Spotted snake
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A spotted snake ( Elaphe sauromates ). |
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| Elaphe sauromates | ||||||||||||
| ( Pallas , 1814) |
The spot snake ( Elaphe sauromates ) is a snake of the family of snakes and lives in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
features
The spotted snake is a large, strong land snake that can reach a maximum length of 1.20 to 2.50 m and a diameter of arm strength. The large head is only slightly separated from the neck. The basic color of the adult animals is pale yellow or sand-colored, on the back there are often dark, indistinct, oval to rhombic or bar-like spots. The top of the head is dark and sometimes has a spot that opens backwards in a V-shape. The underside is pale yellow or sand-colored and sometimes with dark speckles. The dorsal scales are clearly keeled in the middle, and gradually become smoother towards the sides of the abdomen. The species got its name from its characteristic pattern of spots, while the closely related four-lined snake has a pattern of longitudinal stripes.
distribution
The European part of the area includes northeast Greece , east of Chalkidiki including the islands of Thassos and Samothrace , the European part of Turkey , large parts of Bulgaria , the south and east of Romania , parts of the Republic of Moldova , southern Ukraine and southern Russia including the eastern Pre-Caucasus (Kalmykia and Dagestan). Outside Europe, the distribution area includes the rest of Turkey, Azerbaijan , Armenia , east Georgia , the northwest in Iran , as well as parts of Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Syria and Iraq .
In Greece, the distribution area borders on that of the closely related four-lined snake in the west . Almost the entire Black Sea coast , as well as most of the coast of the Caspian Sea, is populated within the distribution area. In the east the distribution area extends to the Aral Sea .
habitat
The spotted snake occurs from sea level to over 2500 m above sea level in eastern Anatolia, but mostly prefers lower and middle altitudes. The species inhabits a wide range of habitats. In Greece it lives in oak forests and on the edge of mixed and coniferous forests, in Bulgaria it is preferably found along rivers. In southwestern Anatolia, humid habitats are also preferred. In the Ukraine and the Caucasus region, however, the species becomes forest steppe and steppe inhabitant. Diverse hiding places should be available in the habitats, such as piles of stones, old walls and dense bushes. Proximity to people is not avoided, as finds in vineyards and house gardens in the foothills of the Caucasus show.
Way of life
Hibernation is held from October / November to February / March. The animals mate from April to May. The clutches are weaned from June to August and contain 4–16 eggs that can be 48–70 mm long and 20–25 mm wide. The young hatch between August and October. The diet consists of birds, their eggs and mammals such as voles, mice, moles and young rabbits. Lizards are also captured less often. Domestic cats are among the predators. The spotted snake can climb well and thereby also prey on clutches from nesting boxes. When threatened, they adopt a threatening posture with their heads raised and their mouths open and, unlike the four-lined snake, they also bite. The species is non-toxic.
Danger
The IUCN lists the species as not endangered ( least concern ). The spotted snake generally only reaches low population densities and in some regions it is declining due to the cultivation of steppes and other near-natural landscapes.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dieter Glandt: The amphibians and reptiles of Europe: All kinds in portrait. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-494-01581-1
- ↑ Elaphe sauromates in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species .
literature
- Dieter Glandt: The amphibians and reptiles of Europe: All kinds in portrait. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-494-01581-1 , pp. 602–604.
- Axel Kwet: Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe . Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-440-10237-4
Web links
- Elaphe sauromates in The Reptile Database . Edited by: P. Uetz, P. Freed & J. Hošek, 1995–2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.