The Secret Life of Snakes

- No animals fascinate like snakes.

Terrifying to some,

exquisite to others.

Elegant

and in danger.

Born to hunt

yet so vulnerable.

Late winter.

The snow has grown damp and heavy.

Most of the animals have

survived the cold months quite well.

Soon the white ermine will change its color to brown.

South-facing slopes are already nearly bare.

Those who succumbed to the cold and snow

slowly appear, insects for example.

The snow also reveals other fragile forms.

A snakeskin discarded last autumn.

But where is the snake itself?

Where did it disappear to when

snow and ice covered the earth?

Snakes spend the winter in

frost-free cavities in the ground.

Their body energy is reduced to a minimum.

In this brumation, they can just keep alive.

The power of the spring sun changes everything

until the snakes drowsily abandon their refuge.

Its first winter over, a young Aesculapian snake

directs its attention to the spring butterflies.

They don't count as prey but they're

the first lifeforms it's seen in six months.

And soon there's much more to see.

More and more snakes also appear

with the rising temperatures to sunbathe.

The harmless grass snake is the most common snake in Europe.

It's recognized by the two yellow

markings on the back of its head.

After its winter rest, it's not just looking for warmth.

Sometimes spring sees the phenomenon

of mass mating when 50 or more gather.

They'll spend the rest of the year alone.

Spring is also the time to encounter the slow worm.

It looks like a snake but only at first glance.

It has eyelids

and that makes it a lizard.

Snakes eyes by contrast are lidless

and covered by a transparent scale.

That's what gives them the snake-like stare.

So if it blinks, it's not a snake.

A subtle but important difference.

Even today there's a great deal of ignorance about snakes.

Their permanently darting tongues are not

a sign of aggression, it's their way of smelling.

Older molecules are drawn from the air

and evaluated by a special organ in the roof of the mouth.

Their darting tongues lead them to their prey.

It even works underwater.

The growing intensity of the spring sun

quickly warms the upper levels of the lake.

The swimming season has started for the grass snake.

A grass snake can grow to nearly two meters,

moving with extreme elegance in the liquid element.

The search for amphibian prey

may mean swimming hundreds of meters.

No shortage of frogs and toads

in the tangled vegetation along the shore.

Toads are perfect-sized prey

but this one has a bright signal cover.

Toads and grass snakes don't exactly live in harmony

but the snake is indecisive.

It may look like the toad is giving up

but in fact it's displaying its warning colors.

To the grass snake that means I'm inedible, move on.

And when the snake is out of range, the toad takes off too.

Another predator is in and out

of the water, a European otter.

It eats fish, crabs, mussels, amphibians

and snakes.

Otters are superb divers.

A gently gliding grass snake has no chance.

The snake has no defense.

The scent gland meant to frighten off smaller

attackers only seems to make the otter's meal more tasty.

It devours it whole,

every little piece.

Snakes have conquered nearly every habitat in Europe.

One climbs to great heights.

Spotted in treetops at 20 meters or more,

the Aesculapian snake.

It's not poisonous and a true survival specialist.

Its greatest skill

is climbing trees.

As if gravity didn't exist,

it glides higher and higher in a vertical line

by jamming the edge of its

belly scales into any irregularity

and snaking its way continuously up the trunk.

At dizzying heights it seeks out

an undisturbed place in the sun.

The northernmost habitat of the Aesculapian snake

takes in southern Germany, the Czech Republic,

Slovakia and Austria.

At over two meters, it's one of the largest

snakes in Europe and it's harmless to humans.

About 2,000 years ago, the species was given

a boost by the Roman city of Carnuntum near Vienna

when more Aesculapian snakes were brought from

the Mediterranean and released in Carnuntum.

The snake was welcome for religious reasons.

It was dedicated to the Roman God Aesculapius

and was itself considered divine.

Even today it symbolizes

the healing arts by physicians and pharmacists.

But the Romans didn't just bring the Aesculapian to Austria,

they also brought domestic rats

that hadn't been known here until then.

Proximity to humans gave them refuge

and plenty of food and they multiplied rapidly.

Aesculapian snakes almost became domesticated

thanks to the permanent offering of rats.

In Roman times the Aesculapian was

highly appreciated as a pest controller.

Some things change over time.

2,000 years later, Aesculapian snakes are

still seen in gardens in Vienna and lower Austria.

These gardens are rarely full of mice or rats.

But another potential prey, birds and their young are often

found in larger numbers here than in forests or meadows.

The goldfinch is possible prey for an Aesculapian snake.

But this climbing snake is drawn by a different odor trail,

a tit box.

If its occupied, that's the end of the brood.

If not, it'll be a good overnight shelter.

Where there are no nestings, an Aesculapian

snake will also be satisfied with a clutch of eggs.

Its lower jaw is so flexible

that it can swallow the eggs whole.

Some species of snake can be found in large numbers

at the end of the spring in piles of leaves and vegetation.

In such exposed areas they're not seeking

food but suitable locations for their offspring.

Three central European snake species don't give birth

to live young, they lay eggs in decomposing vegetation.

Snake eggs don't have hard shells like bird's eggs.

Their surfaces appear leathery and have indentations.

Female grass snakes lay 10 to 50 eggs.

Snakes don't brood the eggs themselves,

the heat of rotting vegetation does it for them.

Central European landscapes reach

from the lowlands to the highlands.

One species of snake has adapted to the higher climates.

It's found in the foothills of

the Alps between 1,000 and 2,000 meters.

It loves the harsh mountain climate.

A snake wreathed in myth and legend,

the adder

or common viper,

a contemporary of the mammoth

that has survived to the present day.

The vertical pupil of the viper family is its most

distinctive feature and vipers are poisonous.

On the back of the head, there's often a V or X shape

and a dark zig-zag ribbon along its back.

The females are mostly brown to copper

colored while the males are more of a gray color.

But even among hundreds of animals,

no two share exactly the same coloring.

Their tail always ends in a short tip.

In the cool alpine climate,

mating often first takes place in May.

The smaller males besiege

the females and perform mating dances.

The whole process can take several hours.

For centuries there have been stubborn rumors

that a highly dangerous poisonous snake

lives in remote mountain regions.

Immediately recognizable for everyone,

it's black as midnight,

the black common viper.

They exist but they're neither

a separate species nor especially dangerous.

They are completely black common vipers

that every now and then appear.

In effect the opposite of an albino

and like every common viper,

they have an appetite for mice.

Two hollow teeth like injecting

needles are located in the upper jaw.

They're supplied by poison glands in the head.