Had a rather sweaty day today turning a corner on my land on the drive to the house came across a Grey four foot long snake not much detail about 4inches in diameter He gave a big hiss at me and moved quickly into my orange groves. I must say I was rather taken back. Later We had a power cut and I checked everywhere in case it was our fault. I went into a small shed that houses my small pump which sends water to the house guess what a small snake was halfway in the fan and had been mangled when we have drawn water. Later the Electricity was restored and there was no fault at our end. The pump works fine but the small power board that show a green and red buttons/reset is kaput so will be replaced tomorrow. My question is are any of these snakes harmful to man or dog
and if so are the antidotes kept at your local docs. I have made a list from my Boys Own Bumper Book of Snakes And Reptiles that may assist plus any you may adder on getitttttttttt If you can tell me about any dangerous ones I would be grateful.I hear that adders are present in Spain.

SNAKES

montpellier snake - Malpolon monspessulanus
whip snake - Coluber hippocrepis
ladder snake - Elaphe [Rhinechis] scalaris
grass snake - Natrix natrix
viperine snake - Natrix maura
southern smooth snake - Coronella girondica
false smooth snake - Macroprotodon cucullatus
Lataste's viper - Vipera latasti


LIZARDS

Iberian worm lizard - Blanus cinereus
Bedriaga's skink - Chalcides bedriagai
3-toed skink - Chalcides striatus
wall lizard - Podarcis hispanica
iberian sand lizard - Psammodromus hispanicus
large sand lizard - Psammodromus algirus
spiny-toed lizard - Acanthodactylus erythrurus
ocellated lizard - Lacerta lepida
Turkish gecko - Hemidactylus turcicus
moorish gecko - Tarentola mauritanica

I feel ill

I hate it when people kill snakes. The poisonous ones tend to be few and far between, and they do a damn good job keeping rodents down.

Ther is a link in Free Beer about nasties in Spain.
Adder this little one.....

The dangers of poisonous snakes in Spain (and most countries) are hugely overrated.

For example, I'm pretty sure that more people in the US die from lightning strikes than rattlesnake bites.

THats nothing I found one in my bedroom one night!!! I moved a wash basket and it slithered from underneath, luckily im not scared of them so I just put on some thick leather gloves and caught it, it was a young ladder snake, just over a foot long
good job it was'nt a spider, I dont so spiders and there was a HUGE one in my bath this morning

Are you sure it wasn`t a viper like my pic.

photo of the said ' bedroom' snake, not poisonous

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh scary one on the left looks like the lesser spotted gas guzzler from Japan

The one in my pump was about the same size but The first one I saw was about 4 feet in length.

From what the locals tell me down here in southern Andalucia the only dangerous ones a adders which live high in the mountains,the big buggers are usually looking for rats and mice, our cat gave a monster one a run for its money and often brings home dead tiddlers.

As for ones in the bedroom ,these are known a "serpiente de pantalones"and grow when chased around the bedroom

Rgds

Rotor

I have been told in general the larger snakes in Spain are constrictors and not venemous, they are after animals smaller than cats and dogs such as rats and mice. The horned viper is the venemous one to watch out for and it is much smaller and generally tries to keep away from human activity. Iberia nature web site gives quite a good description

Yes the large ones are the constrictors - Ladder snake. I dont think there has been a death in Spain from a snake bite for years. They are more afraid of you then you are of them and will quickly move out of the way. I have had them in by bedroom (curled up right beside my bed) and in the swimming pool as they get stuck and cant get out after a drink, I just pop them in a box and give them a lift up the road a bit and wave them goodbye. The photograph looks like a young Ladder snake. The Montpellier is a venomous snake but is very unlikely to bite and will just hiss when threatened.

As someone said please dont kill them there is no need and they are doing a good job by keeping down small rodents which they feed on.

What about the Viper on our steps, we don`t live high up in the mountains, we are just above Carvajal beach, Fuengirola.

Maybe a "friendly" neighbour brought it to your doorstep as a present for you jdr. A friend who lives almost on the beach on Costa de la Luz had one on his doorstep once. Down there they actually encourage the big snakes into the rough ground to deal with any rats.

From the Iberia Nature website El Capitan mentioned:
Not quite Zero, but still very, very few. You have to be incredibly unlucky or, extremely stupid to get bitten by a snake. They're very timid animals. I've seen some huge blue snakes in the mountains around here.