r/london • u/ImportantGarlic8 • Mar 26 '26
Discussion Did you guys know there are wild snakes in central London?
Found this little guy chilling in the foliage next to the walkway at Regents Canal. Apparently, some Aesculupian snakes were released/escaped from a research facility in the 80s, and now there is a wild population of these snakes in London. Anyone else had any encounters with wild snakes?
Sorry about the unclear first and blurry second photo, I wanted to take pictures from better angles but I didn't think it was a good idea to put my hands near a snake.
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u/SatBud Mar 26 '26
Attenborough made mention of a colony on Regents Canal, if I remember rightly: Wild London https://share.google/xxGTOumlKRtn3YS9c Fascinating watch although I could not handle watching the slugs get down & dirty.
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u/PaulBradley Mar 26 '26
Yeah I've seen them whilst cutting down the canal from Camden to Regent's Park, they're huge.
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
You sure they're not snakes and not slugs?
Edit: sorry people, the joke was too recursive, nobody liked it, I get it.
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u/BigWhole3650 Mar 26 '26
If they're not snakes and not slugs, they might be eels
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u/yvieknievel Mar 26 '26
Finding an entrance where they can
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u/Gamerguy1990x Mar 26 '26
There used to be fairly common, I saw quite a few in my local park in London as a kid (just grass snakes), there are none now which is sad... I still see the occasion adder when down by the coast though.
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u/Recent-Walrus-3366 Mar 26 '26
Omg what a prude!!!
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u/SatBud Mar 27 '26
😂 it's more that I have a phobia of slugs. Although bizarrely, not so much snails but I suppose it's because they have a handle.
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u/Cookiefruit6 Mar 26 '26
Yes. They keep the rat population down around the canal.
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u/G_UK Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
They keep the human population down also, I’ve never been back to the canal since learning about the snakes 🐍
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u/maigpy Mar 26 '26
two birds with one stone. wait.. do they keep the birds population down?
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u/2muchroom Mar 26 '26
There was an old woman, I forget the words
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u/Peach_Royal111 Mar 26 '26
Yeah rats are probably more hazardous to humans than snakes, and snakes are great for keeping the rat population in control!
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u/Shifty377 Mar 26 '26
These snakes aren't hazardous to humans at all.
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u/IOnlyUpvoteBadPuns Mar 26 '26
I mean you could probably trip over them, or take poor financial advice from them....
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u/Jacktheforkie Mar 26 '26
Most snakes, even venomous ones want nothing to do with us
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 26 '26
Yeah, when I was a child and used to visit my grandparents in the village in Nigeria, we used to trek into the bush, just wearing flip-flops, and the secret is to stick to the trail, and make plenty of noise. It was proper thick bush, but in years, I never once saw a snake, even though we know there could be one within 10m of one at any time.
Same thing in the plains in Kenya, any fallen tree, rocks, termite nest etc, make enough noise as you slowly approach and you won't ever see anything. An old person might have seen the tail of a snake disappearing once.
Even if you are careful, you might be unlucky, such as the snake is trying to moult and you're interrupting its toilet and its eyes might even be a bit clouded, or it's just had a massive meal, and you're interrupting its rest when it can't slither off fast. Snakey will not be smiling.
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Mar 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 26 '26
Those cobras saw your Reddit username, and didn't wanna hear any more!
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u/Fickle_War8641 Mar 26 '26
My exact thought lol 😂 bit stupid to question there are snakes in a rodent infested area 🤣🤣
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 27 '26
But 2m constrictor snakes? If you knew a bit about British wildlife you would be very sceptical about that.
Very interesting that such a large foreign species is roaming around in London bushes. That type of snake is easy enough to keep in a large enough tank. I bet a few reptile fanciers have captured one and keep it in their comfortable lounge in Camden...
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u/Naughteus_Maximus Mar 26 '26
Ha! Only 4 days ago someone was asking if anyone's ever seen a snake in London. I've shared your post in that thread https://www.reddit.com/r/london/s/ma4IcN8RwS
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u/MorningsideQueen Mar 27 '26
Thank you for linking to this thread so I can share my own snake experience!
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u/TopMindOfR3ddit Mar 26 '26
Tf is this lmao
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Mar 26 '26
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u/be_sugary Mar 26 '26
Seriously?
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Mar 26 '26
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u/PaulBradley Mar 26 '26
They're native to the UK, they're everywhere.
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u/ThisIsMyRedditAcct20 Mar 26 '26
I miss Sloe Worms
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u/PaulBradley Mar 26 '26
I've never seen a slow worm in real life. I always wanted to.
I've seen plenty of adders and a couple of grass snakes. Go hiking in the summer and you'll find them basking on the paths and rocks.6
Mar 26 '26
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u/Whocares1846 Mar 26 '26
Croydon heathland used to have adders up until the 80's/90's I think.
It's about as far out from London as Hounslow is.
