Could not miss the chance to visit Histria and Vadu while in Romania. An early start at Histria yielded the desired Dolichophis caspius and at Vadu found many juvenile Eremias arguta. The Caspian whip snake was seen at the entrance of it's night time refuge. What I thought was to be an almost impossible capture turned out to be very easy. As I approached the snake it came out further to re enter the hole. This produced more of the snake and a perfect loop to grasp. The snake came out without any resistance. In fact the snake was very placid and allowed itself to be handled without struggling or biting. A quick photo session and it was returned to it's hole where it leisurely slithered back into. Was the snake just cold (it was certainly cool to the touch) ,old or unwell (perhaps all three)?? It appeared robust, injury free and without external parasites. Has any one else had a similar encounter with a Caspian? (or any other normally aggressive species).