Smygehuk Snake Barrier in Smygehamn, Sweden

At Smygehuk, Sweden's southernmost point, a rust-colored steel and concrete barrier separates a fishing harbor from a nature reserve where something unusual lives: an isolated population of European adders, Sweden's only venomous snake. The barrier, about a foot tall with an equal depth below ground, features an outward-curving overhang designed to keep the snakes from climbing over. Atlas Obscura reports that this adder population has been monitored since 1981, and as it grew, the snakes increasingly wandered into cafés and public spaces. After a person and a dog were both bitten, local authorities installed the barrier in 2019. Because all Swedish snake species are legally protected, lethal control was never considered. Evolutionary ecologist Thomas Madsen, who has studied these adders for decades, believes this is probably the only structure of its kind in the world.

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