Grass snake
Natrix natrix
Identification 3
Dark coloured body and arrow shaped head with a pair of crescent shaped orange-yellow spots runing to neck. The belly scales have dark blue to black center and white edges, which extend to the sides of the body and head. The snake is in our nature unmistakenable.
Ecology & Behaviour 3
One of the two so callled water colubrids in Czechia the snake is bound to water. Comonly it can be found near large bodies of water as it's diet consists of amphibians and fish. One of the most fascinating behaviours can be oserved in juveniles and smaller individuals when disturbed they play dead: They point their belly upwards, open their mouths and release the content in their cloacas so they look and smell dead to predators. When captured even adults release the fluid they actively smear the content on their bodies and sometimes hands of those who captured them, the smell is very poignant and hard to get rid of for hours. From my experience this snake is one of the most common reptiles in our nature. It could be said, wher's water, there's the grass snake.
Identifikace (CZ) 3
Náš nejběžnější had. Užovka obojková jak název napovídá nosí "obojek" ze dvou půlměsícovitých skvrn za hlavou. Břicho je černé.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Ioana Mita, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ioana Mita
- (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Christoph Moning
- (c) Martin Vohralík, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
