info on grass snake mating balls and tail wrestling

[Will Atkins]

Hi All

I apologise if the answer to this request lies somewhere on the forum, but I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a paper or other account on the details of grass snake combat? it's usually said that big males win in tail-wrestling because of the strength advantage, but this seems to be anecdotal and I wondered if some research had been done to quantify or to validate this statement? also, do grass snakes have a 'sneaky male' strategy like garter snakes, in which small ones produce female-type pheromones, to put other males 'off the scent'? Cheers in advance, Will