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Poisonous Snakes???

intrepidtraveler

Active Member
May 5, 2015
383
473
Ashland, OR
Time of past OR future Camino
Caminos Madrid, Frances and Finisterre (2015)
Camino Norte-2017; Camino Ingles from A Coruna - 2017
Greetings -

In all of my reading camino questions on the forum, I don't ever recall anyone talking about the need to look out for poisonous snakes. Do they not exist in Spain or are people just not talking about them? If they are around, what should I be on the look out for? Do they make any noise to warn you like our western rattlesnakes are supposed to?
 
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domigee

Veteran Member
Nov 25, 2013
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2024 Paris to SdC... maybe
Snakes really aren't a problem on the Camino. Obviously if you see one don't pick it up... I think the only venomous one is the viper.
I really wouldn't worry . :)
Which camino are you doing?
 
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dougfitz

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Mar 12, 2011
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There are 13 snakes species native to Spain, five of which are venomous. There are several viper species, all of which have potentially fatal bites. See the link @wayfarer provided above for details.

I would think treating every snake as potentially venomous makes good sense.
 
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rossmckay

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Jul 6, 2015
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Canberra
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Sept 2016
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Coleen Clark

Active Member
Feb 14, 2015
372
2,208
Trenton, NC
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Walked August 2015, planning on walking August 2017
Aged peregrino stuffed with jamĂłn y queso marinated in rioja - yummm.
I have no worries there. 9 out of 10 griffon vultures are watching their cholesterol, and have been warned by their doctors to stay away from fatty meats.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

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ricitosdeplata

Active Member
Aug 3, 2012
314
362
Seguin, TX
Time of past OR future Camino
09/2015: Via de la Plata
Here in Texas I've heard from a herpotologist that a majority of people who are bitten are drunk. So my take away was that just be cautious about highly vegetated areas. Never place your hand where you can't see what's there. I also heard that all our snakes are pretty scared of humans and will slither away quickly when they are aware of us. Only one snake here is aggressive and will follow you. Since I've seen snakes in my own back yard, I do wear a light at night when I go walking even on the street.

Btw, non venomous snakes might not kill you, but their bites can be painful, cause serious infection, and ,rarely, allergic reaction.
 
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IngridF

Intrepid Peregrina
May 13, 2012
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Met a wild boar on my way to Porrino on the CP.... lucky for me and the other pilgrim it was as startled as us and no babies in sight...Whew!

Hello from Zamora where I have started as hospitalera. Kinkyone stopped over night.

It is bloody hot here and no relief insight. I have no idea why anyone would want to walk or cycle the VDLP now. ♨♨♨♨
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

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Icacos

Veteran Member
Sep 11, 2012
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Camino Frances (2013)
Wild boars. Bears. Wolves. Poisonous snakes. Northern Spain has all those, but honestly you are more in danger of slipping on loose rocks and getting injured, or getting struck by a vehicle or even getting struck by lightning than you are of being attacked by wildlife.
I wouldn't even give it a thought.
Mark, I am sure you are absolutely correct. But let's still have our bit of hopefully, harmless, scary stories. :)
 
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€149,-
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!

domigee

Veteran Member
Nov 25, 2013
4,345
10,803
UK/Spain
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2024 Paris to SdC... maybe
Hello from Zamora where I have started as hospitalera. Kinkyone stopped over night.

It is bloody hot here and no relief insight. I have no idea why anyone would want to walk or cycle the VDLP now. ♨♨♨♨

Hello, shame I missed you when in Zamora....already nearly 4 weeks ago!
Was bloody hot then too and kept on asking myself the same thing :D Seriously doubted my sanity :D
All the very best for your time as hospitalera.
 
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intrepidtraveler

Active Member
May 5, 2015
383
473
Ashland, OR
Time of past OR future Camino
Caminos Madrid, Frances and Finisterre (2015)
Camino Norte-2017; Camino Ingles from A Coruna - 2017
You're very welcome. It's been fun.
Have a buen, and worry-free Camino. :):)

I plan to. My departure date (Sept.2), which used to seem off in the distant future is fast approaching. Am really looking forward to this adventure. The forum has been a hugely beneficial resource for planning. Thanks again to all who make it happen.
 

jirit

Veteran Member
Dec 31, 2010
1,780
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Canada
www.verderamedia.com
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Camino Frances 2007,
Via Francigena Italy, 2008,
Jakobsweg Austria 2010,
Camino Frances 2011,
Le Puy to Lourdes 2012,
Via de la Plata 2013,
Future:
Ă–kumenischer (Via Regia), Germany,
Lycian Way, Turkey
Yes, I know the feeling. :)

Another good reason to keep walking.

