Grass Snake

The grass snake (Natrix natrix), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake.

This species is one of only three snakes to occur in Great Britain, and is distributed throughout lowland areas of England and Wales; it is almost absent from Scotland and is not found in Ireland, which has no native snakes. It is widely distributed in mainland Europe, ranging from mid Scandinavia to southern Italy. It is also found in northwestern Africa.

Grass snakes are strong swimmers and may be found close to fresh water, although there is evidence that individual snakes often do not make use of water bodies throughout the entire season.

As spring approaches, the males emerge first and spend much of the day basking in an effort to raise body temperature and thereby metabolism. This may be a tactic to maximise sperm production as the males mate with the females as soon as they emerge up to 2 weeks later in April. The leathery-skinned eggs are laid in batches of 8–40 in June to July and hatch after about 10 weeks. To survive and hatch the eggs require a temperature of at least 21 °C, but preferably 28 °C, with high humidity. Rotting vegetation such as compost heaps are preferred locations. The young are about 18 centimetres long when they hatch and are immediately independent.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_Snake - 16.12.2011