A Snake in My House

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Jonners

Your cat may have caught it and brought it home. Grass snakes will often feign death to escape a potential predator, and they can also give off a terrible stink to deter anything holding it. We once had a cat who brought home a much smaller grass snake, and I thought it WAS dead so I put it on a garden table, only to return a short while later to discover it had disappeared! It had been lying absolutely motionless, head tipped over, and no reaction when touched.
Well done for catching it, and thanks for sharing your amazing story and photo with WAB.

I have seen them play dead they are very convincing - lovely creatures..

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Sylvana

Here is the picture we took of the snake before releasing it. I hop we did right.

Lucky - we'd feel honoured if a snake came into our house!

You did right.

Jim

[Monkey Orchid]

Whilst working as a countryside ranger I got called out by a lady near Windsor who'd seen a grass snake come into her kitchen. I spent four hours searching her house from top to bottom, before I could reassure her that the snake had returned to the garden from whence it came. She even had me turn out her airing cupboard (which was upstairs, inside a bedroom with a shut door)!

During the summer months we commonly got calls from people who'd spotted snakes in their gardens/patios/greenhouses/sheds, and were concerned because their dog/cat/budgie/grandchild might be endangered... It was usually pretty hard work to convince them that it was the snake who was at risk, rather than themselves or their pets or loved ones. (In every case when I actually got to see the snakes in question, they were always grass snakes rather than adders.) Sometimes people would threaten to chop the snake in half with a spade or kill it with a stick if we didn't come and catch the snake and 'relocate' it. I'm really glad to hear your story had a much happier ending!

Regarding the terrible stink: I was once doing a woodland habitat survey with a class of 14 year-olds when they discovered a small (2 foot long) grass snake in a log pile... As many of them were getting hysterical and screaming I decided that a demonstration of the snake's harmlessness was in order and picked it up for a spot of 'show and tell' (also to remove it from the possibility of being trampled by an overexcited 14 year-old). We all had a good look and spent some time studying and admiring the snake, but true to form it squirted foul smelling liquid from its anal vent all over my clothes. The kids moved back several feet and after the school had gone I had to change into a new sweatshirt and trousers. I drove home with my snakey clothes inside a double layer of binliners... Still have a real soft spot for snakes, though.

[Jonners]

Originally Posted by Monkey Orchid

Regarding the terrible stink: I was once doing a woodland habitat survey with a class of 14 year-olds when they discovered a small (2 foot long) grass snake in a log pile... As many of them were getting hysterical and screaming I decided that a demonstration of the snake's harmlessness was in order and picked it up for a spot of 'show and tell' (also to remove it from the possibility of being trampled by an overexcited 14 year-old). We all had a good look and spent some time studying and admiring the snake, but true to form it squirted foul smelling liquid from its anal vent all over my clothes. The kids moved back several feet and after the school had gone I had to change into a new sweatshirt and trousers. I drove home with my snakey clothes inside a double layer of binliners... Still have a real soft spot for snakes, though.

We were down at a river nearby last Summer and netted one swimming. Like you, I decided to do a bit of show and tell with my boys and the few other children there. The stink almost made my wife sick! Happily we let snake go and he disappeared back towards the long grass by the river bank.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Monkey Orchid

We all had a good look and spent some time studying and admiring the snake, but true to form it squirted foul smelling liquid from its anal vent all over my clothes.

It's a job to get off your hands. You can give them a thorough wash with scented soap, but can still smell it!

Jim

[volence]

Alot of snakes like to spray, our king snake did when we first got him

[Sylvana]

Originally Posted by Jonners

Your cat may have caught it and brought it home. Grass snakes will often feign death to escape a potential predator, and they can also give off a terrible stink to deter anything holding it. We once had a cat who brought home a much smaller grass snake, and I thought it WAS dead so I put it on a garden table, only to return a short while later to discover it had disappeared! It had been lying absolutely motionless, head tipped over, and no reaction when touched.
Well done for catching it, and thanks for sharing your amazing story and photo with WAB.

It could not have been brought in by my cats as they only go into the garden in their run (we bring them in) The only other way it could have come in would be through the small mesh that covers all our open windows which we have, to stop the cats escaping. Our outside doors are only open when we go in or out, again because of the cats. This is why I was baffled. The mesh has probably inch square holes, slightly smaller than a chicken wire would be. Could he get through that, as he was a 'big boy'

[NickCantle]

I think Tim and Steve (Fourwings) discovered at Priory Water WAB meet '08 that the best thing to counteract the smell of a Grass Snake's musk is by rubbing your hands vigorously over water mint!