First sharks, now snakes! After a Mako shark entertained us with his (or her) journey up and down the Dalmatian coast recently, followed by a blue shark relaxing near the shoreline in Primošten, seeing numerous people capture impressive footage, now snakes fancy their turn in the limelight.
As Morski writes on the 2nd of July, 2019, a Hungarian tourist managed to capture footage of one of the largest European snakes swimming along near Kaprije, the recording was captured more specifically between the islands of Kakan and Borovnjak Veli, in the Šibenik region.
Upon receiving the unusual piece of footage of the snake, which can also be seen attempting to leave the water to board a boat, Morski consulted expert Andrej Simčić, who has been studying reptiles which live in Croatia for a long time, about the snake in the video.
''He's a Four-lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata), the longest European snake. They grow to about two and a half metres in length, maybe even a little over that, and they aren't venomous. They bite only very rarely, and they're more likely to hiss to warn those who approach, and look for every possible opportunity to escape. It's highly unlikely that this type of snake will bite, even if you hold one in your hand. In the spring, they eat young and old birds, they climb up trees, but the majority of their diet is made up of rodents - this snake is actually very useful. All snakes can swim, so this video isn't a rare one. It's possible that he was in a tree just above the sea and fell down, and he wanted to climb up onto the boat, which is natural because he wanted to be on dry land,'' explained Simčić.
Watch the video of the snake here:
Morski
He also added that there are three types of venomous snakes which live on the territory of Croatia, the most famous of them all being the Poskok (Horned Viper). While all of them pose a threat, none of them can kill a human who is healthy and with a normally functioning immune system. He stated that more serious consequences can occur however, if a child, older person or someone with a poor immune system is bitten.
In any case, it's worth remembering that snakes typically do not seek human contact, and will only bite if they feel threatened, preferring to escape or give you enough warning to do the same.
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