Asp
The asp ( Vipera aspis ) is a snake of the family of the Viperidae.
It is a snake with the thick body, with the definitely defined head, the eyes with vertical pupil. The scales of the body show a longitudinal edge. The drawing of the dorsal marks is variable but form generally a band in brown zigzag dark or black. It measures approximately 70 cm.
Although it affectionate the dry zones, it arrives to him, however very seldom, to plunge in water (slow river, pond…) where one can see it swimming by maintaining his head drawn up well out of water.
It meets in Western Europe, especially in Suisse, Italy, France.
Identification
the following criteria are valid only for the identification of the endemic snakes in France. It may be that you meet a dangerous exotic species which, according to these criteria appears inoffensive to you. It is fortunately very rare, the survivors, as for them, will have corrected the them same ones…
In France, the asp is most common of the vipers. The Vipera kind is easily identifiable thanks to its many small scales on the head (a contrario, the grass snakes have 9 large scales on the head). The species aspis is as for it recognizable with its nasal scale prohéminente.
Venom
As the others vipéridés this species is poisonous. It has poison glands connected to hooks canaliculi which make it possible to deeply inject venom in fabrics of the prey (small mammals, let us oisillons…). At rest these hooks are lying towards the back in folds cutaneous inside the mouth.The asp is not an aggressive animal. It only attacks to drive out its preys or if it feels threatened. It is put then S-shaped and projects its hooks ahead to bite. In theory its venom is not sufficient to kill an adult man. The bite, seldom mortal, require however the injection of an antivenin and can cause diseases because the poison involves pains, vomiting, oedemas, going until the syncope.
It should be noted that there exists a subspecies of asp, the viper of Zinniker ( Vipera aspis zinnikeri ), endemic of the Gers and the Pyrenees, whose venom, of white color, is neurotoxic and would be twice and half with four times more toxic than that of the traditional asp (by knowing that this comparison is very arbitrary because the modes of action of toxins considered are very different. One would need a study on the quantities really injected by each individuals and to make them correlate with their DL50).
In North Africa, and particularly in Egypt, the term Aspic is employed to indicate a species of cobra (Naja haje).
Notice
It should be specified that in France, generally the snake which one can see swimming the head out of water and possibly plunging is the viperine snake ( Natrix will maura ), perfectly inoffensive, but resembling to mistake there with a viper…
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