8-10-2021 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SOUTHERN SMOOTH SNAKE (Coronella girondica)

The Southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica), also known as Riccioli's snake, is a small, harmless colubrid snake native to southern Europe and northern Africa. It is entirely non-venomous and lacks the capability to inoculate poison.

Key Characteristics & Identification

Size: Small and slender, typically measuring 50 to 60 cm in length. It rarely reaches up to 80 or 95 cm.

Coloration: Dorsally grey, brown, ochre, or reddish with dark, transverse bars or spots.

Head Markings: Features a distinctive dark, inverted "U" or "V" mark on the nape. A dark streak ("tear") runs from the eye to the corner of the mouth.

Underside: Yellowish, whitish, or orange-pink with a highly characteristic checkered pattern of dark spots.

Eyes: Features round pupils with a distinct orange or reddish ring around them.

Scales: Completely smooth, shiny, and unkeeled. They generally sit in 21 rows at midbody.

Habitat & DistributionThe species is widely distributed across Southwest Europe and Northwest Africa. It is native to Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy, Monaco, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.It prefers dry, sunny, and warm landscapes. Typical habitats include Mediterranean-type scrublands, open grasslands, rocky hillsides, hedgerows, and stone walls. It can be found from sea level up to mountainous regions reaching altitudes over 3,000 meters.

Diet & BehaviorDiet: A specialist predator focusing heavily on small diurnal lizards (such as lacertids, geckos, and skinks). It hunts them by constriction within their nocturnal hiding places. It occasionally consumes small mammals, insects, and reptile eggs. 

Activity: Primarily crepuscular or nocturnal, spending daylight hours hidden under rocks or vegetation.

Defense: Exceptionally gentle and rarely bites, even when handled. If threatened, it may exhibit Batesian mimicry by flattening its head to resemble a viper. It can also excrete a foul-smelling fluid from its anal glands.

Lifecycle: It undergoes a long winter hibernation (brumation) from autumn until April. Unlike its viviparous relative (Coronella austriaca), the Southern smooth snake is oviparous. Females lay clutches of 2 to 16 elongated eggs in July, which hatch by late August or September. Their average lifespan is around 13 to 15 years.