Spend too much time standing still admiring the view, you might end up as somebody's lunch

;)
 

hecate105

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Aug 20, 2008
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devon, uk
arcadiaramblings.wordpress.com
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'09 Portuguese Estellas '14 Aurelia '16 St Davids '17 Via Augusta/V dl P. '18/'19 Michael Mary Way
I saw a large one curled in the attack position - just at waist height in the side of the trail (on the Portugues) I was standing looking around wondering if there was a standpipe somewhere leaking... Then realised it was the snake hissing! I took to my heels... I'm so dozy I deserve to get bitten!
 
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Icacos

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Sep 11, 2012
2,749
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Camino Frances (2013)
Another good reason to keep walking.

Spend too much time standing still admiring the view, you might end up as somebody's lunch

;)
I saw a large one curled in the attack position - just at waist height in the side of the trail (on the Portugues) I was standing looking around wondering if there was a standpipe somewhere leaking... Then realised it was the snake hissing! I took to my heels... I'm so dozy I deserve to get bitten!
Circling vultures and snakes poised to attack .... Not sure I want to joke about these things anymore. :confused::confused: But, seriously, I'd go on Camino again in a heartbeat.
 
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whariwharangi

Guest
I recall going on a kayak trip in Georgian Bay.

The lady at the store where I bought my charts also gave me advice about Massasauga Rattlers.

So whenever I was thrashing around on shores looking for a campsite I spent a lot of time keeping an eye out for snakes.

Sure enough, I got a bad case of poison ivy.

I wouldn't worry about snakes on the camino. They are there but are only a hazard if you provoke them.
 
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Gailsie

Active Member
Apr 21, 2009
242
469
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances Fall '09 ;
On the Camino Portuguese last year between Barcelos and Casa Fernanda, I stepped off the path to have a little pee and after I got back on the path and was getting my pack back on, two people passed me. We had been passing each other all morning and further along they had stopped for a snack. So I joked that they had almost caught me. I kept walking and up ahead of me I heard a shriek. When I got up to a father and daughter there was a dead snake on the path. I think it had been run over by a farm tractor. I don't think it was poisonous but it sure stopped me from stepping off the path.
 
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jirit

Veteran Member
Dec 31, 2010
1,780
2,006
Canada
www.verderamedia.com
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances 2007,
Via Francigena Italy, 2008,
Jakobsweg Austria 2010,
Camino Frances 2011,
Le Puy to Lourdes 2012,
Via de la Plata 2013,
Future:
Ă–kumenischer (Via Regia), Germany,
Lycian Way, Turkey
I was born in the sunburnt country of Australia and lived most of my youth hiking the wild back country of Canada.

I have run into or seen first hand up close whales, sharks, salties, kangaroos, poison snakes, fist sized spiders, eagles, vultures, wild boars, bears, wild dogs, and even moose but never on the camino.

Aside from the occasional slightly crazy human, in my opinion it is those tiny little buggy things that can inflict the most harm, like the infamous Canadian black fly, and "the Aussie mozzie" but then again I have never experienced these on the camino

You have a better chance of slipping and falling flat on your face while walking and looking out for any of the above.
 
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Oztrekker

Active Member
Apr 21, 2014
190
146
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I started in st jean and am currently in leon. My foot is blistered after my boots wore out.

Have completed many long distance treks longest is 1000 km, bibulmun track.
Viewed a few snakes in france. Tried to move a large viper of the road. He got a bit pissy and would not budge.

Edited by Moderator.
 
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Lucy Longpath

Lucy Longpath
Jan 11, 2015
145
125
England
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances (2015), Puy Way (2016), North Wales Pilgrims Way (2017), Camino Vezelay(2018) &(2019)
Greetings -

In all of my reading camino questions on the forum, I don't ever recall anyone talking about the need to look out for poisonous snakes. Do they not exist in Spain or are people just not talking about them? If they are around, what should I be on the look out for? Do they make any noise to warn you like our western rattlesnakes are supposed to?
I saw 3 snakes on the Camino Frances this April and May. One was on the canal towpath near Fromista. One was in the grass near the Cruz de Ferro near the picnic tables. The 3rd one was on the path just beyond Cruz de Ferro not that far from where I saw the second one. I have no idea what kind of snakes they were but felt happy to be wearing boots rather than sandals!
 
