France in Focus

Headers wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 2:13 pm I thought it was a bit long and then it emerged - a young couleuvre.

Blaze wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 2:44 pm Well done, Headers !

At our old house near Saumur, we heard one of our dogs barking in the kitchen one summer evening. All the doors were open and we found her barking at .... an Aspic Viper. Definitely not welcome in the house and fortunately it was easy to get Callie away. OH presented the snake with an empty rubbish bin and the uninvited guest was deposited well away from the house.
A couple of days later, we returned from shopping, and guess who was sunning itself under one of the trees by the house .... our Aspic Viper friend.
This time it was deposited the same way, but much further away.

I find it terribly sad that the French seem to want to kill anything slithery regardless of whether it's harmless or not. Funnily enough there was an article on the news a couple of nights ago about just that subject. A doctor commented that no-one had ever died in France from a snake bite and what a shame that many people's reaction is to kill them, and more often than not, it's a harmless couleuvre.
But pets are at risk when they go footling around in the bushes. It's worth keeping the base of shrubs clear of undergrowth - snakes like shady areas to keep cool, and if you've got some water nearby, they welcome it !

Lori wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 4:33 pm

Headers wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 2:13 pm I thought it was a bit long and then it emerged - a young couleuvre.

No, no, no and no ! I'da had a heart attack. Don't do snakes. And most certainly NOT in the house.

Glad you were able to deal with it.

Blaze wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 2:44 pm Well done, Headers !

At our old house near Saumur, we heard one of our dogs barking in the kitchen one summer evening. All the doors were open and we found her barking at .... an Aspic Viper. Definitely not welcome in the house and fortunately it was easy to get Callie away. OH presented the snake with an empty rubbish bin and the uninvited guest was deposited well away from the house.
A couple of days later, we returned from shopping, and guess who was sunning itself under one of the trees by the house .... our Aspic Viper friend.
This time it was deposited the same way, but much further away.

I find it terribly sad that the French seem to want to kill anything slithery regardless of whether it's harmless or not. Funnily enough there was an article on the news a couple of nights ago about just that subject. A doctor commented that no-one had ever died in France from a snake bite and what a shame that many people's reaction is to kill them, and more often than not, it's a harmless couleuvre.
But pets are at risk when they go footling around in the bushes. It's worth keeping the base of shrubs clear of undergrowth - snakes like shady areas to keep cool, and if you've got some water nearby, they welcome it !

exile wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 9:03 pm Aspic viper always sounds like a dish of cooked venomous snake in gelatine to me probably served as a starter.