Walker finds snake trapped in a tin can

By James Fletcher

A Grass Snake was last week, found trapped in a discarded beer can in woods in the area.

When you think of a snake in a can you may think of the old prank of ‘Snakes in a can’ but this is no laughing matter. As this poor creature slithered through the can it caught its head through the ring hole of the can and remained there until a local man on a walk spotted the distressed reptile.

When I found the snake, at first I was wary because the markings on its back looked very similar to that of an Adder, but once confirmed it was a Grass Snake, I couldn’t just leave it there, so I carefully cut the snake free with a pair of tin snips.

When he found the reptile, he told Look Local that he rang around a few places, first he tried to ring a wildlife centre which unfortunately didn’t do rescues. But they suggested he tried the RSPCA who told him that they would only come out if the animal is hurt/ injured.

Eventually, he contacted the ARC (amphibian reptile conservation) who helped him identify that it was a grass snake which can grow up to a metre long, but again they were unable to attend, being located in the south of the country and too far to travel in such a short space of time.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the wildlife being impacted by discarded rubbish, in the last three years over 10 thousand calls were made about wildlife being impacted by the litter some of us leave behind.