Invasive Snakes In London, What's The (H)issssue?

Welcome back again to Inspecting Invaders. It has been a while but, as you can see from the title, my ability to come up with awful attempts at humorous wordplay has not been abated. I now have plenty of time to get the blog up and running again so there'll be plenty more to come! But first, where better to start than the place I have been living for the last three years: London!

Now I'm willing to admit that when people think of London, invasive species are probably not in the first few thousand things that come to mind. But, like pretty much everywhere else, London is no exception to the spread and establishment of invasive species.

London: A big bell, a big wheel and a big bridge but no sign of invasive species?

The well known scientific publication, The Daily Star, recently produced an article entitled: 'Slither killer! Snakes capable of crushing small children are loose in Britain'. In the scientific opinion of 'Mum of three', Sylvia Taylor, the aforementioned snakes "could constrict small children”.

Wow! Sounds like there's real potential for a serious serpentine situation involving small kids being horrifically crushed to death! How terrible! Why don't more people know about this threat?!

Well maybe because it's just a random civilian making a comment which for some reason has become the headline of the article. Top stuff Daily Star. Sensationalism at its finest.

However, there is some truth to the article. Aesculapian Snakes are indeed residing in the Regents Canal area of Camden. The snakes originate in Central Europe but there is a theory suggesting they could have escaped from London Zoo. They are snakes after all, very cunning creatures...

 Aesculapian Snakes, such as the one above, have been spotted in Camden.

The range of Aesculapian Snakes in Europe. Note the lack of colour in the UK.

Most people that hang out around Camden are probably more preoccupied with drinking snakebite than actually being bitten by snakes. So should people be concerned? 

Wellllll, sorry Daily Star, but I'm afraid your headline may have been slightly misleading. And sorry Sylvia, but according to Dr Wolfgang Wuster of Bangor University 'the snakes are perfectly harmless to pets and humans', and I'm more inclined to believe the guy with the PhD...

The snakes feature on a list compiled by the London Invasive Species Initiative (LISI) as a 'Species of Concern'. They are considered to be “Species of high impact or concern present at specific sites that require attention (control, management, eradication, etc.)”and it is noted that further research is required on the snakes' establishment, breeding sites and possible methods of removal. 

A snapshot of some of LISI's species of concern

There are no plans at present to remove the Camden population of the snakes so it seems like they could be slithering about for some time to come. But there is nothing to be concerned about. I'll leave you with some more from Dr Wuster:

“If your child is the size of a small rat they could constitute a danger, but if that’s the case I’d suggest it being constricted by a snake would be the least of your worries.” 

Too true Wolfgang, too true

Over and out

The Invader Inspector