we have 2 baby grass snakes in the garden!!

[Mexican cuties]

just spotted them coming out of our little pond probably eating the tadpoles, I think they are a protected species, looks amazing with the yellow stripe across the neck. not sure how long they have been there, is there anything we need to do, we have a small dog and a cat but I don't think they would be able to get close to them as they do move pretty rapid when disturbed. any advise thanks

[evilmunkey]

I would just leave them be , grass snakes are harmless and pretty cool little beasties, i had a couple as a kid. cant see them going any where near the cat or dog

[Andy_mr2sc]

Here's (another) one our Bengal brought in the other day. She really likes them as a snack between meals. Sadly as you can see she never eats all of one, just munches on one end.

[LordGrover]

That's not a snake, it's a slow worm (lizard).

[Andy_mr2sc]

That shows how much I know....
I feel better now knowing she's not eating something that's protected!

[Boosted LS1]

Grass snakes can deliver a pretty unpleasant odour as well as pretending to be lifeless. I've no idea if that would see off a cat or not.

[Nightmare]

It won’t if the cat likes chasing stuff. They just cannot leave well enough alone in my experience. If they do get em it probably won’t end well for either cos the stuff the snakes emit is really grim! (Though it won’t harm the cat as far as I know)

I am beyond jealous though. Grass snakes in the pond would be amazing!!

[Nightmare]

And it looks more like that slow worm has just dropped its tail rather than being munched on......does the rest of it tend to stay alive when cat brings em in? I was on a Skype video call the other day and one of the other people on it had his cat jump on the table and deposit a very large and alive slow worm in the middle of the desk with a pleased marumph noise and then pissed off leaving it there. Was very funny and much more interesting than the actual call

[LordGrover]

Andy_mr2sc said:

That shows how much I know....
I feel better now knowing she's not eating something that's protected!

Slow worms are protected by Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

[otolith]

Sadly, my cats used to eat the slow worms in the garden at my old house - though they quite often just got the jettisoned tail.

There were still quite a few of them about after ten years of it, though, so they seemed to be reproducing fast enough to keep up with it.

[edc]

LordGrover said:

Andy_mr2sc said:

That shows how much I know....
I feel better now knowing she's not eating something that's protected!

Slow worms are protected by Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

At my previous house one of my cats would munch through slow worms and newts. He'd quite happily run into the house with them too. There aren't any at this place so the local population is safe now.

[aka_kerrly]

In rural Gloucestershire slow worms & grass snakes are fairly common in the fields/allotments. Within half a mile of where I grew up there was a grass snake sanctuary - an area about the size of two football pitches in a field nearby. I go for the sensible approach of leave them well alone to get on with their business.

At home it was mostly slow worms that used to try and make the dash from the allotments across our garden to the compost heap or under the shed, approximately 50 yards. Between me an the neighbours either side and those backing onto the allotment there must have been a dozen cats thus I can recall seeing several instances of slows being caught by a cat or worse two or more savaging one into tiny bits, no chance of survival at all. Cats can be brutal in that way, all slashing away as a team then once bored all walk off the separate ways.

[Andy_mr2sc]

LordGrover said:

Andy_mr2sc said:

That shows how much I know....
I feel better now knowing she's not eating something that's protected!

Slow worms are protected by Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

Oh dear. I wonder how the powers that be go about prosecuting my cat?

[Andy_mr2sc]

Nightmare said:

And it looks more like that slow worm has just dropped its tail rather than being munched on......does the rest of it tend to stay alive when cat brings em in? I was on a Skype video call the other day and one of the other people on it had his cat jump on the table and deposit a very large and alive slow worm in the middle of the desk with a pleased marumph noise and then pissed off leaving it there. Was very funny and much more interesting than the actual call

Dropped its tail?
Sometimes she'll bring them in complete and other times just bits of them 3-4" long. Generally left in the middle of the hallway for us to stand on.

[otolith]

Andy_mr2sc said:

Dropped its tail?
Sometimes she'll bring them in complete and other times just bits of them 3-4" long. Generally left in the middle of the hallway for us to stand on.

Like many other lizards, they can do this;

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotomy

[Yertis]

Andy_mr2sc said:

Oh dear. I wonder how the powers that be go about prosecuting my cat?

Sadly they cannot. But this thread further underlines my antipathy to the cat population. Loathsome animals (and that's speaking as a former multiple cat owner).

[Andy_mr2sc]

Ah so it probably happened from a previous cat attack then!

Cats are ok but I prefer dogs. Much more interactive and fun.