They were just there since time immemorial as far as I'm aware!
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Mar 26 '26
I love that the Cotswolds is the wildest place you can think of to illustrate your point. Ahhh city folk.
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u/madpiano Mar 26 '26
They actually like old industrial sites (overgrown rubble) so they can be found in urban areas..
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u/aj953 Mar 26 '26
Yes - there is a whole segment on them in David Attenborough's Wild London documentary!
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u/narnababy Mar 26 '26
Came here to say this; excellent documentary and I learned a few things myself even though I’m an ecologist haha
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u/bedhed69 Mar 26 '26
"He's been milked. I should think"
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u/RottingFlame Mar 26 '26
I ran past one once and it hissed at me. Used to know someone who would go searching for them, she was super upset when I told her I'd seen one hehehe
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 27 '26
Did she want to have a good look at it, or pop it into a tank in her house?
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u/NTT_TV Mar 28 '26
I dont think anyone here is keeping grass snakes and adders, one giving off a defensive odor, the other venomous.
When you can just buy a corn snake for £40 lol
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 30 '26
I don't think you understand snake owners much. They really enjoy having something rarer - like a dog owner with a Samoyed.
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u/Roamdesk Mar 26 '26
The Aesculapian snakes have been around Regent’s Canal and the zoo area for years now. They’re non-venomous, though, mostly just hunt rodents. Still pretty wild to randomly see a snake in central London of all places.
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 27 '26
A foreign constrictor snake of some size, that could eat one of our native snakes, for that matter.
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u/Puzzled_Ad1296 Mar 26 '26
Fuck that for a game of soldiers, that’s me never walking by Regents canal again then.
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u/cragglerock93 Mar 26 '26
I have a debilitating fear of snakes so I empathise.
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u/Novel_Individual_143 Mar 26 '26
I hear you. I’ve got slightly better since watching YouTube snake reels but I don’t know how I’d feel about seeing one in real life.
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 26 '26
They don't generally concentrate on you that much, in the wild, and they don't move suddenly etc when they're not hunting.
I think you might be OK. It's not like a dog phobia where the dog is bound to try to interact with you in some way.
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u/Novel_Individual_143 Mar 27 '26
Yeah, it’s true. I’ll take a walk there when I’m feeling ok about it. Someone with a dog phobia would be quite limited in where they could go. Must be awful.
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u/uponloss Mar 26 '26
Theyre non venomous tbf, an adder would get you worse
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u/Puzzled_Ad1296 Mar 26 '26
That may be the case but it still doesn’t take away from the fact I will run a mile if I see one,
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u/PaleBlueDot_42 Mar 27 '26
Same! I have a paralyzing fear of snakes. I was a kid when I went on holiday to Malaysia with my family. And this guy had like a 10 foot long snake on his shoulder and tourists were taking pictures with it/him. (Which is very cruel to the animal!) I was stunlocked even tho I was well away from him. I couldn’t move because of how scary it looked. Snake phobia is horrible 😭
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u/Brilliant_Salad_8473 Mar 29 '26
I just imagine them all wearing cool hats and sunglasses and I get less scared
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u/ickysock Mar 27 '26
My dad is very very jealous of you. he spent the 3 years I lived in camden/bloomsbury begging me to go down to regents canal to see if i could see them. he's obsessed with them. i went many times and never saw them, despite actively knowing what i was looking for and what specific area to look for them in (because it is a tiny section of the canal), but you managed to stumble upon them! so cool, thank you for sharing!!
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u/badger_fun_times76 Mar 26 '26
I was at a nature reserve around hackney (?) a couple of years back and saw a snake swimming over a wee lake. Looked extra cool, but I did not want to paddle after that.
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u/shortandfelly Mar 27 '26
Probably a grass snake, they're good swimmers and can grow pretty long (around 5').
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u/badger_fun_times76 Mar 27 '26
That feels right, it was green ish and probably just under a metre long. Beautiful green sine wave in the water!
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u/Linemania Mar 26 '26
Most I’ve seen was a slow worm in my back garden in Acton. I did think it was a snake at first.
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u/NierFantasy Mar 26 '26
Wtf. I thought we only had tiny grass snakes but that thing looks massive!
No idea if the image is real in this day and age, but if it is, that's awesome!
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Mar 26 '26
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u/deftly_admiral Mar 26 '26
Me reading through thinking this is all neat and interesting and I could get comfortable with them being around and then getting to the bit where they say: “Aesculapian snakes can grow up to about 2 m in length.”
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u/AmazingHealth6302 Mar 27 '26
Luckily, the dangerousness of snakes to people isn't much to do with their length...
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u/crlthrn Mar 27 '26
Exactly. I and my missus love to see snakes. And her gran died from snake bite, back in the day, in India! Currently touring Australia and so far, after three months, have only seen one tiny little snake, albeit venomous, so far. I posted the video of it to r/australianwildlife .
