Snakes In Bulgaria 6. - Four-lined snake -

The species common name refers to the markings seen on the body of adult snakes, four dark stripes running across the body. They are non-venomous but can be aggressive and will bite if felt threatened. They are one of the largest snake species in Europe growing up to 180 cm long, sometimes but rarely they will grow up to 2 meters long. There main diet is small mammals, such as rabbits, mice and squirrels and sometimes will also feed on birds, lizards and eggs. They mate during late April to May, females lay the eggs in summer. They usually lay around 15 eggs per clutch, and will incubate them for 40-60 days! They favor areas with Mediterranean climate and are found in habitats such as: Stone walls, sparse woodland and deserted buildings. In the winter they will spend their time in deserted rodent holes!

   Check out my website about Bulgarian reptiles:  https://bulgarianreptiles.weebly.com/

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Snakes In Bulgaria 5. Adder

The Adder is a venomous snake that is extremely common and can be found throughout most of Western Europe and East Asia. They are not listed as super dangerous, and are not aggressive but they will bite when they feel alarmed or disturbed. Apparently there bites are extremely painful. They feed on small mammals, insects, birds, lizards, amphibians and sometimes worms and spiders. Females breed once every two or three years with litters commonly being born in late Summer to early April. Females usually hatch 5-20 snakes who will stay with there mothers for two or three days before leaving. The adder is not considered to be threatened, but is protected in some country's. There usually found in rocky hillsides or chalky downs but also will be found in meadows and edges of wood.

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Snakes In Bulgaria 4. Dice snake - Natrix tessellata

Dice Snake

The Dice snake is a non-venomous European snake specie and is one of the most common snake species in Bulgaria. They are water snakes and will spend most of there time in or around water. They mainly feed on fish. It's an averaged sized snake growing up to a meter long, females tend to be larger then males. If felt threatened instead of biting, just like grass snakes they will release a horrible smell, although in my opinion the grass snakes it 2x worse. There's a video at the end of the blog of some of the Dice snakes I have caught. The Dice snakes back is usually dark green with black patterns over it, they have a beautiful bright red underbelly which you can see in my video.

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Hawfinch

Hawfinch

The Hawfinch is one of the largest finches in Europe with an overall length of 18 cm and a wing span that ranges from 29-35 cm. This striking bird is found all over Europe and Asia. It's a woodland bird that will often be spotted on fruit trees. It feeds on hard seeds from trees and fruit using it's super strong beak to open up hazelnuts and walnuts. Males and females are very similar, but the males are normally larger.  Usually breeding in late April, the female will lay 4-5 eggs and will wait 13 days for the eggs to hatch. They have a short lifespan of around 4 years old, although interestingly, one Hawfinch managed to live for 12 years and 7 months in Germany!! Although they are one of the rarest birds in the UK, there are a whopping 13 million individuals in Europe!

Hawfinch in flight - My uncle took this picture (UK

Link to my uncles blog: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.bg/

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Snakes In Bulgaria 3. Smooth Snake - Coronella austriaca

The Smooth Snake is a non-venomous specie found in northern and central Europe. They are a small snake specie only growing up to 60-75 cm long. Females grow larger then males. The Smooth Snake is the rarest reptile in the UK.They emerge during March/April when males will start competing for females. Females don't lay eggs, they give birth to 4-12 live snakes. They mainly feed on other reptiles such as lizards, but sometimes will eat rodents and invertebrates to. They are constrictors, meaning they squeeze the life out of there pray then swallow it. A lot of people mistake them for adders and unfortunately they get killed by humans quite often. I have lots of videos of me holding and catching Smooth Snakes, the video is at the end of the blog if you would like to see it. They can bite if felt threatened but luckily it's a weak bite and will not hurt more then a thorn.

Video of Smooth snakes that I caught ;)


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Snakes In Bulgaria 2. Caspian Whip Snake - Dolichophis caspius

The Caspian Whip Snake Is the largest snake in Europe growing up to 2 meters long, the record size is 250cm!! It is a non - venomous specie but is also the most aggressive snake in Europe and will bite non stop until it's confident that you or whatever it felt threatened by is not going to harm it. I personally think they are one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, with their shining grey scales  red head and yellow underbelly. They are extremely good tree climbers and will often be sun basking on top of trees, last year me and my dad caught one at the beach, when we let it go it rushed to a tree and climbed up with extreme speed and skill. I made a video of the snakes I caught at the beach last year including the Caspian whip snake, I have put it at the bottom of this blog. They feed on small vertebrates such as: Lizards, birds, small mammals and other snakes! They breed at the end of May, the male grabs the females neck and puts hit tail around her. The female lays 6 to 12 eggs at the end of june. Males are larger then Females, and usually they have much larger heads then Females.

Here's the video of all the snakes I caught at the beach last year, including a Caspian whip snake



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Snakes In Bulgaria 1. Grass Snake - Natrix natrix

Grass Snake 

The Grass Snake Is a non-venomous water snake specie . It's found all over Europe near lakes, rivers, marshes ect.. It feeds on amphibians, mainly frogs. They are quite a small specie of snakes growing up to an average of 70-90cm long (Although I have found the largest one ever recorded in Bulgaria, which was an epic 1.83m long) They are typically dark green or brown with a yellow color behind the head. They are the most common species of snake in Bulgaria and are also one of the most common snake species in the whole of Europe. They breed in April, and lay 10 to 40 eggs in one batch!! When they feel threatened they produce a horrible smelling fluid. They really extremely rarely bite, I have caught hundreds of them and only once has one ever tried to bite me. One of there most known defense mechanisms is to play dead.

Playing Dead

Here's the video of me catching the largest grass snake ever recorded in my country (Bulgaria)

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I found this new awesome video platform called Viuly, I started using it a few months ago and I upload nature videos on it regularly. I really like it because it pays you to watch and upload videos. If you wanna check out my nature videos on Viuly you can sign up from HERE!! It will earn me and you a bit of cash if you do!! Thanks ;) Or if you want to watch my videos on You Tube click here ;)

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