There have been plenty of snakes in the Love Island villa before, but this year’s Islanders have been warned of a boom in numbers of nesting snakes during the summer months they will be filming.
Spanish island Mallorca, where the ITV2 reality series is filmed, has been colonised by two new varieties of snake.
It was already home to native horseshoe snakes, which are currently nesting and are expected to become especially “active” during the hot months of the summer.
The island is also home to two venomous varieties – the false smooth and the Montpellier.
“Being bitten by a horseshoe snake is like being bitten by a cat,” Vanessa Rubio, a local biologist, assured media.
“They will defend themselves if they are cornered and try to bite, but they are not poisonous.
“This is their gestation time, so they are looking for the ideal nesting place.
"In May, June and July snakes are more active so people are more likely to see them, especially if it’s hot,” she added to local press.
“The snakes are waking up.”
Anyone who spots a snake is advised to put it in a bucket or a cloth sack so that the reptile can breathe and then call the
emergency services.
Though the Islanders – who spend most of their time lounging in the garden wearing very little – should probably just call producers and have them deal with any serpentine intruders.
The new series of Love Island kicks off on ITV2 soon.
