Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, A friend of mine contacted me about a snake they almost stepped on while hiking in the mountains near Grenoble, France. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the snake, just a sketchy description. I was hoping that someone might be able to suggest possible species based on my description below and the region. Sure wish I had a picture! Anyway the snake was described to me as follows:
~ 1 meter long
~ 1 inch in diameter
-brownish in color with dark brown/black bands running normal to the length of the snake
-I asked him about the head of the snake, and showed him the difference between coulumbrid and viper heads. He said it looked more like a coulumbrid (did not have a pronounced "V" head).

Not a big deal, but if anyone has any idea of the type of snake and possible a picture, please post! Curiousity has really got the best of me on this one!
Thanks
Jesse Walters
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1.0 Corn Snake
"Mr. Hat"
1.0 Ball Python
"Kitty"

Sounds like a Coluber species. However, ask him if the scales were rough or smooth. If rough, it could be Natrix tesstilia.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

>>-brownish in color with dark brown/black bands running normal to the length of the snake

Assuming you mean that the snake was brown with a black stripe, this sounds like it could be a couple of things...

Aesculapian Snake - Elaphe longissima (or whatever damn genus it is in any more!) - I don't know where Grenoble is, but these are found in some parts of France.

A Viper - Vipera sp. - many of the European vipers have females that are brown with black stripe of sorts down their back.
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Chris Harrison

>>Hello, A friend of mine contacted me about a snake they almost stepped on while hiking in the mountains near Grenoble, France. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the snake, just a sketchy description. I was hoping that someone might be able to suggest possible species based on my description below and the region. Sure wish I had a picture! Anyway the snake was described to me as follows:
>>~ 1 meter long
>>~ 1 inch in diameter
>>-brownish in color with dark brown/black bands running normal to the length of the snake

What do you mean by "normal to"? Along the body or crossbars across the body?

If they were crossbars (and bearing in mind it was in the mountains), Vipera aspis would be the most likely choice in that region - assuming that the length of the snake was somewhet overestimated, which most people do. Vipera berus may also occur in the area. In European vipers (especially V. berus), the head is much less distinct from the body than in N. American pitvipers.

Other options include: Coluber viridiflavus (whip snake - dark, and speckled on anterior body, longitudinal stripes on posterior body, very fast moving), Zamenis longissimus (olive, brownish or greyish, some white stippling, sometimes faint longitudinal bands), Coronella austriaca (greyish brown with smaler dark markings, some indication of longitudinal stripes), Natrix natrix helvetica (grass snake - olive, yellow "collar", black bars on side of body) and Natrix maura (rather like Vipera berus, but almost always in or near water. If you go to images.google.com, and type in any of these scientific names, you should get a whole bunch of photos that will help you decide. If the encounter was at high altitude, then Zamenis, Coluber and either of the Natricines would be unlikely.

Cheers,

Wolfgang

>>-I asked him about the head of the snake, and showed him the difference between coulumbrid and viper heads. He said it looked more like a coulumbrid (did not have a pronounced "V" head).
>>
>>
>>Not a big deal, but if anyone has any idea of the type of snake and possible a picture, please post! Curiousity has really got the best of me on this one!
>>Thanks
>>Jesse Walters
>>-----
>>1.0 Corn Snake
>>"Mr. Hat"
>>1.0 Ball Python
>>"Kitty"
-----
WW Home

Hi,

My name's Cyril and actually I've been living in Grenoble for 30 years and catching snakes around here for at least 20
So, I would like to add a few precisions in response to the preceeding emails:
- Natrix maura is NEVER seen in the mountains around here. This snake leaves in water, or very close to it, in low altitude slow rivers.
- I did not know the name Zamenis longissimus, but the description is close to elaphe longissima, which I never saw at higher altitude than 800-1000 meters. It is a new classification ??. This snake is rater thin, *never stripped* (but with white spots sometimes) and approx. 1,00 to 1,50 meters long. Longer specimen have became really rare.
- Natrix tesstilia cited above does not look like anything I know. Is it a misspelling of Natrix Tessellata ? That snake is not to be seen around grenoble anyways.
- Natrix Natrix can be seen in the mountains but is rare in that habitat, since it prefers low level water areas.

In summary, your snake is most probably a Coronella Austriaca or a Vipera aspis. Most people make a confusion between the two, partly because they have exactly the same habitat, e.g, in the montains on rock piles.

Furthermore, vipera aspis may take several forms (from the one you describe to bluish/greyish stripped with black and even totally black). The form most commonly seen is well represented by the photo at http://www.lagarenne.ch/photos/VipereAspic.html
Coronella austriaca has two forms: one brown stripped with black,
and an other (very rare) light brown (orange) stripped with brown. If you saw the later, I would be glad to know where exactly

Also if you tell be where your friend saw the snake, mabe I can have a better idea.

Cheers
Cyril