Saturday 23/05/2009
My parents told me about a small swamp outside the town,near the highway where they've seen a lot of snakes and pond turtles. I was only too happy to hear that,so me and my father drove to the spot. He started fishing and I started walking around the swamp looking for herps. The weather was really hot with slight wind blowing from time to time. Almost immediately I saw a Dice Snake (Natrix tesselata) and shortly after that a Grass Snake (Natrix natrix). Then I saw a few more until I managed to catch one.
Individual #1 – The biggest I found for the weekend. It had swallowed something not long ago. I've read people say that bigger(older) individuals behave diffrently from young ones when cought and I have to agree with that. This snake big, as it was (abot 1 m or a little more), didn't try to bite,didn't try to escape by throwing itself all over the place,didn't even hissed once. It was just flattening it's head like they always do.
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),adult
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),adult
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),adult
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),adult
We stayed for an hour or so and that was the only snake I cought at that swamp. After that we returned to Pravetz and I went,this time alone,to the spot I always go – the pond near the woods, which I was talking about in my previous post about Pravetz (viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15).
Individual #2 - On my way to it I flipped a stone and found a very tiny grass snake,may be hatched this year.
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
When I arrived at the pond I went for a pile of cardboard,under which I've been always finding snakes.
Individual #3 - I found one this time,too. Again a Grass Snake (N.natrix)! This individual was bigger than the previous one but still a juvenile.
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),juvenile
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),juvenile
Individual #4 - After that I went to the other side of the pond and found another baby natrix.
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
Sunday 24/05/2009
On the other day I was back to the pond again. I saw 4 more Grass Snakes,all of them tiny babies. I wonder where their big mother is!? Adults are so secretive...
Individual #5
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
Individual #6
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
Individual #7
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
- Grass Snake (Natrix natrix),neonate
Passing through the woods I also encountered an Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina).
- Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina)
- Agile Frog (Rana dalmatina)
Thank you for looking!