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uniQ

Member
Jul 9, 2014
51
45
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances ('14)
Norte ('15)
I saw this chap crossing the road when I walked the Norte. In nearly 3000KM it's only one I've seen and it certainly wasn't interested in us pilgrims :)

bDJyANN.png
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.

Lachance

Me llamo Deb
Mar 21, 2015
257
288
Sydney, Australia
Time of past OR future Camino
Part Francese 2016
I saw 3 snakes on the Camino Frances this April and May. One was on the canal towpath near Fromista. One was in the grass near the Cruz de Ferro near the picnic tables. The 3rd one was on the path just beyond Cruz de Ferro not that far from where I saw the second one. I have no idea what kind of snakes they were but felt happy to be wearing boots rather than sandals!
Ahh, spring!

And snake forums running hot on peregrino numbers...
 
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Silvester

Member
Oct 8, 2013
94
85
NZ
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino del Salvador (2014)
Camino Primitivo (2014)
Camino Muxia (2014)
Camino Fisterra (2014)
Wild boars. Bears. Wolves. Poisonous snakes. Northern Spain has all those, but honestly you are more in danger of slipping on loose rocks and getting injured, or getting struck by a vehicle or even getting struck by lightning than you are of being attacked by wildlife.
I wouldn't even give it a thought.
I'm from a bunch of islands at the opposite end of the earth to Spain where anything remotely dangerous with 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 legs(excepting the Katipo spider) had ancestors that came or hitched a ride on a seagoing vessel of some kind and currently resides in a prohibitively expensive commercial habitat. So I too was very interested in things that might bite and what to do if they did.
I had a link with all the snakes for identification purposes. Over 7 weeks on the Salvador and Primitivo we saw quite a few dead snakes and pencil -thin tiny live snakes. It became amusing to photograph tiny snakes and giant slugs. A few times we'd see a snake whizzing out of our way in the long grass in the daytime. However we became a little complacent and on our last evening of walking on the grass verge into Negriera, we startled a sleepy Lataste viper which was too cool to whizz away and did a very impressive aggressive display - but didn't actually bite us. Avoid complacency - especially at dusk and dawn.
Our first night in Leon my phone alarm rang in Kiwi time and I dashed out to the toilet to try to silence it and met a peregrina with a tick behind her knee who instructed me in how to remove a tick correctly. We wore long sleeves and leggings in pasture and never got a tick.
We never had bedbugs.
We never saw or heard a wolf.
We walked through many boar-hunting preserves and saw a few hunters and their dogs, but never a boar. Maybe they didn't see any either...
Most of the dogs minded their own business. As a precautionary measure I swung a Pacer pole in front of and behind me and walked between dogs and daughter to protect both of our legs. All except one small dog took the hint and that one was retrieved by its human after a display of fangs and growl.
We thought there were 8 re-introduced bears in Asturias, but we were wrong. There are really over 120 and there are groves of nuts and fruit being planted for the mama and baby bears rather than peregrinos - but we saw neither bears nor sign thereof.
I'd read that people had had alarming encounters with cattle, and had been prodded by inquisitive steers when walking at home so I read up on how to keep cows and steers happy, and avoid bulls. The Spanish cows and steers were all pretty happy and the bulls well-fenced so no worries there.
I researched those vultures too. Apparently they can tell if you're dead, so are no threat while you're alive and could save freight costs of shipping your remains home should said remains be weighed. So I felt quite relaxed about them.
Back home we drive on the left. I got talking to an old lady from Pola de Lena who advised me to always walk izquierda or else the traffic would get me from behind like El Torro.
So 2 legs and 4 wheels were the most hazardous and we survived and thrived unscathed.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
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Mark Lee

Guest
On the Camino Portuguese last year between Barcelos and Casa Fernanda, I stepped off the path to have a little pee and after I got back on the path and was getting my pack back on, two people passed me. We had been passing each other all morning and further along they had stopped for a snack. So I joked that they had almost caught me. I kept walking and up ahead of me I heard a shriek. When I got up to a father and daughter there was a dead snake on the path. I think it had been run over by a farm tractor. I don't think it was poisonous but it sure stopped me from stepping off the path.
Why would one shriek over the sight of a dead snake?
Where I worked as a copper in south Texas had a lot of rural areas in it and subsequently I responded to my share of calls involving wildlife and humans. Snakes, skunks, deer, raccoons, coyotes, alligators, etc. A couple of times I went to homes where a snake had made entry and there were men at the house. Really? I wouldn't say anything, but I would think, dude, you're scared of a snake? Funny thing was, most of the time the snake was of the non-poisonous variety, so I'd catch it, stick it in a bag and let er go down the road in the brush.
 

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