WATCH: Snake seen swimming in Stourbridge Canal - Hereford Times

VIDEO footage captured by a Stourbridge runner shows nature appears to be flourishing along the Stourbridge Canal amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Donna Roberts spotted a large grass snake enjoying a springtime swim along the waterway, which has been looking clearer since COVID-19 lockdown measures were introduced.

The mum-of-two, a regular Tough Mudder competitor, was halfway through a 9.5-mile run when she saw the snake making its way along the canal in the sunshine.

She said: "I loved seeing it. Not the norm down by the cut, but so amazing to see."

According to the Canal & River Trust grass snakes are equally happy on land and in water, and they can be seen basking in the sun on towpaths or swimming across the canal.

The trust says the grey/green coloured snake is a harmless reptile - often confused for the venomous adder - but it is in fact a placid, sun-loving creature that enjoys basking on grassy banks on warm summer days.

BBC wildlife expert and broadcaster Brett Westwood, who lives in Stourbridge, said the snake captured on camera was "a good sized specimen" and he added: "It’s very good to see grass snakes along the canal and I suspect that lack of people and boat traffic along with the recent very warm weather has encouraged this one out.

"They are very secretive creatures and normally disappear at the slightest disturbance. Many years ago I saw one outside the old Webb Corbett factory, now The Ruskin Glass Centre, but they are pretty scarce and hard to find in towns nowadays.

"Grass snakes are declining across the West Midlands and indeed the whole of England, mainly because of disturbance and from tidying up scrubby places...many are also killed by traffic.

"They like overgrown areas such as scrubby fields and woodland edges near water where they feed mainly on fish and amphibians. They do wander widely and sometimes come into gardens to look for compost heaps in which they lay their eggs. They need the warmth of compost to hatch their eggs which they lay in late summer."

He urged anyone who finds "a clutch of white leathery eggs" in their compost heap to leave them be as they could turn into a family of grass snakes. He said: "They are of course completely harmless, have no venom and don’t bite. Grass snakes need as many friends as they can get nowadays."

He said he thinks "wildlife will thrive if there is less disturbance" and he added: "The quality of the water in the Stourbridge Canal is pretty good especially nearest the town centre. There are breeding toads here...another declining species, so walkers and cyclists should keep an eye out for the young toadlets on the towpath in late June and early July, especially near Riverside House."



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