I was not sure if my eyes were deceiving me but in this tangle is a pair of western whipsnakes (Hierophis viridiflavus), they are slightly different colours so you might make out the individual bodies. These snakes are not venomous, however if cornered will give you a bite, but they prefer to slither away into the undergrowth. On one of the pictures, I have created a close-up inset to show that one of the snakes has hold of the other. I have not found out the reason for this, perhaps one of your herpetologyreaders might know?
Their prey is varied, from voles, small birds and even other snakes, they kill by constriction, so no accepting hugs from these snakes. Whip snakes are fast moving and also have a large roaming area compared to other snakes in France, this speed is accomplished by maintaining a higher bodytemperature of up to 35° Celsius. This increase in speed and roaming allows the snake to come into contact with more prey but in contrast it requires more food to maintain this lifestyle and of course there is a greater chance of coming into contact with other predators such as dogs, foxes or birds of prey. This last predator is worth a mention; we were in the garden a couple of years ago and a Buzzard landed not 20 metres away and took off with a Whip snake in its claws, but the snake put up a big struggle and the Buzzard let it go, do snakes have nine lives too?
Nev
Val says we actually saw one squeeze a rat to death and then as quick as a whip it went off in to the undergrowth.
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