Poisonous Snakes in Portugal

Hello Friends!!

A popular myth has been created in Portugal: "There are no poisonous snakes". And this couldn’t be more wrong.

Portugal is the habitat of some dangerous species, despite being one of the countries with the lowest number. From flora to fauna, some of the species can offer danger and risk to humans, especially to children. In our country there are eight species of snakes, but only two have a toxic poison: vipera seoanei and the vipera latastei Boscá.

Although they are present all over the Portugal, it is very hard to see a Vipera latastei Boscá. They usually group together in small groups and take refuge in the bush. Here they never reach more than 70 cm, which helps them in camouflage. Also, we can find this specie in one of our tours in Gerês and that's one of the reasons you need to have an expert guide, like ours.

Picture by PSML/ Casa da Imagem 

The vipera seoanei is a venomous viper species endemic to extreme southwestern France and northern regions of Spain and Portugal. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate race.

Picture by Keta

We also have another two species: the Malpolon monspessulanus and the Macroprotodon cucullatus. These animals are not dangerous, except in rare extreme cases of bite. They have a very inefficient poison injection mechanism.The Malpolon monspessulanus we can also find in ours tours through Porto and Gêres.

Picture by José R.Ruiz 

Picture by Giuseppe Mazza

With this article our team hopes to warn every tourist and resident.