Smooth Snake
Coronella austriaca
Identification 2
Colour pattens on dorsal side of this snake are very variable although to describe it as spotted would be more than approriate. Otherwise the patterns near eyes and the dorsal side of head is a dead giveaway. The eye pattern is in the shape of prolonged spot from the nose across the eye and continuing bilaterally prox. 5cm behind the head. The head pattern is attributed to the shape of an hourglass, which I don't see in it to me it evokes an ilustration of a manta ray, anyway the pattern stretches to two bilateral lines continuing into the back of the snake. Some animals can be easily misidentified for an adder. The round pupil in these cases is a great discriminant.
Ecology & Behaviour 2
This snake is in most cases found on exposed rocky slopes ideally with some amount of debris where it feeds on lizards exclusively. It's a good climber and it was found to slither through tree branches in Prague zoo. In comparison to our other snakes, which are docile and noncombatant this snake is outright agressive and teritorial (I personaly was chased by one in 2014). The activity is mostly diurnal throughout the year when the temperatures don't exceed 25 degrees Celsius.
Identifikace (CZ) 2
Užovka hladká je nejčastěji zaměńována za zmiji. Vyskytuje se na podobných lokalitách a loví stejnou potravu (ještěrky). Poznáme ji podle zbarvení za hlavou tzv. přesípacích hodin. zornice je kulatá (pro užovky typická)
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jakob Fahr, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jakob Fahr
- (c) Martin Vohralík, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
