3445 Snakes

We have much the same, except its three dogs, and I will be interested to hear people's advice.

Can anyone confirm that the quite large black snakes that seem to be fairly common in Abruzzo are venomous - we have a pair who live in the tiled roof of the power box at the end of our drive - we don't want to kill them but we'd live to know whether to avoid getting too close.

A useful tip from one of our neighbours was not to stack fire wood right next to the house as this is a favourite habitat for snakes.

I love the cow bell idea, more interesting than wind chimes.

Steve

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]

There is just one poisonous snake.The viper and I attach an image!The colouring can vary,like frogs that come in gree,brown or orange!These black snakes may well be a type of grass snake so please don't kill them as they will eat a lot of garden nasties!

Your dogs will probably have more sense than to taclkle a snake!So don't worry.

becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

The long black snakes are not venemous, I have been told they also kill rodents, so, try to look after them, my dogs hunt and eat them though :eek:
dogs are usually fairly sensible with snakes though, and by and large the snakes will want to avoid the dogs, just be careful yourself if you're moving any wood or stones etc., and if you cut the grass fairly short towards the house they will stay at the edges where they have access to longer grass.

Last year we had lots of snakes of various sizes, and the colours are fantastic,we found they were more frightened of us than us of them, Although I have been told to be aware of the small brown one (vipero) havent seen one yet.
3 cats and a jack russell, so not worried!

I found a very big black snakes in my water stopcock cupboard, due to the fact that I didn't want to hurt the snake, I went and called my neighbour he would know how to catch it, he took one look at it and went and got his wife, she was very skilled in catching it and releasing back into the wild, she then turned to the both of us said "YOU MEN ARE USELESS THE BLACK ONES ARE NOT VENOMOUS".
I believe she was under the impression that her hubby and I where scared of it, I think the fact we both ran off when she grab hold of it may have lead he to that belief, I don't know about her husband, but I was just given her plenty of room so that the snake wounldn't get hurt, honest.:o

She told me that in our area the
big black ones are NOT VENOMOUS
brown/redish are VENOMOUS
She tells me that they are no Vipers in our area, which I'm surprised to here, because parents used to lived in Busso (CB) Molise and the countryside is meant to full of them by the story's my mum tells me.

We live not far from Teramo and also have a snakes. Interesting idea about the little cow bells, although snakes do not have "ears" and therefore won't hear your dogs or you coming! They "hear" through vibration of the ground through "inner ears", hence the bells won't be heard.

Abruzzo is famous for it's snakes and coincidentally there is a small village in the region near Sulmona called Cocullo that has a festival of snakes every year and it's next week! Here's a bit of information about it.

Legend has it that the mountainous and bucolic area around Abruzzo was once so infested by snakes that life tended to the short, sharp and brutal rather than the long and cheerful. The local shepherds, back in 700 BC, appealed to Apollo for help. His advice was to capture the snakes, domesticate them by draping them around his statue and then release them into the bush again.

Curiously, this seemed to work and the ritual has been replayed ever since. Somewhere along the way, however, the fickle mortals dumped the old Greek gods for the newish Christian gods and indulged in a bit of historical revisionism. Apollo became Saint Domenica and a few touches of modernity, like fireworks, were added to the ritual.

Celebrations begin on St Joseph's Day, 19 March, when the first snakes of the season are netted and caged. Two months later, on the first Thursday in May, the village is stirred by an 8am revelry call of fireworks, followed by a traditional mass. After the mass, the statue of Saint Domenica is hauled through the streets of Cocullo, where villagers drape the captured serpents, boa-like, around his stone neck.

This ritual and the procession is usually accompanied by a noisy band of villagers, barking dogs and merry-makers. At the edge of the village the squirming mass is released back into the bush and the villagers, so it is said, are immune from snake bites for another year.

Anyway, back to the snakes. I've attached a photo of the little fella you may have in your garden. It is venomous, it's a viper and as well as black, they come in all shades of grey and brown and have the well known arrow pattern down their back. Snakes are timid creatures and will not strike unless threatened, although I have to admit at being a bit wary myself.

