12340 Snakes...coming soon!

"moved to italiauncovered.co.uk"

Oh thanks, Noble...now Mrs Rosko won't set foot back in Umbria without a 1926 Diving Suit and a Baseball Bat:smile:

[quote=Noble;119671]It's almost time for snakes to appear in our gardens and around our houses in Italy. :wideeyed:Those who live here or have had holiday homes for some time, will know that no matter how big/long/terrifying the snakes are, the only snake to stay well clear of is the Viper. It's the guests seeing a snake that concerns us and so for the past few years, we have put camphor tablets/mothballs in "hiding places" at the root of things planted up against the house etc. Lay them all around the outside of the house. Seems to keep snakes away.

The other thing to do is check your outside, ENEL type meter boxes, (those boxes built to house tubes that run underground, containing services etc). Fill up the (red) tubes with foam that sets hard or silicon, to prevent snakes from living down those tubes and coming out to sun bath.[/quote]

Good tip - thanks
last year we had children climbing a tree with a viper found in the roots just a foot away from where they were jumping. Hilarious scene followed with la moglie going mad with a panga after I had dealt a blow with a stick. Later I killed a 1.2 metre grey/brown snake in the house (came in out of the heat). Sorry animal lovers but with children around we have zero tolerance on big snakes in the house. Grass snakes are cute though.
PS. how to tell if it's a viper - not very long, just over half a metre, triangular head and a fat body with a funny little tail.

If you are interested in identifying the snakes, here is a link I already gave in another thread:
[url=http://www.kingsnake.com/reptilia-italia/My_HomePage_file/serpenti.htm]serpenti italiani[/url]

I thought snakes only came down in the height of summer, is this not true? Are many found at altitudes up to 500 m? I spoke to our neighbours and they said it is very rare to see them other than dead on the road.
I will strim the garden in a very different way now, possibly on stilts !:wideeyed:

Well the snake sitting next to me whilst I was weeding the borders at 450mtrs wasnt aware of the 500mtr rule! there are snakes around us but they are timid and avoid people. I was told by an Italian friend that if you plant the herb Rue around your garden snakes keep away.This one wasnt aware of that theory either.!.
A

I think you'll find snakes from sea level to 1600m - my own personal best! - and above....

We are about 300m above sea level and have black snakes and four-line snake (very pretty) in the garden. Both stay away from the dogs and us! We were told by locals that the poisonous snakes are only "in the mountains" not this low down. They were here before us so we leave them alone and they leave us alone. Wasps on the other hand......................

We are only at about 400 mtrs and have plenty of vipers about, so don't believe everything you are told. The black snake is just a grass snake about a metre or so long, and the 4 line one is probably the same as the slow worm. We picked up one here about 2 days ago .. very docile in the hand. The vipers on the other hand, tend to keep eating the frogs in the pond ....... not so good.

Small dead black one spotted squashed on our lane yesterday - we are at 490 meters near Amandola.

Every year on the forum snakes are discussed and it always baffles me why if people are scared of snakes would they buy a house in Italy?
Pigs are apparantly life threatening at the moment with the current pig flu problem, so are these snake fearing, stick wielding numpties going to start on the wild boar next?

I'm more scared of Italian drivers yet I still live here. Why should fear of one particular aspect of life put people off?

Wild boar hunt, count me in... mmmmm ... ragu!

[quote=sueflauto;120010]

Wild boar hunt, count me in... mmmmm ... ragu![/quote]

I consider this posting to be in very poor taste:no::no::no::no:!

[quote=sueflauto;120010]........Wild boar hunt, count me in... mmmmm ... ragu![/quote]

[quote=Cinghiale;120011]I consider this posting to be in very poor taste:no::no::no::no:![/quote]

Not if its properly seasoned.

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[quote=herealready;119970]Every year on the forum snakes are discussed and it always baffles me why if people are scared of snakes would they buy a house in Italy?
Pigs are apparantly life threatening at the moment with the current pig flu problem, so are these snake fearing, stick wielding numpties going to start on the wild boar next?[/quote]

I am hoping to go to Heaven (and to meet Gala there)! I think it's a place very high up? There are snakes here at 627 mts. but only the vipers are dangerous. Despite that people are frightened of them and a great many of us have paying guests, so I suggested laying camphor tablets near the house to keep snakes at bay. Thinking ahead and blocking up those places that snakes will hide in, will ensure that guests are both happy and blissfully ignorant.

fear of snakes is quite common and often inspired by a catholic upbringing... indeed i find that most Italians are even more scared of snakes than I so according to the theory of not living in a place that might contain something that scares you Italy would have virtually no Italians...

i agree that fear should not result in violence... i actually have more fear of killing things ...even snakes than i do of anything else and find the aspect of Italians general behaviour on the roads of running over virtually anything that moves somewhat sickening...

the murdering instinct does go out the window as regards things like mosquitoes which i have no fear of just a complete hate for... so i spray the house and around the place to kill these things... i know chemical use is frowned upon here... but i enjoy a summer free of that horrible evening buzz...or sleepless nights... anyway its another common Italian practice that i have taken on... and usually two or three sprays between now and autumn sort the dastardly biting things out...

i keep all long grass cut down so i can see the snakes before i step on them... however with four dogs all Italian born and bred its more the fact that they kill everything that moves on our land and its a bit of a race when i hear their sort of attack barking me with a broom to chase them back inside away from the reptile... so it can slip safely off or if they get it first allowing them to get on with it and finish the kill... because there is no way due to my fear that i am going to bring an injured snake anywhere ... and definitely no mouth to mouth or whatever part they breath through is on the books...

fear is healthy... killing for fear is somewhat irrational and there are better ways of solving snake problems.... around your property many of them suggested in previous posts

we live at around the 650 m slm and we have hundreds of snakes of all varieties... and they are as common here as anything... especialley the big black non poisonous ones... but plenty of vipers too... and can quite happily say have not managed to kill any ... and indeed its against the law here to kill them in any case... they are protected...