Snake on Bougainvillea

[gerrynag]

Snake on Terrace

This little fella was spotted on our bougainvillea by one of the dogs.
It was about 80cm long by 2cm diameter I would say.
Any idea what type of snake it is ?
Sorry for the quality of the photo, I didn't like to get too close.....just in case

[White Horse]

It's coluber hippocrepis, a horseshoe whip snake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_whip_snake

[El Cid]

We have seen quite a few of these. Pretty little things and they move incredibly fast. When hiding they curl up into a very tight coil. Completely harmless.

Sid

[olive]

Yes they do move fast but not as fast as me when I found one in a box of plumbing items in the garage.

[El Cid]

You wait until you see a 2m Montpelier when you disturb it! You will probably set a new 100m record!

Sid

[olive]

Yes been there too with the dog investigating “something”. They are long. Haven't seen one for 18 months. Not a fan of snakes. A neighbour had a pair of possibly whip snakes drop on them from overhead grapevines while eating on their patio. They thought they were coupling.

[peteroldracer]

"They thought they were coupling." What, the snakes thought the neighbours were coupling?

[olive]

Hardly dare tell you about me removing a smallish snake from a swimming pool. I copied a method I had seen on tv. String down a pipe and back up to leave a loop. Gently held the snake behind the head to avoid slicing it off. The snake saw a dark hole to escape into - the pipe.

[gerrynag]

It's coluber hippocrepis, a horseshoe whip snake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_whip_snake

Someone suggested to me that it might be an Adder, (Common Viper). The pattern on the snake looks in between that shown for the Horseshoe whip and the Adder...so not sure.

[El Cid]

A Viper in Spain is very rare and you are unlikely to find one. The markings on the Whipsnake are similar to the Viper but it is so thin to make it obviously a Whipsnake not a Viper (less obvious if you have never seen either). I would think is about 1000:1 that it is a Viper just based on how many Whipsnakes there are compared to Vipers. From my experience the other obvious trait of the Whipsnake is the way it coils up tightly into a very small area.

A Whipsnake has succeeded in crawling under the gap in our kitchen units that a Viper could never manage!

Sid

[White Horse]

It's a whip snake, 100%. I studied snakes all the years I was in Spain. Never saw an adder as they are not present in Spain.
Sometimes people think viperine snakes, which love water, are adders, but they are certainly not.