Snake species thriving after slithering into heath

The population of smooth snakes in east Devon is on the rise

Wildlife volunteers are celebrating the successful reintroduction of smooth snakes.

A project to reintroduce the non-venomous species in Pebblebed Heaths in east Devon has seen numbers consistently hit new highs since 2023, with 39 sightings recorded last year, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said.

The reptile was reintroduced in 2009 with 17 snakes relocated from Dorset and Hampshire.

The RSPB said the east Devon population was not only growing but there was now a "self-sustaining colony" there after habitat loss made them scarce across the UK.

Volunteers Liz and Roger Hamling have been surveying the snakes at the Pebblebed Heaths for 15 years.

Mrs Hamling said she had done the surveys so many times she knew the route by heart.

"Around the Pebblebed Heaths we have smooth snake refuges - a sheet of corrugated iron laid flat on the ground, under which smooth snakes like to hide and keep warm," she said.

Mr Hamling said he had taken more than 150 photographs of the snakes since 2010 to help gauge numbers.

"The head of a smooth snake has a distinctive heart-shaped marking and combined with the first few segments of their bodies, which also have patterns, these markings are unique to each individual snake," he said.

The snakes like to rest under sheets of corrugated iron around the heathland

The RSPB thanked volunteers and staff who looked after the existing heathland sites.

Mrs Hamling said it was "such a privilege" to look after the reptile.

"I just love being up on the heath, there's so much to see up there.

"It's just lovely to see how much the heath has positively changed over the years due to the wonderful work of all our volunteers."