Ireland is a European country that has no snakes and only one native reptile: the lizard. An Irish legend claims the country is free of snakes due to the patron Saint Patrick, who eradicated all of the reptiles by chasing them into the sea as he converted the country from paganism to Christianity in the fifth century A.D. Scientists believe that there is no evidence of Ireland ever having had snakes at any point in history because the surrounding waters may have made it too difficult for snakes to migrate there after the Ice Age. The cold climate of Ireland may also not have been favorable enough for snakes to make the effort required to travel there.
More about snakes:
- India is the country with the highest number of snake bite victims, at an estimated one million victims each year due to the large snake population, while Ireland has zero snake bite reports.
- There are over 3,000 species of snakes in the world--South Africa alone has over 160 different types of snakes.
- Snakes live on every continent in the world except for Antarctica.