Snake eggs

[tootles]

When Mr T was mixing up some mortar this morning he discovered a pile of what looked like eggs in the sand. After I has rescued them from the mixer we realised that they were snake eggs - 8 of them.
Does anyone know what snakes can do for my garden though? Will I be mourning the loss of 8 snakes later this year when I am overrun by some nasties?

[Headfry]

Have you still got the eggs? were they damaged?
Can you hatch them out?

Sorry for all the above questions

[SueA]

I think I'd be tempted to bury them back in a pile of sand & see if they hatch but as you live in France you might not want to unles you know what kind of snake eggs they are. I think you have 2 or 3 venomous snakes over there as well as a lot of harmless ones. They all tend to eat rodents, slugs, fish & anything small enough to get in their mouths depending on how big they themselves are so you may or may not want them in your garden. I found a little article from someones blog in France & like the bit about the French attitude to snakes!
Harmless French Snakes: how to identify non-venomous French snakes.

[Hilary B]

Are they definitely snake, rather than lizard/slow-worm? Some snakes eat rats/mice, others prefer birds. Lizards (and especially slowworms) like slugs and snails.

[tootles]

We have two main types of snake here; the couleuvre and grass snake both will bite but neither is venomous. The couleuvre is black can get to more than a metre long and the grass snake is green and a little smaller. There are adders/vipers but the locals say that the couleuvre keep them away. I have seen both in the garden but never closely enough to tell whether their eyes are round or slitty!
The eggs are about 1" long, we found 8 but 2 were broken.
No Headfry, I will not be sitting on them!!!
We do have some great lizards here, huge green things with blue cheeks and also fire salamanders, it hadn't occurred to me that they could be lizard eggs?!
I still think that they are more likely to be snakes though.