Photo: Christian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Smooth snake
Coronella austriaca
The smooth snake is a small, harmless snake with smooth scales, often mistaken for a viper but completely non-venomous.
Characteristics
Temperament
Diurnal, shy, non-venomous
Diet
Lizards, small mammals and other snakes
Description
The smooth snake is a small, non-venomous snake that rarely exceeds 70 centimetres. Its body is slender, with smooth, glossy scales in grey, brown or reddish tones, marked by a series of dark blotches arranged in pairs along the back. On its head it carries a dark band through the eye and, on the nape, a crown- or heart-shaped mark that gives the genus Coronella its name.
Habitat and distribution
It is found across much of Europe and as far as Asia Minor. It favours dry, sunny habitats: heaths, stony slopes, dry-stone walls, woodland edges and clearings. It likes places rich in cover, where it can bask in the sun and hide quickly.
Behaviour
It is a diurnal, shy and discreet snake, active from spring to autumn. It feeds mainly on lizards, but also on small mammals and other snakes, which it kills by constriction, coiling around them. It is ovoviviparous: the eggs develop inside the mother's body, and she gives birth to fully formed young.
Did you know?
It is often mistaken for a viper because of its dorsal blotches, and sadly sometimes killed as a result. In fact it is completely harmless to humans: if seized it may bite, but the bite has no consequences.
Conservation
It is classed as least concern, but is protected in many European countries, where it may not be caught or killed. The main threats are the destruction of open habitats and killing through mistaken identity with the viper.
Pros
- Completely harmless to humans
- Useful predator regulating lizards and rodents
- Long-lived, can exceed fifteen years
Cons
- Often killed by mistake, taken for a viper
- Depends on open, sunny habitats
- Discreet and hard to observe