I think the key word is just be careful. Keep grass short and if you have wood stacked (or piles of bricks and tiles outside as we have a the moment during renovation) be extra careful when moving them.

If you'r unlucky enough to get bitten, get immediate hospital attention, as the bite can in extreme cases be fatal, although this is very rare, but the symptons are nasty.

As for the dogs, I think they have a 6th sense for snakes and such like and will most likely give them a wide berth. They'll probably be really pleased aswell not to have ringing bells in their ears all the time! I did wonder if your Italain neighbours were curious about the cow bells around your dogs necks :)

Anyway, I hope this helps. Keep safe.

Forgot to mention my mum tells me put a radio face down next to where you are working or laying , they hate pop music.

Interesting thread
Had it all sorted till Russ' post-blacks snakes good, brown snakes bad, but now Russ has put the cat among the snakes by saying black ones are poisonous.So where do we go now? There's a great website somewhere mentioned in an earlier post all about snakes which I'll try to find. It opens with that typical Italian music

Russ that snake in the picture looks just like the one who was living rent free in my stopcock cupboard, so it was a viper, I'm not so embarrassed about run a mile sorry kilometre when I found it.

Hello I need help please. I've joined the forum. Floundering in the dark on how to get into the main area. I've pressed every button and found the new posts area and some other things on the tool bar like the FAQ and search buttons but I'm just going around in a snake circle at the moment. (very interesting) Thanks.

Sorry folks!

Go to this site and see all the lovely pics of the snakes. As you'll see, the location of where these beauties were photographed is also shown. Black, browns, oranges, greys and all vipers!

[url]http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/ViperAspis.htm[/url]

Looks like you're caught in a snake pit Anastasia!

Go to top of page and click on FORUMS shown in red... that will take you back to the main forum page and you should be able to navigate from there.

Duh don't I look the fool now! A red button as big and as bright as the sun and I didn't see it. Thanks. By the way most people call me Sas or Sassy (along with the usual jibes and I've heard them all) Thanks again.

Many thanks for all the replies! Seems we can remove the bells and also move the wood stack which is right outside the house. Having a husband who is terrified of snakes makes life interesting too!

I'd like to add my thanks. This thread has been really useful.

Steve

Hi, it's not just wellies you need! Some friends of ours spotted a large tree bird-eating snake last year in an olive tree. Perhaps a reinforced brolly? Apart from that we have seen at least three other types - not sure what. We have also been warned by several people about a variety of large wasp whose sting is rather dangerous. As for scorpions, well Ive only seen the smallish black jobs and have ignored them! Then there are the pine tree moths/caterpillars which have to be shot out of the trees as they can eventually kill the pine trees. What next I wonder?! Take care.

What about the Wild Boar, Porcupines, wolves, wild cats,
I would love a drive of your armoured sunbathing Landrover when you get enough protection Jig, :D ;)

[QUOTE=Tanny]Hi, it's not just wellies you need! Some friends of ours spotted a large tree bird-eating snake last year in an olive tree. Perhaps a reinforced brolly? Apart from that we have seen at least three other types - not sure what. We have also been warned by several people about a variety of large wasp whose sting is rather dangerous. As for scorpions, well Ive only seen the smallish black jobs and have ignored them! Then there are the pine tree moths/caterpillars which have to be shot out of the trees as they can eventually kill the pine trees. What next I wonder?! Take care.[/QUOTE]

Oh my gawd! Killer snakes, scorpions and obese wasps? O.K. I can probably cope with the aforementioned ... but moths that have to be shot out of pine trees :eek: Just how big are the bxggxrs? Is it a mutant strain of super moth or something? You're not living in Puglia are you? It's well known that the whole region glows in the dark due to toxic waste dumping :D :D

...But on the other hand, it's common to see in Italy my absolutely favourite insect: the [URL="http://www.wnp.sk/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=1"]Hummingbird Hawkmoth[/URL]. ([URL="http://www2.biologie.fu-berlin.de/engl/macroglossum.html"]Another pic[/URL] and [URL="http://www.the-timeless-dimension.com/prdmth001.htm"]one more[/URL].)

