📸 PhotoPhoto: Andreas Eichler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Common Grass Snake
Natrix natrix (Common Grass Snake · ヨーロッパヤマカガシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A maximum length of 140 cm is about the height of an upper-grade elementary school child (Comparison).
- 💡 The Burgas Museum in Bulgaria notes that even when caught it rarely bites, releasing secretions instead, and is protected in Bulgaria under Appendix III of the Bern Convention.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Common Grass Snake is a non-venomous snake that likes watersides and lives in ponds, lakes, and wet meadows across Europe.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is characterized by two bright yellowish spots behind its head. There are subspecies without distinct dorsal stripes and subspecies with two light longitudinal stripes along the back.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is active during the day and also moves on warm nights, and it swims well. It mainly eats frogs, newts and salamanders, tadpoles, and fish, rarely catching rodents, lizards, or small birds, and swallows its prey alive.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/165594334/545209
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 745RJ
- • iucnredlist.org — 545209
- • wikidata.org — Q170713
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:2017.07.17.-17-Tiefer See oder Grubensee-Storkow (Mark)
- • burgasmuseums.bg — grass-snake-293
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Danny S. · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.