By Andrew Atkinson
A four foot horseshoe whip snake was found in the grounds of Los Montesinos, Alicante, resident Dave Payne’s Vega Baja villa – that ate a Baby budgie.
“A budgie that was named Donna – after my wife – was unfortunately eaten by the horseshoe whip snake,” Dave told The Leader.
“Some of the newly born budgies had left the nest in the aviary, and one succumbed to the snake – you could see the bulge in its body,” said Dave.
“The snake had been around for three months and initially it was quite small,” said Dave.
The horseshoe whip snake which can be found in eastern and central Spain has a natural habitat of Mediterranean type shrubbery, vegetation, arable and pastures and rural gardens.
The adult may attain 1.5m in length. Its body is slender, and head is wider than its neck, with large eyes with a round pupil and a row of small scales below it.
There is a light horseshoe shaped mark on the neck and back of head.
“I discovered the snake when I was moving food storage boxes in the aviary – which was about four feet,” said
Dave, who works in the construction industry and proprietor of Move It Vantastic.
The horseshoe whip snake was removed by Southampton born Dave, who took precautions in wearing some thick gloves – and a good job he did as the snake would have took his thumb off!
“I was wary of the horseshoe whip snake and wore a pair of gloves when removing it from the aviary – when it decided to bite my thumb!,” said Dave, who suffered no injury.