Okay, so a few of these drift across the Channel and so they are now and then seen in England, but I don't think they ever make it to Scotland.

They are amazing things and it's fascinating watching them hover over a flower and use that incredibly long proboscis so precisely.

Al

I think the big wasps referred to earlier may be a hornet. Nasty beggers and will give you a powerful sting if provoked, just as the English variety do. Unless you have an allergy to their venom (much as wasps or bees), a sting is unlikely to kill you!

Unfortunately I have such an allergy!

Now, shall we move on to what lurks in the sea :D

We had a little, NOT, wasp visit us while doing the washing up in the sun the other week in Puglia - here is the picture to give you an idea of scale!

There was a much bigger low flying aircraft sized thing that made up poo our pants and hence no photo of it!! It was more orange though - need to look it up as it might fly off with our Trullo if we don't do something about it!!

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]This photo shows a horned lizard but they all seem to live in deserts so I don't know if the squeaker is one?

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE=Susan P]Oh my gawd! Killer snakes, scorpions and obese wasps? O.K. I can probably cope with the aforementioned ... but moths that have to be shot out of pine trees :eek: Just how big are the bxggxrs? Is it a mutant strain of super moth or something? You're not living in Puglia are you? It's well known that the whole region glows in the dark due to toxic waste dumping :D :D[/QUOTE]
These moths build nests of a sort of white silky stuff that is quite strong and too high to reach (unless you have the agility of a monkey!) and the best way to kill them (I am told) is to shoot holes in the nests during the cold wet months as they cannot survive that. No, not Puglia, further north in Liguria. Incidentally we have got rid of the resident wild boars by clearing the land mainly aroung the house! Just after we arrived to live here a hunter was found wandering around the lower reaches of the garden and he said he had shot four (4) that day. Did we get as much as a small steak - NO. Ah well.

Those fireflies always remind me of that song "The night has a thousand eye's" (ask a VERY OLD relative Jig...) but you needn't worry, they onlt attract the very large bats which get caught in your hair and drag you up into their lair, no real problem at all;) :D :eek:

[QUOTE=GeorgeS]Those fireflies always remind me of that song "The night has a thousand eye's" (ask a VERY OLD relative Jig...) but you needn't worry, they onlt attract the very large bats which get caught in your hair and drag you up into their lair, no real problem at all;) :D :eek:[/QUOTE]
Thank you george, so its not an old wives tale, Im petrified after reading your post and shaking like a leaf, BATS IN MY HAIR................:eek: :

Thanks Russ for the website.
the snakes look beautiful.
Maybe we need photos of snakes that aren't dangerous! It might be helpful to know what ordianry garden snakes look like.
I do hate it when snakes go into the trees! It's bad enough worrying about them on the ground!
I'm starting to wonder about Liguria!
Sarah

Ohhh, come on, ease up a bit, every country has it's creepy crawlies, some of which are nasty, most aren't, if you just trot around in Italy without delving into farming or rootling :eek: about among rockpiles etc., you are as likely to see a viper as you are in England, life is far more dangerous in Australia, but people still live there. (Steve Irwins just been on telly :confused: )

[QUOTE=sarahd]Thanks Russ for the website.
the snakes look beautiful.
Maybe we need photos of snakes that aren't dangerous! It might be helpful to know what ordianry garden snakes look like.
I do hate it when snakes go into the trees! It's bad enough worrying about them on the ground!
I'm starting to wonder about Liguria!
Sarah[/QUOTE]
Hi Sarahd. Liguria is a wonderful region. The hinterland is still largely untouched and it is this wildness that we love. My current project is taking photos of the wild flowers as they come up and then identifying them. I would like to do the same with the butteflies but they don't stay still for long enough! I know we have some wild orchids and so we are not 'cleaning' the land until June this year. We found a wonderful book about Liguria written by Annie Hawes called Extra Virgin. She ended up living here by accident and describes the people and customs with humour and insight. It has been a book that we have used a lot to understand how things work in Liguria. There are some good cooking tips too. It's a good read for anyone who loves Italy, but specially for someone living in the region.

