This is the moment a venomous European snake slithers through thick snow surprising a passing mountaineer.
The climber, Emur Mujcic, from the town of Travnik in central Bosnia shared the video of the snake spotted on the nearby Komar mountain.
Video Credit: CEN/@emir.mujcic.73
In the video, the poisonous horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) can be seen crawling across the snow in front of the cameraman as he laughs in surprise.
The viper moves slowly across the snow in front of the mountaineer. The snake appears to be moving strangely but it is unclear if this was due to the cold or if it had been run over while crossing the car tracks in the snow.
The horned viper’s distinctive characteristic is a single ‘horn’ on the snout and it is found in southern Europe through to the Balkans and parts of the Middle East.
It is said to be the most dangerous of the European vipers due to its large size, long fangs and high venom toxicity.
The species is listed as strictly protected under the Berne Convention. Mujcic confused the horned viper with the Common European viper (Vipera berus) in his caption for the video.
They hibernate in the winter for a period of two to six months depending on environmental conditions.
The video received over 139,000 views and netizens were shocked to see a snake in winter.
Netizen ‘Goce Stojcevski’ commented: “Why didn’t you kill it?”
And ‘Ema Javorac’ added: “Weird in the middle of the winter, a snake.”
While ‘Irena Prokic’ wrote: “When a snake goes on snow it is believed that a natural disaster will occur in that spot.”
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Story By: Angjela Trajkovska, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
