Just a Natrix

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

They don't come much rarer than that, Liam

[Jürgen Gebhart]

That one I found today









Scales pic

[Michal Szkudlarek]

If no one found young melanistic or picturata grass snake, I suppose that picturata morph is intermediate state between normally colored young snake and melanistic old one. Presumably melanism comes with age- like among Trachemys spp. for example. On the other hand it is told to be adaptation- better sunlight absorption or/and industrial melanism- http://nature.uni-plovdiv.bg/uploads/be ... Mollov.pdf

[Tom Hoogesteger]

I found this one in Helsinki, Finland, last month:

[Andre Schmid]

Awsome Thread....I like black Snakes and all those mutation stuff..great thread, thanks for sharing this nice collection of color variations from grasssnakes

[Jürgen Gebhart]

More Blacks!!

Found two dark Natrix today.
The first one was the young male again, the starter of this thread.
I found him more than 100 m away from the place where I found him first.
Tried to make some belly shots, but it works not that good.



Later I found a huge, dark and very angry female.
Not a good model, she was striking at me all the time like a cobra.







She was not solid black, more a picturata morph, black with a lot of brown and gray speckling’s, the markings behind the head were dark brown.



I don`t walk on your nerves with the black Natrix the next few Days.
Tomorrow, finally, our vacation starts, 7 Days Tuscany and 5 Days Piemont, no herping, just vacation!!!
I`m thinking about that I don`t take my camera with me for a stress less time!
Let`s what`s happen.