Best way to find (british) snakes in the wild?

[Joshuashaw]

The people that are blaming the lack of reps in our natural enviroments on our domesticated animals and even the not so domesticated cats & dogs is mental. It's simple, it's part of the chain and the natural hunting instinct of these animals. The fact someone even started to blame dog walkers, jeees. We will even stop our dogs from being let off the lead. I hate National Trust as much as the next man from there narrow-minded views and there lack of support to the youth in communities but practically as bad as one another.

[wolves121121]

well there not the only reason mis management and development are probably the biggest. is it really to much to ask people to keep there dogs on leads where reptiles are found. its fact where there are alot of dog walkers reptile numbers fall

[HABU]

Originally Posted by Joshuashaw

The people that are blaming the lack of reps in our natural enviroments on our domesticated animals and even the not so domesticated cats & dogs is mental. It's simple, it's part of the chain and the natural hunting instinct of these animals. The fact someone even started to blame dog walkers, jeees. We will even stop our dogs from being let off the lead. I hate National Trust as much as the next man from there narrow-minded views and there lack of support to the youth in communities but practically as bad as one another.

i had a cat and you know how they are... she would bring me half live lizards and all kinds of stuff and leave them on the door step....

dogs here are bad because they run the deer and things... now we have coyotes and they are killed on sight...

... but i'd imagine dogs aren't generally running wild there in the u.k. like here... we have those coy-dogs here now.... shoot them too.


i'm just talking... i can be off the wall sometimes.

[Reptilover]

Originally Posted by HABU

i had a cat and you know how they are... she would bring me half live lizards and all kinds of stuff and leave them on the door step....

dogs here are bad because they run the deer and things... now we have coyotes and they are killed on sight...

... but i'd imagine dogs aren't generally running wild there in the u.k. like here... we have those coy-dogs here now.... shoot them too.


i'm just talking... i can be off the wall sometimes.

We dont have wild dogs.. there known as "strays", just dogs that have escaped or been kicked out.. as far as im aware anyway. I for one have definatly not seen a wilddog and if there are strays about usually rspca come and pick it up in a few days.

[wolves121121]

Originally Posted by HABU

... and if i may ask, just how endangered are the herps there?... CITES rank?

habu

sand lizard and smooth snake are our rarest reptiles and given the most protection here. i couldn't tell you numbers or CITES rank as i dont know. although rare here in the UK i think there alot better off on the continent

[HABU]

Originally Posted by Reptilover

We dont have wild dogs.. there known as "strays", just dogs that have escaped or been kicked out.. as far as im aware anyway. I for one have definatly not seen a wilddog and if there are strays about usually rspca come and pick it up in a few days.

i understand... i was meaning wild dogs as dogs that people let run loose... farm dogs... they pack up together and have ntheir fun chasing deer and doing the dog thing.... strays here are city dogs.... not the ones that run unleashed all day and come home at night...


and i commend the spca there... how they can go into the woods looking for strays seems above the call of duty.

... strays are urban here... countryside dogs that live on the farms and are not leashed can go where ever they want. you must have some real gritty dog catchers... are there no farms in the uk?


are there no woods?

out in the country farmers tie down their dogs?


... strays are lost. country dogs know where home is...

i've seen one time a couple deer crashing through the brambles here... and just behind them were dogs... with collars and homes that were just doing their thing..


and this is unique to the u.s. i assume?


fascinating... you have well mannered dogs there.

[HABU]

Originally Posted by wolves121121

sand lizard and smooth snake are our rarest reptiles and given the most protection here. i couldn't tell you numbers or CITES rank as i dont know. although rare here in the UK i think there alot better off on the continent

i would be very interested in the conservation efforts there... here in my state, timber rattlers are protected.... so they say... everyone still shoots and hunts them with no concern about the law... that burns me up...

such a waste. timbers aren't rare at all but their range is limited to the area where i am... hence the protection... i find them squished on the roads here and there... such a bummer for me...

but seriously?... even the cops will shoot a protected rattler here... just because they see one...


... so much for our enforcement... the po-po are looking for meth labs... a guy with a rattlesnake or whatever doesn't pose much of a risk to public saftey... they could care less... just the way it is and it may explain my not caring about the laws... they aren't enforced at all...

[DavidR]

Originally Posted by Joshuashaw

The people that are blaming the lack of reps in our natural enviroments on our domesticated animals and even the not so domesticated cats & dogs is mental. It's simple, it's part of the chain and the natural hunting instinct of these animals. The fact someone even started to blame dog walkers, jeees. We will even stop our dogs from being let off the lead. I hate National Trust as much as the next man from there narrow-minded views and there lack of support to the youth in communities but practically as bad as one another.

Apologies if I am not interpreting that correctly, but are you saying cats cannot be blamed for killing our native wildlife because its 'natural'? Cats cannot but cat and dog owners can (and should). They may be following natural instincts but they do not belong here, and even if they did, they are maintained at unnaturally high densities. In lots of places conservation = shooting cats, I'm not saying that should happen in the UK, but cats play a huge part in damaging out native wildlife and its a disgrace.

I don't see any problem with people going out looking for our native herptiles. If you can identify currently unknown populations of any of our native species then you would be doing a lot for their conservation, if you report it to the herpetological conservation trust. Looking for herptiles is also a very enjoyable past time. Constantly re-visiting the same site and bothering the animals can be damaging, but apart from that I say go for it.

David.

[matt1977]

I had some good luck last year finding adders near to me, I placed a small bit of corigated tin found the back of a small country chaple thats very close to a pond, it took a couple of weeks worth of checking but they started to apper under it, mainly males or maybe possably the same male im not sure. but this year the local concil decided to "improve" the area and cut down all the long medowy grass, a real shame! Ive been checking a couple of new sites but no luck yet

[wolves121121]

thats just typical numpty council antics. every site should be surveyed before work is carried out. did you report your sightings to anyone mate