Dubrovnik, but we drove around a little. This was in the days of the former Yogoslavia. Of course, thinking about it, two of the areas we visited, Mostar and Kotor, aren't even in Croatia. I'd imagine the snake population is similar though?
More or less, yeah. But in Bosnia & Herzegovina there is no one doing herp research, so I don't know for sure.
The Worm Snake probably isn't even present in Croatia. The one that was "found on Dugi Otok" is currently somewhere in Austria, in a jar of formalin. It was found (I can't remember how long ago) and when it was being transported to Austria (in the formalin jar), they suspect that the labels got confused...
No way. When the general public is concerned, all snakes here can be summarized into 2: the Adder and the Nose-horned Viper. And they get killed. Why only a couple of days ago a lady tried to convince me that an Aesculapian Snake skin shed was actually from an Adder (and there are no Adders at that location)... Also, the general public thinks that the only good snake is a dead one. Luckily, there are exceptions, but too few of them.
In the past there may have been some instinctive fear, but ever since we "learned to use our heads" it has become a prejudice passed from generation to generation. Probably even before that it was also a prejudice. A group of cavemen go hunting. They find a snake (a venomous one). One of 'em picks it up, it bits him. They run away. Some time later the caveman dies form the venom. They start to fear them.
