Small Quiz for you: which snake is this?

[Berislav Horvatic]

Thank you ! I was starting changing my mind to a Natrix, you just saved my honor

Well, thank me for "saving your honour", as it was me who prompted Sale to finally reveal himself (or his snake).
In the last moment for you and your "honour", whatever that means...
(BTW, my own first guess had been Natrix natrix as well, and it took quite a lot of postings to "shake" it, none of
them totally convincing...)

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Sorry Bero i was in the field, so i was not able to reply here.

Snake i posted few days ago is H. gemonensis from Montenegro, adult male. I will post more photos later first time in my life i saw gemonensis like that.

Weird!

[Berislav Horvatic]

Weird!

What's so "weird" in all that?

@ Sale: H. gemonensis in the Pčinja valley, yes or no? If P. najadum and E. quatuorlineata yes, then...

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Weird!

What's so "weird" in all that?

The fact that that is a gemonensis.

[Aleksandar Simovic]

Sorry Bero i was in the field, so i was not able to reply here.

Snake i posted few days ago is H. gemonensis from Montenegro, adult male. I will post more photos later first time in my life i saw gemonensis like that.

Weird!

on the same site I've seen another one similar to this one from photo, sadly too fast, noon...

@ Sale: H. gemonensis in the Pčinja valley, yes or no? If P. najadum and E. quatuorlineata yes, then...

No Bero, it has pretty limited distribution even in FYR Macedonia.

[Berislav Horvatic]

No Bero, it has a pretty limited distribution even in FYR Macedonia.

Sorry for asking a totally unneccessary question - only today I remembered & found the complete checklist
of herps for the Pčinja valley (the Serbian part of it), sent to me by Nemanja Ristić years ago. Of course no
H. gemonensis... Alzheimer... hope not yet.
Although... with P. najadum & E. quatuorlineata present there, one really can't help wondering why...
But that would/could be a subject for/of a respectable doctoral thesis, at least, so... just never mind.

[Aleksandar Simovic]

No problem Bero

gemonensis photos:

[Berislav Horvatic]

No problem Bero

Bero has no problems with that, was just wondering why... But, sincerely, this obsession with whether a certain
country/state has this or that species on its checklist... The Slovenes are frustrated for not having Vipera ursinii,
unlike Croatia, but we in Croatia don't have Vipera aspis, which they (just barely!) have... So what...?
D. caspius is quite common in Serbia, and rare in Croatia - so what...? Rana arvalis is quite common in Croatia,
and has never been found in Serbia - so what...? "Take it easy, amigo, and very slowly..." (Quoting Đorđe Balašević,
who else.)

gemonensis photos:

Superb, as always. BTW, I'm still "strougling" to find a totally melanistic V. ammodytes - I know the place, I've
been there many times but... no luck so far.

[Niklas Ban]

Superb, as always. BTW, I'm still "strougling" to find a totally melanistic V. ammodytes - I know the place, I've
been there many times but... no luck so far.

You wrote "totally melanistic", does that mean you have found a ammodytes with paticular melanism? If yes, would you show us/me a picture?

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Smashing gemonensis!