Dozens of snakes have been recorded across Essex this year, according to figures that shed light on the county\u2019s reptile populations.<\/p>\n
Data from the Record Pool shows that since January 1, 2025, at least 39 sightings of adders and grass snakes have been logged locally.<\/p>\n
The Record Pool is a national wildlife recording project run by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) and Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK).<\/p>\n
The majority of reports relate to adders, Britain\u2019s only venomous snake, with 23 sightings recorded in Essex.<\/p>\n
Observations peaked in spring, when snakes emerge from hibernation.<\/p>\n
Recorded snake spotting’s across Essex so far this year(Image: Canva)<\/p>\n
Several records from March and April noted multiple individuals, including groups of up to three adders spotted basking in the sun.<\/p>\n
Records span from coastal grid references near Tendring to inland areas around Chelmsford and Harlow.<\/p>\n
Grass snakes, a non-venomous species often found near water, accounted for 16 reports across the county.<\/p>\n
These were recorded from April through to August, with both adults and young snakes observed.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Multiple grass snakes were spotted at some sites, including a record of two juveniles in late April.<\/p>\n
The Record Pool, which collates data from nature enthusiasts nationwide, provides vital information for monitoring species under pressure from habitat loss and human disturbance.<\/p>\n
While adders are in long-term decline across the UK, Essex remains a stronghold for sightings, particularly in heathland, woodland edges and open countryside.<\/p>\n
Grass snakes, meanwhile, continue to thrive in wetter habitats but face growing threats from development and changing land use.<\/p>\n
To log any sighting, visit https:\/\/www.recordpool.org.uk\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of snakes have been recorded across Essex this year, according to figures that shed light on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64518,2506,64519,64520,90,56,54,55,64521,4407,64522],"class_list":["post-138488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-amphibian-and-reptile-conservation","tag-essex","tag-grass-snakes","tag-record-pool","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-venomous-snake","tag-wildlife","tag-young-snakes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}