Small 'Sidewinder' Type Of Snake

[wiltsman]

Went out of my French doors a couple of hours ago only to see a small thin dark snake, about ten inches long, moving away from me at some speed in a sidewinder action. It then slithered off my decking into the adjacent field.

I've never seen such a snake like this before, any herpetologist out there who could tell me what it could be?

[woofgang]

where in the world are you?

[Sqad]

Woofy.....France......he told you inthe first sentence of his post..........

[237SJ]

Baby grass snake?

[burlyshirley]

Probably a grass snake.

[calmck]

Squad you joking or not. French doors are also doors that open onto a terrace anywhere

[webbo3]

Grass snakes can be almost black but they do have a yellow collar behind their head

[Sqad]

calmck...thanks...didn't know that....-:(

[pastafreak]

Sqad is not as worldly as we thought...;)

[Sqad]

LOL......pasta, does that mean we can buy Hamburgers in other parts of Europe other than Germany ?

[david small]

Sounds like a grass snake.

[wiltsman]

Sqad, my French doors are located in Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom!

I didn't think it was a grass snake, much smaller. It almost looked like a worm, no pronounced head to it, and almost black, not the look of a normal garden worm. It was the 'sidewinder' movement of it that threw me - only ever seen that on television before!

Back tracking, I suppose it could have been a grass snake, but a small one. The 'sidewinder' action could have been because it was moving over dry timber decking, whereas I have only seen grass snakes before moving through ... well - grass!

[237SJ]

It might have been a baby one. Sloeworm is an outsider as they don't tend to hang out on decking (and I know they are not snakes before an pedant corrects me on that)

[237SJ]

*slow worm*

[Prudie]

With the size and no obvious head appearance I'd say it was a slow worm

[burlyshirley]

You said it looked like a worm, so it could have been a slow worm I guess ..

[wiltsman]

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/slow-worms-most-unusual-lizards-in-britain.html

To those of you who said it could be a slow worm, thinking about it, you could be right! The one I saw moved very quickly, probably fleeing from me as I walked outside, frightening it.

[237SJ]

They can move quickly. We used to have them in our dry stone walls at the end of our garden. The cat used to bring them in sometimes (with puncture holes all over them from his teeth)

[Chipchopper]

Those forementioned seem probable.
Can you remember any distinguishing marks or colors ?

[wiltsman]

Sorry Chipchopper, just noticed your reply. It was moving so fast I didn't really see any distinguishing marks only that was a dark, almost a black colour. After viewing the replies by Prudie and 237SJ, I believe that what I saw was a slow worm, albeit a fast slow worm .. lol.

[dannyk13]

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/amphibians-and-reptiles/slow-worm/