Is Europe’s biggest SNAKE living in your walls? Expert warns six-foot reptile could be making itself at home… in your home

One of Europe’s largest species of snakes have been making homes in British attics and walls of houses, a study has revealed.

The aesculapian snake, which can grow up to 6ft in length, is native to the warmer areas of Europe, including southern France and Italy, and have even been spotted in Iran.

But according to new research, the huge reptiles have found their way into pockets of the UK – and it all comes down to a ‘reliance on human habitats’.

The aesculapian snakes have recently been discovered in a church roof and inside the walls of a care home,

There are two known populations of aesculapians in Britain; around the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, and around London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

There are two known populations of aesculapians in Britain; around the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, and around London Zoo in Regent’s Park

They are not venomous or dangerous to humans, however, and instead crushes its prey, which includes rodents such as rats and mice.

The research, overseen by Wolfgang Wuster, professor in zoology at Bangor University, details how the snakes found in Wales have adapted to their cold new home.

A staggering 21 were captured and fitted with radio trackers, allowing their movements to be watched and studied for two years.

‘We observed aesculapian snakes actively seeking and returning to use inhabited buildings and … climbing large structures to access the attics and wall cavities of houses,’ the study said. 

‘We revealed a particular preference for buildings in male snakes, while females preferred woodland.’ 

The zoology expert said that while aesculapian snakes are found reasonably close to humans across Europe, they appear to come much closer in the UK.

‘This predilection for human habitats is striking,’ he said.

‘If you work in places like India, you quite often find snakes in houses. That’s just not something that happens in the UK. 

‘And yet, with these aesculapians, we’re finding them in people’s lofts. You find snake skins hanging off the drain pipes in an old folks home, things like that.

‘It’s quite an unusual thing to be doing in Britain, this sort of suburban snake hunting.’ 

Wuster reassured, however, that it is unlikely to stumble across an aesculapian under the sofa as the snakes had not been found inside a room – ensuring they stayed in spaces where humans rarely set foot.

But their impressive willingness to use buildings as homes is what makes them different from the UK’s native snakes, which mostly avoid urban areas.

‘The adder and smooth snake are rarely found in human-dominated environments,’ the study says. 

Grass snakes will use compost heaps and garden ponds, ‘but their use of anthropogenic features is significantly less extensive.’ 

Researchers believe there are likely around 80 snakes in Wales, but said they were extremely difficult to find, with each one having taken about eight hours of searching.

Wuster confirmed that there is no evidence to suggest the reptiles are causing any harm or damage.

‘They’re not a species that’s taking over and changing its habitat and damaging other species, like American grey squirrels, or Japanese knotweed,’ he said. 

‘At the end of the day, it’s a European species interacting with other European species. 

‘So we have a reasonable basis for saying it would probably co-exist fairly well with our existing fauna.’ 

The study is yet to be peer-reviewed.