The grass snake is in decline
Previously, the snake was common in most places in Scandinavia, but in recent decades, the snake has declined very
severely. This is mainly because the habitats and their food are disappearing.
The snake lives in damp areas with abundant vegetation such as bogs, swamps, wet ditches and streams, but it can also find a home in forests and meadows as well as in gardens.
The snake is active during the day. It is found both on land, where it moves quickly and deftly through the vegetation, and in the water, where it swims perfectly by bending its body from side to side while keeping its head above the water.
The snake is black with yellow neck stripes/spots
The snake is a slender snake. The male is the smallest and measures 60-80 cm, while the female measures 70-150 cm.
The color of the snake can vary, but the same for all snakes are the 2 yellowish or whitish-yellow neck spots. The typical Danish and Scandinavian snake is black, perhaps brownish-black, with the characteristic 2 yellow neck spots.
The European snake is not poisonous. If surprised, it will usually curl up and hiss loudly, but rarely bite. If touched, it will defend itself by squirting a yellowish, extremely nauseating and foul-smelling secretion from a pair of glands at the base of its tail. At the same time, it twists and turns so violently that both itself and the attacker are smeared in the secretion.
The snake hibernates
In September, the snake looks for a dry place. It leaves its preferred haunt and seeks away from water to hibernate. As a rule, the snakes from the immediate vicinity gather in larger and smaller groups and hibernate together.
The European snake is not poisonous. If surprised, it will usually curl up and hiss loudly, but rarely bite. If touched, it will defend itself by squirting a yellowish, extremely nauseating and foul-smelling secretion from a pair of glands at the base of its tail. At the same time, it twists and turns so violently that both itself and the attacker are smeared in the secretion.
The snake hibernates
In September, the snake looks for a dry place. It leaves its preferred haunt and seeks away from water to hibernate. As a rule, the snakes from the immediate vicinity gather in larger and smaller groups and hibernate together.
