 |
|
|
Aspic viper 2007: |
| Author | Message |
|
Rupe Member Joined: 17 Sep 2007 No. of posts: 27  View other posts by Rupe |
Posted: 16 Oct 2007 A recent visit to friends in the Aveyron region of France gave me the ideal opportunity to catch and photo the Asp or Aspic viper, a species i have never caught or seen before.We all know how important local knowledge can be when searching for reptiles but this time it went against me.A farmer told me that over the past few weeks he had killed fifteen or more vipers on or around his dry stone walls.Two visits ,no vipers.Local anglers informed that they often saw them basking along rock faces by the river.Three visits ,no vipers,only Viperine snakes.Mistaken identity ?Others told me that the scree around the ski areas in higher regions is where they can be found.One visit ,no vipers. Sixth and last day started with wet weather so our friends took us out sightseeing.On the return journey the weather improved and i noticed an area that to me was ideal habitat. We stopped for quick look only as it was getting late .Within five minutes i saw my fist Asp as it slithered under a huge boulder. Now what?? The car jack of course.Result =this 85cm Asp. 
Moral to this story:- Don't always trust local info, use your own intuition and never, never give up. |
|
Jeroen Senior Member Joined: 03 Nov 2004 No. of posts: 121  View other posts by Jeroen |
Posted: 17 Oct 2007 Nice one, Rupe! Never caught or saw such a big one, I think. Seems like gravid female to me... g's, J. Jeroen Speybroeck http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/ |
- Aspic viper 2007 |