Any experts who can identify a snake for me?
Discussion
I'm certainly not an expert on European snakes (I know UK species pretty well - not that being an expert in distinguishing the between the vast array of British snakes is difficult) and there are always colour variations even within species, but from my field guide I'd say the closest match is the juvenile form of a rat snake called the Aesculapian Snake (Elaphe longissima):
It isn't venomous.
Yours seems to be tending more toward the much duller adult colours of the snake, so perhaps it's a little older than the one in the picture above?
Having said which, the good old grass snake isn't much different, so it could be a local colour variation of one of those, too, but usually the grass snake has a dark patch behind the eye, then the yellow 'collar' bar, then a second distinct black bar before running into the green of the main upper body.
It isn't venomous.
Yours seems to be tending more toward the much duller adult colours of the snake, so perhaps it's a little older than the one in the picture above?
Having said which, the good old grass snake isn't much different, so it could be a local colour variation of one of those, too, but usually the grass snake has a dark patch behind the eye, then the yellow 'collar' bar, then a second distinct black bar before running into the green of the main upper body.
Edited by Sam_68 on Thursday 24th March 18:26
I agree with the above, it's an Aesculapian Snake. The picture on the wiki is a close match.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapian_Snake
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapian_Snake
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