First Hierophis of the year and Asp vipers

[Guillaume Gomard]

Yesterday was a sultry day in Central France with temperatures of about 25°C in the afternoon and no wind. I visited from 10 a.m to 4 p.m a place that I already mentioned here, where one can find good spots for V.aspis, among others. After my recent trip to Switzerland, I was impatient to photograph again some french Asp vipers.

In the morning, I observed a lot of lizards (P.muralis -some of them were mating, making a strong noise in the leaves- and L. bilineata -too fast to get a decent picture!-). The real luck came at 11 a.m when I saw my first Western Whip Snake of 2011, a juvenile specimen moving along the road and looking for a place to hide between the rocks. Later in the afternoon (3 p.m), I found a beautiful red V.aspis basking near a stump and finally, another Asp viper (this time a grey one from the same area) in an unusual position (or at least, for me). Below are the pictures of this good herping day:

Did you already observe a viper climbing like this? This one was at 2m off the ground

[Mario Schweiger]

Guillaume,
not an asp, but ammodytes, also up to 2 metres, or even a bit more, high up in trees.

Mario

[Jay Steel]

Lovely looking snakes. Well caught. I didn't know that Asps are found in trees. I'll have to look up as well as down if ever I get the chance to go photographing herps in France.

Best regards,
Jason

[Peter Oefinger]

Hi Guillaume,
really cool photos of climbing asps!

[Guillaume Gomard]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments.

I'll have to look up as well as down if ever I get the chance to go photographing herps in France.

It's actually the first time I find an asp so high. The other snake I was able to observe in a tree was an Aesculapian Snake last year, but it was more tricky to photograph.