French Lizards and Snakes

Posted by John Blatchford Jul 6, 2008

My two (old) articles about snakes in France ('Harmless French Snakes' and 'Venomous French Snakes') seem to be very popular, particularly with readers in France, so I decided to move away from Marine Biology for a bit and do one about French Lizards.

Walking in France

When you explore the French countryside on foot, and if you walk quietly and keep your eyes open, you can expect to come across snakes and lizards. Usually they will be gone before you can identify them, but returning to the same spot later (and more carefully!) will often allow you to watch them closely. It is a good idea to use binoculars at first, and then creep up on them very slowly.

Snakes

There is really nothing to fear as long as you don't attempt to catch them. If you try this then many will bite (two spwecies injecting rather nasty venom), and those that don't bite might well cover you in foul-smelling stuff or whip you vigorously with their tail.

Lizards

Any holiday in rural France will expose you to lizards. They like the sun as much as holidaymakers! None are dangerous, but the big ones can, and will, bite. What is probably more distressing is the fact that they are all capable of shedding their tails. Trying to catch a lizard will usually result in a damaged lizard and a wriggling tail with lots of blood. Eventually a new tail will grow - but it is never as good as the first. Many wall lizards that you see will have stumpy tails which tell of their recent encounters (often with cats). Never try to catch a lizard, but feel free to photograph them if you can!