NEWS113
14
Doyouknowhowmany snake speciesarenative toGermany?Correct, there
arefivespecies,fournon-venomousandonevenomous.Threeofthesespecies
are relativelycommon:theGrassSnake,theSmoothSnake,and theEuropean
Adder. Another species, the Aesculapian Snake, formerly rare, has spread
recently thanks toglobalwarming.But the rarestofournativesnakes,theDice
Snake (
Natrixtessellata)
, isextremely rareandendangered inGermany.
TheDiceSnake
Germany's rarest snake
byThorstenHoltmann
Snakes
DiceSnakes aregenerally sociableanimals.
Photos:FrankSchäfer
cool conditions. It is found furthernorth than
any other snake species. It feeds mainly on
mice, but sometimes takes Common Lizards
(
Zootocavivipara
)aswell.
TheDiceSnake iswidespread
All reptileandamphibianspeciesaremoreor
less endangered in Germany. The extremely
densepopulationof our countrybyhumans
simply doesn't leave enough habitat for the
majority of species. Snakes have an even
harder timeof it thanother species,asmany
people are afraid of them. Even though the
dayswhen snakeswerekilledare fortunately
longpast,theystilldon'tevokeanysympathy
inthemajorityofpeople.
If,however,we lookat theoverall distribution
of theDiceSnakethen itcanbeseenthatthis
snake has an immense range! It occurs in
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia (in-
cluding some Adriatic islands), Slovenia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Macedonia, Serbia, Italy, Czech Republic,
Poland, Slovakia, Russia, Albania, Romania,
Moldavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Greece
(includingCrete,Lesbos,Samos,Corfu,Kythira,
Seriphos,Euboea,Tinos),Cyprus,Afghanistan,
Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq,
Syria,Jordan,Lebanon,Egypt,Israel,andnorth-
west China. For this reason the species is
classifiedonlyas ”leastconcern”(no reason to
worry) on the worldwide Red List of
endangered species. So why is it only in
Germanythat it issorare?
Asuccessfulspeciespushing itsboundaries
The fact is,theDiceSnake isavery successful
species overall and constantly expanding its
range.For climatic reasons inGermany it has
reached the furthest outposts where it can
survive. Ithasneverbeenverycommonhere
andhasalwaysoccurredonly inareasthatare
particularly favorable climatically,all ofwhich
lie inwhat is now the federal stateof Rhein-
land-Pfalz. Here there are still small popu-
lations in the Lahn andMosel regions,while
the majority of individuals live in the Nahe
region;thespecieshasprobablybeenextinct
in the Rhine area for more than a hundred
years.It isparticularly important for the future
survival of the species in Germany that the
comparatively limitedpopulations (onlya few
hundred individuals in Lahn and Mosel,
severalhundred inNahe) shouldnotbecome
isolated fromoneanotherwiththe resultthat
no genetic exchange and/or migration
betweenneighboringpopulations ispossible
anymore.Wereamajorcatastrophe(chemical
accident, epidemic if a snake disease,
unfavorableweather for several summers) to
occurinoneofthelocalitiesforthespecies,the
result could be the extinction of the
efore we look at the actual subject
matterofthearticle,afewbriefwordson
the other snake species. The Grass Snake
(
Natrixnatrix
),whichoccurs intwosubspecies
in Germany, likes to live in damp areas and
prefers to feed on frogs. It also eats newts,
fishes, and sometimes large earthworms as
well.TheSmoothSnake(
Coronellaaustriaca
) is
an inhabitant of dry scrub. Its favorite food is
lizards, but some populations also feed on
nests of young mice or Slow-Worms. The
Aesculapian Snake (
Elaphe longissima
or
Zamenis longissimus
) is a mouse-eater and
likes warm woodlands, orchards, vineyards,
etc.Youwillfindadetailedarticleonthis lovely
snake in Aqualog News No. 100. Finally, the
European Adder (
Vipera berus
), our only
venomous snake, likes damp and relatively
B
