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Scottish Reptiles: |
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Davew Senior Member Joined: 12 Jan 2004 No. of posts: 99  View other posts by Davew |
Posted: 11 Jun 2006 Hi, I've just got back from a week in the Scottish Highlands. On the information board at Loch Garten near Aviemore there were reports of Common Lizard, Slow Worm and Grass Snake?? Am I correct in thinking that this may be inacurate? I personally saw no reptiles myself, to be honest I didn't expect any. Mistakes were obvious on the notice board as someone had misidentified White-faced Darter as Black Darter so could the reported Grass Snake be another or do they genuinely occur here? |
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mikebrown Senior Member Joined: 30 Jun 2005 No. of posts: 95  View other posts by mikebrown |
Posted: 11 Jun 2006 Hi Dave, I've seen Common Lizards close to Loch Garten and I would imagine Slow Worms could occur there. However, I would think that it is highly unlikely that Grass Snakes would occur there, as that area is way north of their main distribution in Britain. Probably adders there as some of the habitat is suitable, and someone has mistaken them for Grass Snakes. Mike Brown Mike Brown Merseyside ARG |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 11 Jun 2006 There was quite a heated debate on the presence or otherwise of grass snakes in Scotland last year on these forums. As I recall no one from Scotland who could have given a definite yeah or nay replied. Suz |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 12 Jun 2006 I think we presume GS are absent but there may be some local introductions of grass snake in Scotland that may or may not persist for any amount of time. My own statement is that they are probably not present, just in case I'm ever proven wrong Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Ray999 Senior Member Joined: 07 Mar 2006 No. of posts: 101 View other posts by Ray999 |
Posted: 13 Jun 2006 Hi how far north are they found Ray ray999 |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 13 Jun 2006 We had plenty where I lived beside Lake Windermere in the 1960s. Some were large too - over 5ft. There were plenty in the whole of the area between Windermere and Coniston. I can't think this has changed much. Suz |
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charlesm Member Joined: 27 Feb 2006 No. of posts: 5 View other posts by charlesm |
Posted: 13 Jun 2006 Hi Dave - I'm the reptile coordinator for the Lothians Amphibian and reptile group and just for the record I've never seen grass snakes around here. I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility that there are a few in the South of Scotland but it does seem very unlikely they'd be as far north as Loch Garten. I know there are common lizards there and frankly I'd be surprised if there weren't some slowworms and adders too, but if there are grass snakes they are almost certainly introduced. The debate about Scottish grass snakes is an interesting one and it's been going on for almost two hundred years. There are pretty consistent rumours of grass snakes in the Borders and Dumfries and, even more intriguingly, of large black snakes on the Isle of Mull! Very little in the way of hard evidence though. As far as I know the northernmost populations are in Cumbria. There used to be some in the vicinity of Newcastle but I don't know if they still exist. Maybe someone could enlighten me? Either way these locations aren't too far from the Scottish border so it's not inconceivable that the odd natrix does manage to slither across Hadrain's Wall! The other interesting question is whether global warming will encourage grass snakes further North - as it appears to be doing with several other species - in which case they'd be very welcome indeed. |
- Scottish Reptiles |
