Snakes of Portugal

The following snakes are present in Portugal. Only the Lataste’s viper  is dangerous to humans, as the Montpellier and false smooth snakes, although also  venomous, are very unlikey to inject their venom due to the back position of their poison fangs .

Herpetological trip to South Portugal

According to 20 years old literature, the area between Faro, Albufeira and Quarteira was once characterized by interesting habitats and a high density of amphibians and reptiles. Unfortunately we had to recognize, that in the meantime the whole area western of Faro has been totally built up with an incredible big complex of gulf places.

We never thought, that these dimensions would have been possible in Europe – one can drive for miles just seeing driving ranges, fairways and greens. It was obvious, that we got lost while trying to flee this area. On the mouth of a creek near Forte novo we tried to make our luck, but we just found some Iberian Water frogs and a killed Montpellier snake. Lots of hoopoes and bee- eaters (quite common in southern Europe, but very rare in our native country Austria) were the only positive aspect of this devastated landscape. .

Frustrated by this enormous dimension of habitat destruction, we decided to go to the back lands of the eastern Algarve , the so called Barrocal. There we expected to find some species, which have been recorded there, but we had great difficulties to find anything because of the midday heat.

Snakes in the Algarve – basic information on species present in the area

Snake bites in Portugal, venomous snakes in Portugal, poisonous snakes in Portugal