I finally managed to get a decent photo or two of the snake so here they are. It’s rather a daft beastie. It hangs off the wall in what looks to be rather an uncomfortable position with its head under an ivy leaf with its body  on clear display. You can  go right up to it and as long as it doesn’t see you it stays just where it is; as a defensive strategy it does seem rather ineffective. Could it be related to ostriches somewhere down the evolutionary line? I’m not sure how long its going to survive though what with the local gardeners wanting to kill it, the weirdo neighbour who kills any snake he finds and puts them under spirit and of curse the non-human threats, cats and the dog and neighbours cars etc. It lies out in the road, right across the road actually and as it is deaf as a post, probably has a receding jaw bone or something I can see it lasting very long. I mean you can start a cement mixer right next to it and as long as its head is under a leaf, it doesn’t stir. I’m not sure that it makes a distinction between car and cement mixer.