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The Camden Creature |
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JaySteel
Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157 |
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Thanks Will. It was another frustrating day. I searched for 5 hours with no success. The weather was just too warm by the time I got there at 10am. With all the warm sunny weather we've had this week, snakes simply didn't need to do much basking today. That makes it five unsuccessful visits in a row now. My luck must change eventually.
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will
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830 |
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sorry to hear that Jason - drop me a pm when you're thinking of going and maybe we can have a look together? Success not guaranteed though
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JaySteel
Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157 |
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Thanks mate. I will do.
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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Hey Will (or perhaps Jay), what's the latest? Any updates?
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JaySteel
Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157 |
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Hi Liz. I visited the site with a friend on the 21/04/2019 and found a male on one side of the canal and a female on the other side. My friend had looked for them a couple of weeks prior to our visit and found a different pair together. So there are still some snakes hanging on but I suspect numbers are down on a few years ago sadly. Images can be seen on my website: http://www.jasonsteelwildlifephotography.yolasite.com/aesculapian-snakes.php
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will
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830 |
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Hi Ben
As Jason says, they can still be found, but I think fewer than in previous years. Whether because of people taking them or being euthanised or maybe just poor hatching of young I can't say. To be honest I haven't visited as much as I used to, after 10 years of getting nowhere with a formal scientific study supported by ZSL and NE I guess I'm a bit fed up of being the loner on the towpath staring into the bushes...
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JaySteel
Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157 |
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For anyone that's still following this thread there have been at least three sightings of the Aesculapian Snakes at Regents Canal this year thankfully. Hopefully the CV19 lockdown earlier in the year might have had a positive impact on these snakes.
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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Hi Jay
Yes, still interested and good to hear they're still about. I'd much rather see others' posts/pics than visit London myself. I'm an urbanphobic (it IS a word - i just looked it up! On another snakey note, i've often wondered why, given their prevalence in the pet trade and not too dissimilar natural habitats, why Garter Snakes haven't established anywhere here. |
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JaySteel
Senior Member Joined: 07 May 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 157 |
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Being viviparous I would have thought the Garter Snake could have survived in parts of the UK too. I'm sure it had plenty of opportunities to colonise areas back in the 80's when they were so often kept as pets.
That's what makes the Aesculapian Snake so special. Not only is it the only introduced (I won't say non-native because I believe they were once native to the UK) snake species to successfully breed in the wild in this country but it's an egg-laying species too.
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Conners
Senior Member Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 54 |
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Great news and great photo.
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