We have grass snakes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

On 19 Sep, 23:42, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-19 23:38:13 +0100, harry said:

We have grass snakes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Will they be okay now the nights are getting colder (not tonight - it's
really too warm) *I just wonder if they need nursing along through the
winter or taken to a wildlife centre with a vivarium? *I'm sure someone
will know but it would be a shame if they get gobbled up or die of cold
after their nice warm home.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

Had a look this morning, we now have four.
Well, they'll have the same chance as if they were wild. They've had
a bit of help, some predator could have eaten the eggs. With all wild
animals, there are a lot of casualties.
I spoke to our local wildlife association snake expert last night, he
says it's thought they just find a place to hibernate & may not eat
'til next
spring.
They are interested in maybe taking some to another site for release,
to help with "propagation".
I'll turn tem out when it's warmed up a bit so the can find a place to
hide. They are torpid in the cold.

On 20 Sep, 07:45, harry wrote:
I'll turn tem out when it's warmed up a bit so the can find a place to
hide. They are torpid in the cold.

They iover-winter in my grass-cuttings pile (most urglers would turn
up their nose at me calling it a compost heap!) or in the pile of
brushwood cuttings and the like that I keep next to it (on top of the
last heap). I abstain from bonfires in the autumn and winter,
prefering to give shelter to the wild life, and having a burn-up early
summer.. Biggest problem is that there are toads there too, and I am
not sure but I reckon a toad would eat an young grass-snake. 's OK,
though, 'cos grass snakes will eat toads.

They will definitely need to feed up very quickly, as they will be
looking to hibernate in about 6 weeks, and won't survive the winter
unless good and plump.

My neighbour reports young (around 5cm) grass snakes sunning
themselves on the stile at the end of my garden, so mine have the
problem too. I likes old Natrix Natrix, and wish mine and yours well.

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

UPDATE
We have had eight now to date. I have been putting them outside as
they appear. It's quite warm outside.
Wick little things. Hard to catch!

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

UPDATE2
We now have had twelve. I have let them all go. It's a nice day here
for them.

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

If you hold an egg, you can feel them wriggling inside!

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.

"harry" wrote in message
...
On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.
------------
What a great thing you've done, harry, after accidentally disturbing the
clutch.
Congratulations!

Tina

On 22 Sep, 09:48, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-22 09:27:52 +0100, harry said:

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved
=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.

I think that's terrific. *Your bit for wildlife. It will be interesting
to see if they remain in the garden and inhabit a compost heap or
something of that sort.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

I don't suppose we'll see them again. They are pretty good at lurking
out of sight. We only see them if there's one swimming in the garden
pond.
They should have had chance to find a place to lurk in these last few
warm days. I'll need to make sure there's a compost heap for them
next year.
It was a while before I realised what was happening to all our
tadpoles (suddenly disappearing.) We have an acre of long grass &
plenty of voles, mice & shrews, I expect that's something they eat too.

On 22 Sep, 22:35, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-22 19:56:44 +0100, harry said:





On 22 Sep, 09:48, Sacha wrote:
On 2010-09-22 09:27:52 +0100, harry said:

On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?sav
ed
=1
Escaped from *heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.

I think that's terrific. *Your bit for wildlife. It will be interesting
to see if they remain in the garden and inhabit a compost heap or
something of that sort.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

I don't suppose we'll see them again. *They are pretty good at lurking
out of sight. *We only see them if there's one swimming in the garden
pond.
They should have had chance to find a place to lurk in these last few
warm days. *I'll need to make sure there's a compost heap for them
next year.
It was a while before I realised what was happening to all our
tadpoles (suddenly disappearing.) *We have an acre of long grass &
plenty of voles, mice & shrews, I expect that's something they eat too.

Try to corral the slugs! *But if you can get a compost heap going or
even a couple of bales of straw loosened and piled up in a corner
before winter, it would help them along. *Lovely thing for you to find
and help.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dunno if they eat slugs. How do you keep slugs in anywhere without
keeping the snakes out anyway?
There are lots of trees round our garden & leaves piled up under them,
they will lurk there I suppose.,

On 22 Sep, 17:11, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:

We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.
------------
What a great thing you've done, harry, after accidentally disturbing the
clutch.
Congratulations!

Tina

The local envirnment man from the council came today. I had previously
spoken to hime on the telephone. Left some leaflets about
constrcuting places for snakes ato hibernate and lay eggs. I might
have a go at this. Quite a bit of work though.

On 22 Sep, 17:11, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:

We have grass snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.
------------
What a great thing you've done, harry, after accidentally disturbing the
clutch.
Congratulations!

Tina

The local environment man from the council came today. I had
previously
spoken to him on the telephone. Left some leaflets about
constructing places for snakes to hibernate and lay eggs. I might
have a go at this. Quite a bit of work though.

"harry" wrote in message
...
On 22 Sep, 17:11, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:

We have grass
snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.


Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.
------------
What a great thing you've done, harry, after accidentally disturbing the
clutch.
Congratulations!

Tina

The local environment man from the council came today. I had
previously
spoken to him on the telephone. Left some leaflets about
constructing places for snakes to hibernate and lay eggs. I might
have a go at this. Quite a bit of work though.

I'd be interested to know about that, if it's within my physical
capabilities I'd like to give it a try. AFAIK, although I have two compost
heaps, there have never been any grass snakes or slow worms in them. I say
AFAIK as they are way down the the garden and if the snakes are not out and
about at the weekends I'm unlikely to see them.

Tina

On 24 Sep, 17:59, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...





On 22 Sep, 17:11, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

....
On 19 Sep, 23:38, harry wrote:

We have grass
snakes!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Update .
All the eggs have hatched. We had twenty one in total.
Surprisingly there were no failed to hatch ones.
------------
What a great thing you've done, harry, after accidentally disturbing the
clutch.
Congratulations!

Tina

The local environment man from the council came today. I had
previously
spoken to him on the telephone. *Left some leaflets about
constructing places for snakes to hibernate and lay eggs. I might
have a go at this. *Quite a bit of work though.

I'd be interested to know about that, if it's within my physical
capabilities I'd like to give it a try. *AFAIK, although I have two compost
heaps, there have never been any grass snakes or slow worms in them. *I say
AFAIK as they are way down the the garden and if the snakes are not out and
about at the weekends I'm unlikely to see them.

Tina- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

We only rarely see our snakes but usually in the pond. I have never
seen the big (female?), my wife saw it just once.
Basically the egg place consists of a layer of logs topped off with
compost, straw, wood chippings or similar. About 2m circle.
The hibernation place consists of a hole in well drained ground with
stone chippings in the bottom. There is a layer of logs topped off
with brash and compost . The earth and turf is put on top of this
leaving a heap.
Hah. I'm ranting on. Just found it here on the net. To the bottom of
this page here is the drawings.
http://www.herefordhart.org/download...Management.pdf

harry wrote:
We have grass snakes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ara-chloroptera/?saved=1
Escaped from heated propagator and captured making a break for it
across our living room floor!
I will release them tomorrow when it's warmed up a bit.

Lovely!

--
Rusty