2024-05-10 20:00:36
SLongs do not belong to the group of animals that people like to encounter. The winding movement, the staring gaze, the smooth scales and the fact that some snakes are poisonous do not help to achieve snake love. On the contrary, the aversion to snakes or ophidiophobia (from ophissnakes phobia, hatred or aversion) is an almost innate human characteristic. Humans naturally recoil at the sight of a snake – a reaction that can even be evoked by harmless slow worms (legless lizards) or earthworms.
The reverse also occurs. Perhaps you might call that opidiophilia, snake love; I know someone who keeps a small and harmless python as a hobby. An extreme form of snake love is found among people who keep the most dangerous poisonous snakes at home (a hobby that, in my opinion, should be banned, because these reptiles occasionally escape and then cause a lot of panic).
Not only do some people love snakes, there is also a fungus that loves the elongated reptiles. The snake fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola causes a nasty skin disease called ophidiomycosis. This parasite has now been found in no fewer than 62 wild snake species and also in snakes in the pet trade.
The epicenter of the infection is in North America and until recently Europe was virtually unaffected. But now infections have also been detected in grass snakes in Belgium and the Netherlands. A study by the University of Ghent in collaboration with the Ravon research foundation has identified the first cases.
The fungus can be recognized by yellow or brown crusts, abnormal scales, ulcers and subcutaneous lumps. The animals molt more often and are often lethargic. The fungus prefers species that live in moist habitats. And that is exactly the habitat of the grass snake.
The grass snake (Natrix helvetica) is one of the three snake species that occur in our country, next to the viper and the smooth snake. They can grow to more than a meter in length and are best recognized by the yellow spots behind the head. Grass snakes are completely harmless to humans. They have no venom glands and feed mainly on amphibians, but fish or mice can also end up in the snake’s stomach.
Grass snakes are mainly found above the large rivers and prefer a habitat where water and dry soil are combined: along the rivers, on the edges of sandy soils and the transition to peat or clay.
So-called breeding heaps or scalding heaps are used for reproduction, accumulations of plant remains or leaves, compost heaps or manure heaps that provide shelter and in which there is often a slightly higher temperature as a result of scalding. Twenty to thirty eggs are then laid there and left to fend for themselves.
The now discovered snake fungus has been found on two molting sites in the North Holland Vechtplassen area. Elsewhere, even in South Limburg, only symptoms of the fungal infection have been observed.
More research is needed to properly determine the spread of the fungus. Ravon calls on people to send in molts they find. A loose molt is probably not really creepy even to an ophidiophobe.
Jelle Reumer is a paleontologist. Every week he discusses an animal that makes the news for Trouw.
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