which snake sloughed these please

[Lemars]

Thank you JS - that's what I believe the snakes to be.

We had this pair clambering all over the place last year, so I looked them up. The dogs had great sport - chasing them all over the garden then losing them up trees.

I'll be very relieved if those skins came from whipsnakes and not adders. I thought they looked too small to be from the whipsnakes and was concerned.

Seems they're still here then (and not put off by two 4-legged pests) - though those skins must be from smaller snakes (their offspring), surely ? Last years couple were at least 3' long !!
C

[JaySteel]

You're welcome. Rest assured that they're definitely not Adder sloughs.
Adder scales are keeled so even on the sloughs you can clearly see the line running down the back of the scales as shown in this image:



Best regards,

Jason

[The Woodman]

That's a useful bit of info and a great image JS.

[Lemars]

That's EXACTLY what I needed to know - and a great, clear picture.

I was thinking about asking you what "keeled" meant - so now I'm going to assume it's the shape of the scale.

Thank you JS, very much.

[JaySteel]

Thanks Woodman. Grass snakes also have keeled scales so you couldn't use this method to identify between an Adder & Grass snake slough. In the UK only the smooth snake has unkeeled scales, hence its name.

Best regards,

Jason

[JaySteel]

Originally Posted by Lemars

I'm going to assume it's the shape of the scale

Exactly. Just think of the keel (bottom) of a boat and the shape it has.
Glad I could help.

Best regards,

Jason

[Dogghound]

Think thats where I went wrong, the scale shape didnt look like smooth and the lack of keel suggested it wasnt adder or grass so I said slow worm . Tunnel vision.