Wildlife volunteers are celebrating the success of a project to reintroduce smooth snakes to Pebblebed Heaths in east Devon.
The non-venomous species, once scarce across the UK due to habitat loss, was reintroduced in 2009 with 17 snakes relocated from Dorset and Hampshire. Since then, numbers have steadily grown, with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reporting 39 sightings last year and confirming a self-sustaining colony.
Volunteers Liz and Roger Hamling have been monitoring the reptiles for 15 years. They use refuges — sheets of corrugated iron laid on the ground — where smooth snakes shelter and warm themselves. Mr Hamling has taken more than 150 photographs since 2010 to help identify individuals by their distinctive head and body markings.
The RSPB praised the work of volunteers and staff maintaining the heathland. “It’s such a privilege,” said Mrs Hamling. “I just love being up on the heath, and it’s wonderful to see how much it has changed thanks to the efforts of everyone involved.”
