It is venomous and capable of injecting a human although the venom is not considered dangerous. It can reach lengths of 75cm but is often much shorter. It has a very distinctive brown double zigzag pattern along its back with a contrasting lighter beige, yellow or grey colour. 2 sub-species exist but only one is found in Portugal. Seoane’s Viper (Scientific: Vipera seoanei – Portuguese: Víbora-de-seoane)Īlso known as the Portuguese or Baskian Viper, this viper is only found in the very extreme north of Portugal around the border with Spain. It can be a either grey or light brown in colour with darker diamond patterns. There are 2 sub-species found (Vipera latastei gaditana and Vipera latastei latastei). It can grow to just over 70cm but more commonly seen much smaller. It has a yellow tip to the tail which is believed to be used to attract prey. This venomous viper has the usual triangle-shaped viper head and has a diamond pattern along its back. Named after French Naturalist Fernand Lataste, this Viper is easily identified by a horn on the tip of it’s nose giving it’s other name of Snub-nosed Viper. Scientific family Viperidae Lataste’s Viper (Scientific: Vipera latastei – Portuguese: Víbora-cornuda) Clicking the photos will enlarge them and clicking the “More information and photos” link will give you access to many more photos to assist you with identification. I hope this quick guide will help you understand the fantastic snake-life we have in Portugal and enable you to enjoy viewing them. Please note that the descriptions below are just a guide, occasionally Snakes can be found with different morph colouring and juveniles can often be difficult to identify. Links for further reference and photographs have been provided to the amazing iNaturalist website. Whilst they may not pose a threat from venom, bacteria from a bite could cause an infection.Ĭurrently, I have very little photographs of Portuguese snakes and therefore have added some Creative Commons licence photographs of snakes I am yet to photograph (see attributions at the bottom of the page). Please remember that all snakes will be far more scared of you than you are of them! If you are unlucky to be bitten by any snake, venomous or not, it is a good idea to seek medical advice (and vet advice for any pet). You may hear the local Portuguese calling snakes a “Cobra” which can cause alarm, but fear not, there are no Cobras in Portugal Cobra is the Portuguese word for Snake. Whilst there are some other venomous snakes, these snakes are not equipped to inject venom in defence, they use their rear-positioned fangs to subdue prey and therefore are very unlikely to be able to inject a human or pet. Of course, there can be cases of people having an allergic reaction to the venom in a similar fashion to those with a Bee sting allergy. The venom from these two vipers are not considered dangerous to humans in the same way the northern European Adders pose little threat. One of these Vipers, the Seoane’s Viper (also known as the Baskin or Portuguese Viper) is confined to the extreme north of Portugal. Snakes are not really to be feared within Portugal with only two Vipers that pose a small threat to humans (and of course pets). I have written this reference because there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the species of snakes that are found in Portugal.
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