Jersey Grass Snake

The barred grass snake (Natrix helvetica) is Jersey’s rarest and most elusive reptile. It is also Jersey’s only snake species and does not occur elsewhere in the Channel Islands. This non-venomous snake can grow up to a metre long, with an olive green or brown body with black bars along it and a yellow collar on the neck. They are distributed in the west of the island, inhabiting grassland, wetland, dune and heathland areas, close to water. They can be seen favouring “edge” habitat conditions, such as field margins, woodland borders and on the edge of water bodies, as this provides protection from predators, but also opportunities for thermoregulation.

Grass snakes are semi-aquatic, predominantly feeding on amphibians, though they have been known to eat small mammals and invertebrates depending on food availability. Once a snake has fed, they will rarely move until their prey has been digested and may only feed once every two months.