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grass snakes swimming in the sea?: |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369  View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 13 Jun 2006
Hi all
Has anyone any records or sightings of grass snakes within large rivers or out at sea? Another report of a grass snake from an Island around the Essex Coast leads me to suspect that grass snakes will venture from the mainland (off seawalls) onto these islands
any reports Jon Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448  View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 14 Jun 2006 I think I read an anecdotal account of one being found several miles out to sea in the Bay of Biscay... not sure where that's from, though. |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 14 Jun 2006 Caleb, the reference is from Smith, The British Amphibians and Reptiles "There is a record of a Ringed Snake caught in the Bay of Biscay many miles from the land, carried out, no doubt, on some river current. It was none the worse for its immersion in salt water" Seems Smith's preferred name for N.n never really caught on in the UK. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 14 Jun 2006 I've just returned from Turkey where I caught a grassy swimming where the river meets the sea. A few more feet and he would've been in the briney Al O-> O+> |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by charlesm |
Posted: 14 Jun 2006 Hi all, this posting made me think of a new German field guide I bought recently ("Reptilien und Amphibien Europas" by Axel Kwet). In the chapter on the dice snake the author states "Can even be found in salt water in some areas (eg on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast), where it feeds on marine fish". Of the viperine snake he says that in Galicia it turns up "on small islands just off the Atlantic Coast." These species are so closely related to the grass snake I guess that if they can happily swim (and even feed!) in salt water, then, biologically at least,there's nothing to stop the grass snake doing the same. I know that Scottish adders frequently swim out to, or even between, small islands in the lochs, presumably in search of food or mates, although of course these lochs are freshwater. |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369 View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 15 Jun 2006
Great, I suspect that snakes are swimming in the sea around the Essex Coast - both adder and grass snake. I am curious about grass snake sightings on a few of the islands around Peldon and Mersea Island - The county recorder can recall swimming in the creeks around Peldon when he was younger - he actually came face to face with a male adder! Other more recent reports of adders swimming past sailing boats in the River Crouch have also sparked my interest in this activity. Regards
Jon
Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by charlesm |
Posted: 15 Jun 2006 That's quite a story Jon - much as I love adders I wouldn't necessarily want to come face to face with one while swimming! The stories I've heard concerning our Scottish adders have all been in freshwater lochs but I guess there's no reason why they wouldn't do the same in sea lochs or even off the coast. It's definitely an interesting phenomenon though. I wonder if your Essex grass snakes have learnt to exploit marine fish as a food resource like their Bulgarian cousins? The other question is, particularly in the case of adders, to what extent are the snakes just using the water to cool off on particularly hot days? |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 15 Jun 2006 Somewhere here there is a thread about swimming adders. A nice pic taken by someone at Branscombe of one swimming in the edge of the sea and then them removing it to the back of the beach and hence escape back into the cliff undergrowth. Tony Phelps I think said that this behaviour can be linked to mating/territorial behaviour as they are known to seek out islands etc.- the pic I mention was for May.
Suz |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 15 Jun 2006 Hi Suzi, Jon has seen this one I think, but for anyone following this thread and interested in the adder in sea water it is at: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=983& amp;PN=5
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Peter Stafford Member Joined: 04 Dec 2003 No. of posts: 2 View other posts by Peter Stafford |
Posted: 12 Jul 2006 A collegue here at work was telling me recently about a small grass snake that she saw last summer on a beach near Minsmere. The snake (a hatchling or yearling by her estimate of size) was moving toward the sea and within a yard of the water's edge, though not actually in the sea. Peter |
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armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 12 Jul 2006 Don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I have found that grass snakes lay eggs in piles of seaweed at Studland. T 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369 View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 12 Jul 2006
Seems logical - did you manage to get any photos? - I have had reports of grass snake eggs in various places - old grassy tussocks, pamber grass (is that the correct spelling) in a garden. bottom of a horse stable etc Jon
Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 13 Jul 2006 [QUOTE=herpetologic2]
pamber grass (is that the correct spelling) [/QUOTE]"Pampas grass", I think. |
- grass snakes swimming in the sea? |