Topic: Snake in garden ID please

[mark_h]

Back in March, we had a snake very similar to this one in our garden in Brighton(he didn't pose that professionally, though). It was quite happy for about a month under and around the patio, and then vanished (possibly for mating).
We couldn't get an expert's opinion on it, (they insisted on photographic evidence, but it was too dark under the bushes to get a good picture of the snake) but after scouring the web we decided our guest was a Smooth Snake (Coronella austriaca)

I think it being a Smooth Snake is highly unlikely as there are not any known sites for it anywhere near Brighton.

Mark

[antipodes]

re robert_brenchley's comment;

Catching snakes? I used to grab them and pick them up. Holding them down with sticks etc can result in broken bones, as the skeletons are fragile.

yeah robert but in Australia the snakes are much less sociable than the ones here ha ha, i think we must account for about 4 of the world's 10 most deadliest? my sister had a carpet snake wound around the patio struts one morning (they are harmless). yuck yuck yuck. the nice wildlife man came and just picked it up and wound it round his shoulders. GULP!
but yes of course, you must be gentle as they look formidable but are much smaller than a human really.