Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
The European Ratsnake or Leopard Snake is a species of snake in the Colubridae family.
Geographic range
It is found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Ukraine, and possibly Cyprus.
Description
It is gray or tan with a dorsal series of reddish or brown transverse blotches, which have black borders. On each side is a series of smaller black spots, alternating with the dorsal blotches. There is a Y-shaped dark marking on the occiput and nape, a crescent-shaped black band from eye to eye across the prefrontals, and a black band from the postoculars diagonally to the corner of the mouth. The belly is white, checkered with black, or almost entirely back. The dorsal scales are in 25 or 27 rows, and are smooth. Adults may attain 90 cm (35½ inches) in total length, with a tail of 16 cm (6¼ inches).
Habitat
Its natural habitats are Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, pastureland, plantations , and rural gardens.
Alfred Edmund Brehm: Az állatok világa - Légrády testvérek (1905)