The Reason Why Ireland is a Snake-Free Country

VIVA – Snake becomes one of animals that many people afraid of because this one categorized as an aggressive predator and has deadly poison. This reptile can be found in almost every country in the world, but apparently, there is no snake in Ireland. Here's the reason. 

A sea snake might have an easier time of it. But sea snakes live in warm tropical waters, not the frigid Atlantic. 

When compared to the United Kingdom (UK), for example, that country has snakes and also includes an island. But for a long time, neither Britain nor Ireland had any snakes at all.

The ice age has made the islands inhospitable for reptiles. Their cold-blooded bodies need heat from the environment to survive. Glaciers retreated around 10,000 years ago, forming a land bridge between Europe and the UK and Britain and Ireland. This allowed easy passage to the islands.

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But then melting glaciers submerged the Irish land bridge 8,500 years ago. These melting glaciers made the water so cold that animals couldn't cross it to Ireland.

Meanwhile, the British landmass survived for another 2,000 years. Therefore, animals from Europe had more time to explore Britain, including three species of snakes.However, none of the three species were able to continue moving west toward Ireland.

Irish people are not prohibited from keeping snakes, as is the case in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Iceland. Pet snakes were once a status symbol during Ireland's economic boom in the late 1990s.

However, during the 2008 recession and beyond, hard times saw many people give up their snakes. Surprisingly, of the snakes that appeared in many random places, none of them were able to survive in the wild.

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Irish people are not prohibited from keeping snakes, as is the case in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Iceland. Pet snakes were once a status symbol during Ireland's economic boom in the late 1990s.