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Just a few pics of the snakes we were lucky enough to encounter in sunny Montenegro last week..

Firstly some lowland stuff, including a much needed tick for me, quatuorlineata.. a stunning adult.. about 170 cm, which I found coiled in a discarded matress..







And the ever present, but still pretty tesellata.



We were also fortunate enough to find a very rare snake for England.. but a common snake for everyone else, Coronella austriaca,





Moving to higher altitude we found this stunning berus bosniensis, my favourite snake of the trip..





And what trip to Montenegro would be complete without the stunning ammodytes.. we saw these at both lowland and highland habitats.. I must be honest at this point and say I came the closest I have ever come to be being bitten by a venomous snake,in over thirty years of field herping.. I missed being bitten on the forearm by a large adult female ammodytes, by around five millimetres..totally my fault..due to complacency..the bite struck the top edge of my glove as it finished along the arm.. a very robust wake up call.. I know the majority of you are way more experienced than me..but lets keep focussed and be careful out there

The snake in question...stunning..even though she left me shaking like a sh@tting dog for twenty minutes...







An equally striking male..no pun intended







and a lowland specimen..about to shed..



Finally a picture I think sums up Montenegro.. beautiful animals..beautiful scenery..

Cheers Paul

Lovely Paul.

I have to vouch for Paul's state after he rashly grabbed that lady ammodytes at the wrong end....rubber bands for the bottom of his trousers and a shady seat were required while he calmed down......

A great trip, and great pics Paul.

Nice stuff, Paul. I especially like the final shot.

-M

Ok, I have to admit: cool sausages. The quatuorlineata is #1 of my most wanted

Great pictures of beautiful snakes!!!
I really like the ammodytes male...

regards

Not bad, really not bad Mr. Lambourne!
Black rocks!!!
Sadly you don`t found No. 5 (or No.1?) of your wish list, maybe next time, maybe with my help.

Some nice finds, thanks for posting. Your last shot is stunning!

Great snake observations!

Peter Oefinger wrote:Ok, I have to admit: cool sausages. The quatuorlineata is #1 of my most wanted

For me too! Why is it still such a long time till 27th of July!?

Bobby Bok wrote:Why is it still such a long time till 27th of July!?

Because you won't find it in July

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:

Bobby Bok wrote:Why is it still such a long time till 27th of July!?

Because you won't find it in July

Weren't Slovenia and Croatia very hot when we were there in 2010? And have we found Vipera then? Of course Peter and I will find them!