About Coronella girondica (Daudin, 1803)
Coronella girondica is brown, grayish, or reddish on its dorsal side, marked with dark brown or blackish transverse bars or spots. The nape has either a dark U-shaped mark, or a pair of dark, elongated spots. A dark streak runs from the eye to the corner of the mouth, a dark band crosses between the two eyes over the prefrontals, and a black line sits below the eye. The ventral side is yellowish or red with black markings. Its smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 21 rows, rarely 19. Fully grown individuals can reach a total length of 62 cm (2 feet), with the tail making up 12.5 cm (5 inches) of this length. Coronella girondica occurs in Spain, Portugal, southern France, Monaco, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Its type locality is recorded as Bordeaux, France. Its natural habitats include temperate forests, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rocky areas, pastureland, and plantations. It is currently threatened by habitat loss.
