One of the 10 colubrid snakes on WAnimals
Reptiles · Squamata · Colubridae
Horseshoe Whip Snake
Hemorrhois hippocrepis
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The horseshoe whip snake is a snake of the family Colubridae. These snakes have a slender build, a pointed head clearly set off from the body and a long, thin tail. It is a very agile snake that can climb shrubs, trees and rock faces with astonishing ease in search of prey or birds' nests. The horseshoe whip snake can measure from a metre — on average — up to 156 cm. In the Balearics a tendency to gigantism has been detected in this species, with some exceptional animals reaching almost two metres. This snake shows a barely visible yellow ground colour, since both the head and the back bear black blotches that together give the reptile a dark, almost black tone. On the back of the head one of these blotches frequently takes the form of a horseshoe encircling the nape. It is to this feature that it owes its common name.
Size
1 m – 1.8 m
Life expectancy
15 years
