Invasive snake is surviving in Britain by living in attics and walls

Britain has only three native snakes but a fourth species, the 2-metre-long Aesculapian snake, is breeding in the wild in at least two places – by exploiting the warmth of buildings and compost heaps.

Tom Major at Bournemouth University in the UK and his colleagues have been tracking these newcomers to understand how they are surviving in this non-native habitat.

“The use of buildings for shelter and vegetation piles for egg laying appear to be…