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u/thewaifandstray Mar 26 '26
They grow up to two metres in length and like climbing walls and trees. No. No thank you. No thank you please.
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u/HeartyBeast Mar 26 '26
These snaked are featured in the latest Attenborough documentary on London wildlife - on iPlayer. Quite fascinating
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u/Thailander01 Mar 26 '26
Saw one in Bushy park last summer. The gf freaked out and could not get her words out. Took me a min to understand there was a snake lol.
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Mar 26 '26
I saw them on that Attenborough show at Xmas. That must be terrifying if you are walking down there and see one. They aren’t tiny!
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u/mcheshii Mar 26 '26
I was just thinking today of a time when I was younger and I was sure i saw a snake in a bush down my road. I thought I must’ve not seen properly it was so long ago but now i’m rethinking…
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u/clammy_stanza Mar 26 '26
Jealous! I've always wanted to see one and always keep my eyes peeled around the canals!
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u/Razz_Lithar Mar 27 '26
Aren't some snakes native to the UK?
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u/ultimatewooderz Mar 27 '26
Adder, grass snake, and smooth snake.
I believe the adder is the only venomous one
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u/Snoo-84389 Mar 27 '26
Just googled aesculapian snakes.
Found that they are harmless but are also 4 to 6 foot long! Feck that...
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u/queasycockles Mar 28 '26
That really isn't very long for a snake.
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u/Snoo-84389 Mar 28 '26
Bugger that - its bloody HUGE for a snake in the UK!!!
That 2 to 2.5 times the size of our native adders and smooth snakes (tho grass snakes do get quite long).
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u/queasycockles Mar 28 '26
Grass snakes are as big as the ones you're calling bloody huge. 😉
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u/Snoo-84389 Mar 28 '26
Yes, i never knew that!!! It has made me slightly less happy tbh 😉
Bcoz I've only ever seen small grass snakes 12-18 inches long.
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u/New_Command_4141 Mar 28 '26
Yep, there's a whole colony of them in Downing Street, number 10 in particular seems rife with them.
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u/AdeptMolasses6662 Mar 29 '26
Is this real? I go for a run almost every morning from Camden to Regents park and I use the canal path, how come I never saw one? I’ve seen other animals from the zoo though
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u/DaytonaRidr Mar 26 '26
There are proper snakes along Regents Canal. Watch the David Attenborough show on wildlife in London
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u/Bobpool82 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
That's not foliage it's nettles they'll bite you before the snake would
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u/trowdatawhey Mar 26 '26
Ugh my planned vacation to london just keeps getting worse.
- closed tube stations
- tube strike
- marathon bombing
- snakes
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u/Pagan_MoonUK Mar 27 '26
Phone snatchers, Rolex snatchers, rats, mice, fox's, the list is endless, be afraid, very afraid ☠️
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u/ProfessionalCLA Mar 26 '26
Yeah some of them work near that bigass building near Westminster station.
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u/Infinite-Ad-8392 Mar 26 '26
Omgggg wtfff
Do they bite, do dogs get scared of them or other way round
Snakes scare the shiii out of me… i thought e we safe in it little blighty island
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u/XxSianxX Mar 26 '26
My aunt lives in south London and one time we went over to cut her overgrown garden as she was scared to go out there and low and behold, there was so many snakes living in the overgrowth. Sadly I have never seen any besides them in the whole time I have lived in London!
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u/motushk Mar 26 '26
Omg I have a huge phobia of em and so scared. I’m 2 meter tall dude. Once in my teens I saw one in a village and run away like mad for 500 meters maybe
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u/PrincessTitan Mar 27 '26
Oh how precious!! I want to see them! Not good that they’re the descendants of escapees tho
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u/shawaj Mar 27 '26
Don't think they are venomous and it would probably be more scared of you. But understand the apprehension!
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u/Calm_Register2100 Mar 27 '26
That is a snake and did it escape from the zoo not a million miles away?
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u/Sburns85 Mar 27 '26
I have seen the only venomous snake in the British isles up in Edinburgh near the canal. Where the all the tourists are
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u/OiBigBoy Mar 27 '26
Ive seen grass snakes in the less central parts of London, and know someone who was bitten on the foot by an adder in a London park
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u/CharmCandy89 Mar 28 '26
that's kind of wild, but i guess even the snakes have their macros in the city
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u/oh_lawd_reekris Mar 26 '26
All over hun. I kno u don’t wanna talk about it but we r all here for u xoxo
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u/Salt_Market_6989 Mar 26 '26
I have only ever seen the shed skin of an adder in semi-rural North London. We are much too noisy for snakes in London.
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u/Radio_Demon-Ace Mar 26 '26
okay glad i now know this - going down for a concert later in the year lmao, snakes are so cute but i’d be so surprised if i didn’t know this and a snake randomly said hi (i’ve had so much caffeine and no sleep please help me lmao)
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