Saw my first snake today, after clearing a lot of grass etc from around the well I sat down for a rest with a glass of vino, saw what I thought was a branch falling, looked up and there was this 3ft long black snake in the branches of a climber looking at me from about 12inches away. It stayed for a couple of minutes and then went away, one of the locals who say it said they're harmless only the green ones are poisonous, you can pick up the black ones if you like.
Maybe next time!!!

One final comment: We have just been told by local people that snakes cannot stand (?) the smell of burning rubber so, as we have a 8week old kitten and the last snake was only 6 feet from the door, we are giving that a bash too! (burning old tyres in a gavanised bucket) As well as rattling a stick along the woodstack twice a day. And keeping the area around the house clean and strimmed. Thanks for all the comments and help!

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]bet it smells delightful around your place..check out all the polutants you are putting into the air they wont do you or your cat much good....couldn't you just live with the snakes?

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

I think I will risk one small fire in a bucket for ten minutes per day until the kitten is a bit more worldly wise! At 8 weeks she sees everything that moves as a challenge to play with. After that we will all just accept the snakes are one of the more 'interesting' parts of Liguria to be treated with due respect!

We've got a few of these in our garden. They are harmless and quite docile. I picked one up Austin Stevens style by the tail and held him at arms length to get a good look at him......he didn't mind too much and settled down quickly just as they do on the TV shows. After that I put him down and took a few pics of him......lovely.

If anyone wants a pic for reference purposes pm me and I'll forward a couple.

We had some fantastic snakes last year lots of different sizes and colours, but so far this year only seen one black one (who appears to be seriously involved with our hosepipie!) everytime I go to water the orto hes there, good job he does'nt live in Uk as they'd ban it!

Its all relative, but one thing I like about italy is the lack of snakes. I am Australian, and it took me a good two years to stop jumping in long grass when I heard a rustle. Anyway if you dont want snakes near your house here are a few tips. I am off a farm in oz and we had a bit of experiance with it.
1. Dont have any standing water around the place.
2. keep all long grass mowed close
3. DOnt have any piles of wood or iron lying around.
4. BUy a fox terrier
5. If you think there is a snake near you, make a lot of noise, or stamp the ground, they will move away from you.

The vast majority of people bitten by snakes in australia are bitten when trying to kill the snake. Also, while the snake may be venomous, the ones in Italy are not lethal, just amke you sick

Look on the bright side, you wont have many rats if you have some snakes
cheers

What missing out the lovely Tarantula, and in the sea lurks the evil poisonous jellyfish and stingey sea urchins? Last year got dive bombed everytime we sunbathed by some huge black bee-ish, roachy beasty found it dead a few days later like some huge abandoned slipper yuuuckkkkk! Just hope its son isnt around this year.

All the italians have huge shutters to keep LARGE beasts away...gulp :eek:

Maybe I'll stay in Blighty. :confused:

Still saw 2 wasps the size of the earlier piccie in London in the bleeding bedroom.

Still saw a Hoopie bird which was cheekily following the car and showing off its beautiful plumage, and we have ace gecko's.

You have a special bleeding room.... Wowww, thats really soph, soffistic... POSH :D

Sadly I'm not a vampire, its the mossies that generally feed on us :(

My record is 38, cherry on the cake, being some 4 year old brat who started crying when she saw my deformed face, to cap it all her mum told her not to stare at the inflicted....cheeky friesian :eek:

[QUOTE=elainecraig]My record is 38, cherry on the cake, being some 4 year old brat who started crying when she saw my deformed face, to cap it all her mum told her not to stare at the inflicted....cheeky friesian :eek:[/QUOTE]

Spare a thought for us poor blighters who experience that sort of thing year 'round.:cool:

Al

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]When I went to Ghana I was told that if you consume large amounts of vitamin B12 it makes your blood taste yuky.Marmite also works though you may need to eat a jar a day!

