THIS summer, the Ranger Service had quite a few calls from people who were alarmed at having just encountered a snake either out in their garden, on a reserve or, in one or two bizarre cases, in their house.

I can understand many people's sense of alarm when they first come across a snake. I think the fear of snakes is something we have all naturally evolved and this probably served our ancestors well.

I can remember an encounter I had with a grass snake a couple of years ago out on Puxton Marshes. I knew as soon as I saw it that it was a grass snake and was totally harmless, but as I experimented to see how close it would allow my hand to get to it, it hissed.

No matter how much I told myself that no possible harm could come to me, the hiss was enough to make me jerk my hand away and set my heart racing.

We have three types of snake in Britain. The smooth snake is the one you are most unlikely to encounter as it is exceptionally rare and very secretive.

The other two are the grass snake, which is also far from common, and the adder.

Adders are poisonous, but only ever likely to bite if extremely provoked, preferring to flee than fight. In most cases, a bite will cause more discomfort, rather than death. In fact, bees kill more people than adders. Adders are one of those creatures that are in real danger of extinction. It is estimated that there are only about 120 left in the whole of the country.

There is one other creature, the slow worm that can also easily be mistaken for a snake. The slow worm, a legless lizard, is totally harmless and can be found in the Wyre Forest district.

If you do happen to come across a snake always remember that it will be more frightened of you, than you are of it. They will not be aggressive towards you. In fact, they will always seek to remove themselves from your presence straight away.

Like all living things though, they will try to protect themselves if they feel cornered or provoked. Therefore, if you do see one just try and enjoy the thrill of seeing one of our rare and interesting wild animals.

If a snake gets into an inappropriate place such as your house or garden, give the animal some space, leave an escape route open, allow it some peace and quiet and it will leave. Do not try to shoo the animal out.

If you have a pool in your garden and happen to live near an area of wetland, grass snakes may choose to visit it. You could block their access off, or, on the other hand, you might just accept that this totally harmless and fascinating creature has chosen to visit your garden.