barred grass snake

Natrix helvetica

The barred grass snake is a friendly snake that loves to swim and bask in the sun. It has beautiful stripes and is often found near water, making it a fun creature to spot in nature!

Lebensraum: Wetlands

Aussehen

The barred grass snake has a grey-brown to olive-green body with distinct dark bars or spots along its sides. Its most striking feature is a bright yellow and black collar just behind its head, making it unique.

ReichAnimaliaStammChordataKlasseSquamataOrdnungSerpentesFamilieColubridaeGattungNatrix

barred grass snake

Kategorie

Reptilien

Seltenheit

Common

Gefahr

1/5 · Sehr gering

Snaps

Mach den ersten Snap!

Interessante Fakten

Even though they have 'grass' in their name, they are excellent swimmers and often hunt underwater.

They love composting! Females often lay their eggs inside warm, rotting heaps of leaves and plant material.

When threatened, this snake might hiss very loudly and even pretend to strike, but it rarely bites!

Young barred grass snakes start life eating tiny slugs and worms before growing big enough for frogs!

Besondere Fähigkeiten

barred grass snake can act completely dead, even lying upside down, to trick predators into thinking it's not worth eating.

barred grass snake has glands that release a foul-smelling liquid when scared, making predators quickly lose their appetite.

barred grass snake can swim very well and quickly catch fish underwater, thanks to its streamlined body.

Maße und Details

Länge: 70-140 cm
Gewicht: 0.2-1 kg
Lebenserwartung: 10-15 Jahre
Top Speed: 8 km/h
Schwimmgeschwindigkeit: 2 km/h
Gelegegröße: 10-40
Brutzeit: 42-70 Tage

Ernährung und Fütterung

They love feasting on amphibians like frogs and newts, plus fish, which they cleverly hunt in water.

Altersunterschiede: Young snakes start with smaller prey like tadpoles, slugs, and worms, gradually moving to larger amphibians and fish as they grow.

Hauptnahrung

Frogs
Toads
Newts
Fish
Tadpoles

Nahrungssuche

Pursuit

Ökologische Zusammenhänge

eats

Common Frog

Rana temporaria

A favorite meal for both young and adult snakes.

eats

Common Toad

Bufo bufo

Often eaten by larger barred grass snakes.

eats

European Perch

Perca fluviatilis

Skilled underwater hunters catch this fish.

eaten by

Common Buzzard

Buteo buteo

These birds of prey are a main predator.

eaten by

European Badger

Meles meles

Badgers sometimes hunt snakes in their habitat.

Merkmale

Gestreift

Gekennzeichnet durch parallele Farbstreifen oder -linien.

Einzelgänger

Einzelgänger leben den größten Teil ihres Lebens allein und interagieren mit Artgenossen nur zur Paarung oder zur Aufzucht der Jungen.

Fischfressend

Fischfressende Organismen sind Tiere, die sich hauptsächlich von Fisch ernähren.

Feuchtgebiet

Dieses Lebensraummerkmal kennzeichnet Arten, die in Feuchtgebieten vorkommen. Dies sind Landflächen, die dauerhaft oder saisonal mit Wasser gesättigt sind, darunter Marschland, Sümpfe und Moore.