I’d come in search of Britain’s longest reptile

The Aesculapian snake is a native of Central and Eastern Europe but three colonies of this non-venomous serpent have established themselves in Britain. Two are in Wales, one on the banks of the Regent’s Canal near London’s King’s Cross Station; so when my train north was cancelled, I walked the short distance in the hope of meeting one of these fascinating reptiles. Though the snakes have been established here since the 1980s, most people strolling along this pleasant waterway will never suspect a two-metre long, olive-brown constrictor may well be watching them.

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