I visited again the snake procession of San Domenico in Cocullo, furthermore I was in Ferrara
and Rome.
I touched down in Rome on Wednesday, the 2’rd of May 2007 and took the train forward to the
annual “fiesta dei serpentari” in the little village Cocullo.
Poorly the weather was not optimal. The train stopped there at 10 AM and I went to the central
place of the village where the local “Serpari” handeled with their wildcought snakes to lecture
about the (mostly) harmless behaviour of these snakes. Fourlined snakes normaly don’t bite when
captured or handeled.
Fourlined and (cold) aesculapians are mostly kind and calm, the others not…
Some overweight German must handle a snake too ;-)
[img]http://www.pinesnake.de/images/fieldherpers/Bernd_cocullo01.jpg[/img]
At 12 PM the procession of the San Domenico starts with putting the snakes on the statue
normaly fourlined snakes, Elaphe quatuorlineata.
After the procession at 1:30 PM they took all the snakes from the statue and brought back the
statue into the church.
[img]http://www.pinesnake.de/images/fieldherpers/cocullo2007_09.jpg[/img]
In the next days they set free all the before caught snakes at their (kept secret) home ranges in the
wilderness around Cocullo.
In the afternoon I took a walk in the valley downhill of Cocullo.
Some wall lizards were the only herps I saw there.
[img]http://www.pinesnake.de/images/fieldherpers/cocullo2007_11.jpg[/img]
Poorly no other snakes.
I came back to the village and stayied there till sundown.
Next day I walked around the pretty, but rainy village of Talgiacozzo without any luck for herps.
In Ferrara I was with a friend at a reptile fair,
This grass snake lives at the channels around the fair:
Then on Monday I had some time for the area of Rome by my own. I checked again the banks of
the river Aniene. Some lizards I found but no snakes.
Next day I flew back to Germany - with wound feets. ;-)
Well, I hoped to find more animals in those 6 days than last year in Italy but that was not realy
successful. But it was again a nice short holiday.
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