The Only Venomous - _TNY_4929
The common European adder (Vipera berus), also known as the common European viper, is the only venomous snake in Sweden. Typically grey with a black zig zag pattern on the back, some specimens, like this one is instead completely black.
It's a bit ironic that with there only being three species of snake in Sweden (this one, the grass snake and the smooth snake), the two common ones can both be completely black - and one is harmless and the other one venomous. Normally the grass snake have two yellow spots on the neck, but they are sometimes missing.
The venom of this guy isn't especially potent, and on average, one person every eight years is killed by a snake bite in Sweden.
Like most snakes, this one was mainly interested in ending contact with me and I had to move cleverly to be able to intercept it and get some shots of it.
The Only Venomous - _TNY_4929
The common European adder (Vipera berus), also known as the common European viper, is the only venomous snake in Sweden. Typically grey with a black zig zag pattern on the back, some specimens, like this one is instead completely black.
It's a bit ironic that with there only being three species of snake in Sweden (this one, the grass snake and the smooth snake), the two common ones can both be completely black - and one is harmless and the other one venomous. Normally the grass snake have two yellow spots on the neck, but they are sometimes missing.
The venom of this guy isn't especially potent, and on average, one person every eight years is killed by a snake bite in Sweden.
Like most snakes, this one was mainly interested in ending contact with me and I had to move cleverly to be able to intercept it and get some shots of it.