Provence snake: ladder snake

Physical features

• Length: 31 to 59 inch (80 to 150 cm)
• The ladder snake has a thick, massive body.
• It is one of the large snakes that can be seen in Provence.
• It is generally brown to beige in color.
• It has 2 dark longitudinal stripes on its back.
• Like all garter snakes, it has round pupils.
• Large frontal scale
• The rostral scale rises high on the snout, making it taller than it is wide.
• 1 pre-ocular scale
• 2 post-ocular scales
• Yellowish belly
• Transverse black stripe starting from the eye
• Black spot under eye

Habitat

• Garrigues ;
• Low stone walls ;
• Plains (up to 1000 m altitude) ;
• Vineyard edges;
• Orchards.

The ladder snake is a ground snake and likes to climb trees.

Overview

• The ladder snake is a ground snake (unlike the viperine snake, for example, which is an aquatic snake).
• It is difficult to observe.
• It’s a nocturnal snake.
• It likes to bask in the sun to warm up in the early hours of the morning.

Diet

The ladder snake hunts in the evening and at night. It is a “marauding hunter”, meaning that it attacks prey it encounters on the move.

It feeds on :

• Lizards ;
• Small mammals, such as rodents;
• Birds, nestlings and eggs.

Breeding

• The ladder snake is oviparous.
• Mating takes place from April to May.
• Incubation lasts 3 months.

• Domain: biota
• Kingdom: animalia
• Phylum: chordata
• Class: reptilia
• Order: squamata
• Family: colubridae
• Genus: zamenis
• Species: Zamenis scalaris