As you now know, we have adders ( aka vipers) in the UK as our only native poisonous snake. However, we also have grass
snakes which are not at all dangerous and slow worms which are legless lizards but get mistaken for snakes. There used
to be an adder colony in Essex ( somewhere near Chelmsford I think) when I was a kid.........I assume it's still there.
It was a sort of fenced off area, to keep the people out, rather than the snakes in!
There are imported poisonous snakes here of course, some of which escape or are dumped. Last year there was a program on
tv about the RSPCA ( like your ASPCA) which told the tale of two women walking along a canal towpath one evening. They
spotted a polystyrene box floating in the canal near to them and pulled it out to see what was inside. Just as they were
about to remove the lid, it *rattled*, so they called the RSPCA. It turned out to be a very annoyed female diamond
backed rattlesnake, who was rehomed in London Zoo.
Lucky escape for everyone really. Never traced the idiot who dumped the snake of course! :-(
K.
( who has a soft spot for snakes and lizards!)
