hole to hibernate in. They will never meet their Mum, but some of our neighbours have, and most seem to have the same reaction as us. Even though she is beautiful she is still a snake !

Wendy Bathurst