This is a small snake, seldom more than twenty-four inches in length. It varies a good deal in colour but is usually prettily spotted on a greyish-brown ground and has a narrow head. It owes its name to its smooth feel. Its scales lack the ridges that give a grass snake a rough feel. It is a local species haunting dry stony places in the south of England, places that appeal to the sand lizard upon which it preys. Its food consists of lizards, blindworms and such things. |