A GRANDMOTHER has been left shocked after seeing a metre-long snake swimming up a canal in a quiet Welsh town.
Mandy Lyall was taking an afternoon stroll with her husband Leon last Saturday when the pair stumbled upon the now-identified grass snake swimming up the Llangollen Canal in Denbighshire, Wales.
Mandy, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was stopped in her tracks as the serpent – whose species often exceed one metre in length – meandered its way up the Llangollen River.
The 57-year-old retired prison officer took to social media on Friday to express her surprise at seeing the reptile.
The post read: “Saw this on Saturday swimming in the canal, never seen one before, (grass snake).”
The post has received over 450 likes, more than 100 comments and was shared dozens of times.
Tania Schofield Joseph commented: “Wow, I would have been on the phone to the zoo if I had seen it, to see if they had one missing. After I had ran, that is!”
Mike Claybrook said: “My mum nearly [died] when she opened the door to my dad holding a 5ft grass snake when I was a child.”
Rebecca Burrows said: “They’re not just in the water they are land snakes as well, but water and outdoors are too cold for them this time of year so they will try to find warmth, especially in caravans or tent so you better watch out at the weekend.”
David Pollock commented: “One crossed the road in front of me today by the rugby pitch.”
Alongside the post, Mandy shared photos of the snake – which looks green-and-black in colour.
Various images show the snake swimming in the water, with its body curled into an S-shape.
It contorts its body in various ways to push itself through the water across the series of images, and appears totally unbothered by Mandy’s presence as it slithers its way up the canal.
Speaking today, Mandy said: “Me and my husband were walking along the canal in Llangollen on Saturday afternoon when we saw something in the water.
“At first we thought it was a rat swimming, then we went to the edge of the water and saw it was a snake!
“It was very large and a very good swimmer – we couldn’t believe what we were seeing and I didn’t know what kind of snake it was.
“We started to take pictures of it as it carried on swimming.
“We then saw it stiffen up and slither out of the water and up the embankment, where it disappeared.
“We Googled the description and found out it was a grass snake – we have never seen one before and felt really fortunate.”
Grass snakes are extremely strong swimmers and are as comfortable in water as they are on land.
The species live between 15-25 years and are commonly seen between April and October, and can usually be found lurking in gardens or in areas near bodies of water.
