Green whip snake dancing (1 Viewer)

Rob77

hungrybirdtours.com

• May 28, 2017

• #1

Hi everyone,

On Wednesday evening I saw two green whip snakes Hierophis viridiflavus engaged in what appeared to be a dance at Saint Felix de Sorgues, Aveyron, France. I've seen this behaviour on nature documentaries but never in real life. Can anyone tell me if this is a courtship ritual between sexes or more agressive behaviour between two males please?

You can see a video of this on the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/hungrybirdtours/

Thanks,
Rob

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• May 28, 2017

• #2

Fantastic video, I'd say that's courtship despite the occasional biting?



A

 

vipersgarden

Well-known member

• May 29, 2017

• #3

great video for sure! but I'm sure, this is a combat dance between two males. Although biting is not usual here.

Mario

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• May 29, 2017

• #4

vipersgarden said:

great video for sure! but I'm sure, this is a combat dance between two males. Although biting is not usual here.

Mario

Click to expand...

This is a bit too deep for me but under conclusions, it does describe biting in courtship of some species?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4175082/

This vid looks almost identical but is Western Whip Snake and is labelled as combat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqJpPcOn-cU


A

 

Last edited: May 29, 2017

Rob77

hungrybirdtours.com

• May 30, 2017

• #5

Hi Andy and Mario,

Thanks for your replies and comments. I've had a lot of feedback on facebook, especially with french herpotologists who seem sure that they are actually mating. Which ever way, it was a fantastic sight, hopefully they will be left alone as snakes of any description, even non-venomous species such as these are routinely killed. I do try to get the message across that these snakes are beneficial, harmless and also a protected species.

Best wishes,
Rob