Few places in the world have no snakes. These are typically places that experience extreme cold for most of the year, like the arctic circle. However, you might be wondering, what about the snakes in Scotland – are there any?
Scotland is home to only 2 species of snake: the European Adder and the Barred Grass snake. However, they are so rare that a person could spend most of their life in Scotland without seeing one. The Barred Grass snake has almost disappeared, and the European Adder is highly reclusive.
This article will explore both species of Scottish snakes in detail, including the European adder and the barred snake. In addition, I will give an honorable mention to Scotland’s legless lizard, the slow worm.
1. European Adder
The common European adder (Vipera berus) is a widespread, hardy, and moderately venomous species. However, it is rarely encountered due to its reclusive nature, and its venom can cause much pain. However, its venom usually doesn’t kill adult humans unless they are elderly or ill.
The adder is extremely non-confrontational, so the chances of being bitten by one are slim. Generally, they only bite if stepped on, cornered, or handled.
If you ever see an adder, your best bet is to stay still. The snake will seek immediate escape and should NOT be caught, threatened, or killed to protect people and pets.
Appearance
This snake is a short, thick-bodied species that rarely grows larger than 3 ft (1 m) in length. Unlike most viper species, its head is not triangular but more egg-shaped, with a flat, blunt snout and medium size eyes with vertical, elongated oval pupils.
Adders are a species that has sexual dimorphism. In other words, males and females look different. In this case, they have different colorations. Females are light brown, reddish brown, copper, or entirely black (melanistic). Males are typically pale and gray or grayish brown. Both sexes have red eyes and a black or brown zig-zag pattern all along their backs.
Another key characteristic is the shape and texture of their scales. These snakes have rough, elongated oval scales, like a leaf, with a ridge in the center.
Diet
Adders typically hunt small rodents like mice, voles, and shrews. They also favor ground-nesting birds such as the skylark. In addition, adders are known to eat lizards.
Habitat
Adders prefer moist environments in marshy areas, forests, meadows, scrubland, grassland, woodland, and higher mountain elevations. They can be found all over Scotland, including the Scottish isles.
Behavior
The adder goes into brumation (hibernation) from October to March. It is most active at night during the warm season but will be active during the day when the weather starts to cool. It is a reasonably calm, shy snake that will only strike when cornered or handled. However, it will do so rapidly and more than once when it does bite.
During the breeding season, these snakes compete for mates with a ritual called ‘the dance of the adders.’ The males fight by lifting their heads up, twisting around each other, and trying to push each other down. Females give birth to live young in the spring.
2. Barred Grass Snake
The barred grass snake (Natrix Helvetica) is the largest native species in the UK. However, confirmed sightings of grass snakes in Scotland are very rare, and reported sightings are often misidentifications of other snake species. In fact, this snake is so rare in Scotland that it seems to have nearly disappeared.
Appearance
This snake grows up to 6 ft (1.8 m) in length. It usually has brownish-green or olive-green coloring with broken black bars on its sides. It also has a band of yellow and black around its neck. It has large reddish-orange eyes with round pupils, and its face typically has black bars along the jaw.
Diet
Grass snakes are a semi-aquatic species, so their favorite foods are toads and frogs. Still, they will eat other amphibians, tadpoles, ants, earthworms, and various larvae. They will also eat fish, mice, voles, and shrews.
Habitat
Because they are semi-aquatic, barred grass snakes typically hang out near bodies of water, basking at pond and lake edges. However, they can also be found at the edges of fields and forests. They don’t need bodies of water to survive, and these environments offer plenty of cover and access to open areas for basking.
Behavior
From October to April, the barred grass snake brumates (hibernates) and usually spends this time underground, where it is easiest to stay warm. Breeding happens in April, and females lay their eggs during June and July, usually under dead plants and leaf litter because the rotting plant matter creates heat. They will lay their eggs in garden compost heaps as well.
3. Slow Worm
While not technically a snake, the slow worm (Anguis fragilis) looks a lot like one! In fact, it is a legless lizard. Unlike Scottish snakes, however, the slow worm is common and can be found across the country. It is also known colloquially as the deaf adder, blind worm, slowworm, and long-cripple.
Appearance
This reptile reaches lengths of about 20 inches (50 cm). It has smooth, shiny scales. Due to sexual dimorphism, males and females look a little different. Females are brown with darker sides, and males are usually more grayish brown. Because their scales are so small, they look smoother than a snake.
Other ways to distinguish a slow worm from a snake include that they have eyelids (snakes do not) and can therefore blink. In addition, they have no necks to speak of, and their tongues are notched rather than forked like a snake. Lastly, like most lizards, slow worms can drop their tail to escape predators and grow it back.
Diet
Slow worms feed on insects and other invertebrates like spiders, slugs, snails, earthworms, and beetles. Though they aren’t fast enough to go after particularly agile prey, they have backward-angled teeth that make it very difficult for prey to escape once bitten.
This diet makes them very beneficial to humans in suburban and rural areas as they will keep common garden pests in check.
Habitat
As I mentioned, slow worms live across all of Scotland. They are burrowing lizards, so they spend most of their time underground, beneath rocks and dead vegetation, or hiding under various objects. Though other species of lizards are more common in Scotland, the slow worm is most likely to be spotted by humans because it likes to live in yards and gardens.
They also dwell in woodland, grasslands, pastures, scrubland, and almost anywhere there’s sufficient vegetation to burrow and hunt.
Behavior
These shy little reptiles smell with their tongues like snakes and can tell by scent if a creature is predatory to them. They may freeze, defecate, or detach their tail to escape a predator when threatened. They do not generally bite in self-defense and can be handled gently by humans if necessary.
Breeding takes place in the spring. When a male slow worm has chosen a female, he will bite her head and hold on for up to ten hours while the two entwine their bodies to copulate. Females often have scars from these encounters.
Eggs are incubated inside the female, and the babies are only born after they hatch. This live birth allows the female to protect the eggs and keep them warm, giving the babies a better chance of survival.