Seriously I do sympathise with those of you who hate creepie crawlies...my 19 year old will not set a foot in Italy if she reads any of this.

I personally like most creatures but for some reason Dragonflies scare me!Also my dad's bees had a habit of attacking you just for the fun of it mainly trying to sting you in the head then getting tangled up in your hair.

If you are really scardy-cat why not invest in a mossie net.It will keep out everything excert possibly bats!!

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

[ATTACH]487[/ATTACH]

This morning's offering from my cats........Uurrrggghhh........:)

Lovely snake Relaxed.

We nearly drove over a large brown snake that was crossing the road (foolishly choosing to do so on a bend where you could not see it) on the road from Altino to Lanciano on Sunday.

LOL Relaxed... your cats look happy!!!! :D

Oh my god Relaxed that is funny, well its not, but it has made me laugh out loud at work, gosh what a lovely present you kitty cat brought you beats a half eaten mouse hands down. :eek:

Would a cat caption be : "Humm yummy what fun! Looks at the moving cat chews mummy has brought us - what will IAMs come up with next?"

Yesterday was the first day I saw a snake here. It was one of those long, black ones, so I didn't think too much of it - even when the cat decided to give chase.

So I started to ask around, and the general consensus of my neighbours is that the vipers here can kill - especially if you get bitten in the neck. Apparently someone died that way when collecting mushrooms. One of my neighbours also helpfully told me that there is a family of vipers living in our field, and not to go too close to the fence...

As we live some distance from the nearest hospital, I went to the farmacia who sold me a type of syringe (without needle) and sterilised dressing, plus loose tourniquet. Sounds less painful than cutting into a snake bite and trying to suck out the poison.

Anyway, I thought I'd move this thread up, just because the chemist - as well as our neighbours - take the possibility of snake bite quite seriously. It's easy enough to tread on one by accident, and the bites can be fatal. Maybe this suction device can prevent the poison from spreading for the time it takes to get to hospital.

The locals around here don't seem to take the snake issue too seriously. They just advise that you make a lot of noise and stamping about when in long grass etc. as they are more frightened of you than the other way round. Apparently they just slither away when they get the vibrations of something approaching. But I will check with the local farmacia and see what they have to advise! Close to the house we now make sure the land is 'cleaned' and vegetation cut very short - a full time job at this time of year as it grows so quickly!

In one of the earlier books that I read on running a b&b/agriturismo in Italy it stated that it was compulsory to keep a supply of antivenon on site to cater to the immediate need of any guest that happened to get bitten.

Was quite surprised as did not think the administering of antivenons was considered something that could be entrusted to a layman...

[QUOTE=Tanny]The locals around here don't seem to take the snake issue too seriously. They just advise that you make a lot of noise and stamping about when in long grass etc. as they are more frightened of you than the other way round. Apparently they just slither away when they get the vibrations of something approaching. But I will check with the local farmacia and see what they have to advise! Close to the house we now make sure the land is 'cleaned' and vegetation cut very short - a full time job at this time of year as it grows so quickly![/QUOTE]
Tanny, I always wear my wellies if the grass is long, and carry a big stick, and beat the ground in front of me as I walk along, and so far its worked, however, we have seen black snakes laying under loose stones close to the house, so its not just long grass, but if you beat the ground , they go, they dont actually bother me, but hubby !!!!!!:eek:

How on earth do you get bitten on the neck by a snake? Surely this has to be a 'tall' story!Or did the snake actually spring from the ground to the persons neck?

I think some of you are worrying needlessly as lots of these so called snakes are actually sloworms a type of legless lizard.

Chill and enjoy the wildlife

Becky

[QUOTE=manopello]How on earth do you get bitten on the neck by a snake? Surely this has to be a 'tall' story!Or did the snake actually spring from the ground to the persons neck?

I think some of you are worrying needlessly as lots of these so called snakes are actually sloworms a type of legless lizard.

Chill and enjoy the wildlife

Becky[/QUOTE]

Snakes do hang around in trees, so beware!
But if you worried about everything that might kill you, well, we would never venture out the door!